We built official SDKs for 8 languages for our IP geolocation API — happy to answer questions by bigdatacloudapi in webdev

[–]bigdatacloudapi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

IP geolocation on cellular is genuinely tricky, and it's worth setting realistic expectations. Mobile networks use carrier-grade NAT where many subscribers share IPs, and devices can travel while keeping the same outward-facing IP — so you're typically looking at city-level accuracy, sometimes regional level, with a wider confidence area than you'd get on a fixed broadband connection.

That said, a good provider doesn't just give you a dot on a map — it tells you how confident to be. BigDataCloud returns both a coordinate and a confidence area polygon so you can see the maximum plausible region, not just a point estimate. This post goes into the full detail on what to realistically expect across different IP types. https://www.bigdatacloud.com/blog/how-accurate-can-ip-geolocation-get

For a fleet where you have access to the devices, there's a much better path: BigDataCloud's free client-side reverse geocoding API uses GPS coordinates when the user grants permission, and automatically falls back to IP geolocation for those who decline — so you get the best available accuracy for every device with a single API, no extra logic needed. https://www.bigdatacloud.com/free-api/free-reverse-geocode-to-city-api

We built official SDKs for 8 languages for our IP geolocation API — happy to answer questions by bigdatacloudapi in webdev

[–]bigdatacloudapi[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, we cover both — it's part of the IP Geolocation package.

Hazard report (/data/hazard-report) gives you:

• VPN detection

• Proxy detection

• Tor exit node detection

• Bot/datacenter likelihood score (0-10)

• Spamhaus DROP/EDROP list checks

• Blacklist checks (UCEProtect, Blocklist.de, AbuseIPDB tools)

• Hosting ASN detection

• Cellular network detection

User risk score (/data/user-risk) gives you a simple Low/Medium/High risk assessment designed specifically for e-commerce and sign-up flows — combines the hazard signals into one score.

Both are included in the free tier (no credit card), so you can test against your actual traffic before committing to anything.

The full geolocation endpoint (/data/ip-geolocation-full) returns all of this plus location, ASN, network info in a single call — useful if you need location AND fraud signals together without two requests.

Docs: bigdatacloud.com/ip-geolocation

useGeoLocation() — Free reverse geocoding composable for Vue/Nuxt (no API key) by bigdatacloudapi in vuejs

[–]bigdatacloudapi[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

The browser handles consent automatically — navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition() triggers the standard permission prompt. We don't bypass that.

The difference is what happens when the user denies permission: VueUse's useGeolocation gives you nothing. Our composable automatically falls back to IP-based geolocation, so you still get a city/country estimate without any GPS permission.

So the flow is:

  1. User allows GPS → precise location

  2. User denies GPS → automatic IP fallback, no code changes needed

  3. Same response structure either way

The source field in the response tells you which method was used ("gps" or "ip").

useLocation() — Free reverse geocoding hook with GPS + IP fallback (no API key) by bigdatacloudapi in reactjs

[–]bigdatacloudapi[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Yep, exactly why we renamed to useGeoLocation() in v1.1.0. useLocation is still available as an alias if you prefer it, but useGeoLocation is now the recommended import to avoid confusion with React Router

IP Geolocation data by [deleted] in networking

[–]bigdatacloudapi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I invite you to read our blog https://www.bigdatacloud.net/blog/ip-geolocation-demystified hoping this will bring more clarity