Query by comfy: How to recognize if an IP address comes from a mobile phone or computer/laptop?
How to recognize if an IP address comes from a mobile phone or personal computer/laptop? I am especially interested in this IP address 178.103.40.56, its ISP is T-mobile. I am wondering if it comes from a computer or mobile telephone?
Best answer:
Answer by Christopher B
Nicely, basically, you can not (with any actual certainty) tell what type of device is in use from an IP address on the basis of an IP address, even a static one (in the instance of your query, it’ll be a dynamic assigned one particular).
The IP you picked up, will be ISP issued and subsequently, it has no actual physical ties to the device it is acting as an wide area or local area network address.
If we assumed, say in the instance of a direct connection (which this wont be), where the major network connection is direct among ‘terminal’ and the TNC (aka cable modem, dsl modem, cellular transceiver based modem) – then the ip only points to the point of connection of the major connected device (i.e. the TNC/Terminal Node Controller aka the modem in most instances).
The actual ‘terminal’ could something from a subsidary connection slaved off that primary connected device (by way of a router/hub/virtual connection sharing device on a pc). And this could be millions of layers deep, or one particular layer deep, or the instant secondary IP protocol (but not often TCP/IP protocol) device following the node (TNC).
So the nearest you can basically get to even get within a galaxy-wide proximity of good ID of a device (unique to the device) by IP address, is it is network MAC.
But a MAC does not determine a device positively and uniquely. You can temporarily modify a MAC address and substitute any compatible valid format MAC address to a device (which is lost if you cycle/reset the device or power it off) – so for instance, i could make the Netgear N wifi adaptor i have in use at the moment appear like any other device (MAC wise) by altering it is MAC address to an additional and reconnecting to the network.
The nearest factor you’ll ever get to a good ID of a device ,without in fact catching it physically in the act of operation and communicating – this consists of wired and wireless devices), is if it is made up of an interrogatable exclusive ID that is an hardware instance identifier or authorisation ID type ‘device’.
A very good example of that, is the IMEI of a cellular telephone or cellular transceiver device (if we speak GSM/UTMS and comparable systen telephony & telegraphy devices).
Even so, the gear with such an ID (two parts in the case of a cellular device, IMEI & the indentity of the SIM), only genuinely presents this info normally by means of interrogating it locally by way of a diagonstics command sequence, through a data bus request, or a particular authenticated packet request from the cellular provider (don’t forget, not all cellular ISP’s are actually the telcom).
So in the planet of cold difficult reality – unless you have the means to interrogate locally (in LAN terms) such as a telco would for it’s subscriber connections, with out highly illegal (in most instances, in many parts of the world) strategies that much more or much less involve masquarading as component of the telco’s security/metering systems (nowhere close to as simple as frequent myths would entail it to be), your methods at finest stop at obtaining the translation of the nearby area (nearest UBR or equivalent) area (serial number or coded name for the area) point of access as it would back-translate from it is wide region identity.
A frequent myth is that a connection, active, can be actually traced to a pin-point actual provable area & terminal and user in absolute terms – from anyplace else on the net (sufficient to give the implies that if you were physically caught in the act, and the final results of signifies and approaches and supply could be unquestionably pinned on you), is simply not accurate.
Hopefully, that covers the question and linked elements etc – the scope of info on the subject that can be got (with cooperation) would fill a server or 3, let alone a minimal text allowance on this Q&A site. I will not quote my sources for the security of other folks who legally supplied me info and of the legal methods they employed (below full legal authority) for security in IT & Telecoms.
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