Geolocation - How Does it Work?

Question

I am using a script bought from Code Canyon (a weather script) and the script uses MaxMind GeoIP Javascript Web Service to determine my users current location. The question I have is how does MaxMind (or other geolocation services) determine the location?

When it determines my location it is on average about 30 miles away from my actual city. Why and how does it determine the location being there and not closer? I assume this has to do with my ISP and my ISP routing. Is this correct?

Answer 1

The location it is showing you is the location of your internet server.

If you are using the geolocation code which uses your ip address to get the current location then it will show the location of your host server.

Answer 2

Your ISP assigns you an IP when connecting. Obviously, the ISP bought that IP at one point, and the geolocation service you are using has an entry for it, in this case, a data center of your ISP.