RadarBox Real-Time Network Location Map

[AirNav Support]

A few of you requested to have a map without the reception circles.
This has now been done:

http://www.airnavsystems.com/RadarBox/network2.php

Any more requests please send them. Please remember we cannot show you actual location.

[RodBearden]

Ah - that's much better - I'm sure the circles were useful while you had half a dozen users, but now it's so crowded, we can see where the pins are.

Many thanks - please make it the default!

I still think you could show actual location, rounded to 2 or 3 decimal places. It's silly that my pin is where my ISP is - 200 miles from where my box is, and I assume that applies to many other pins.

Rod

[TONY]

This map is much clearer, but how often do you update the locations. I am a new user, but i cannot see my box on your map.

[RodBearden]

Tony welcome to the forum!

The pins don't show where you actually are, but where your ISP reports you as being. Mine says I'm in Stevenage when I'm actually in Lancashire!

Then again, I've been thinking that the map seems to be a bit poorly at the moment - we're regularly getting returns from places without pins that normally do have pins, for example Greece and Portugal.

Any comment, Support?

Rod

[AirNav Support]

Thats correct, it works on whether we can geocode your IP address from your ISP. Some can be worked out while others can't and hence they are not shown at all.

Tony,

It does update every 10 seconds.

[Deadcalm]

It's a shame you can't be a little more accurate.  My location is in south central France, and there is no pin displayed to that effect.  I assume that's because I use a satellite broadband service, based in Germany.

If these pins are to be of any real value, it would be useful if the information derived from users could be utilised in a way that gives a rough idea of where they are, and the area their network contribution covers, otherwise it's a bit of a nonsense...

DC

[TONY]

Yes, i agree with Deadcalm, I am located on the m4 towards Bristol and it shows nothing on the map. How does one find where the ISP is putting me? Also how can I find out if anybody is picking up my output. Since putting up an outside arial, I seem to be picking up the whole of South England including parts of France.

TG

[AirNav Support]

Tony,

If you are sharing your data (connected to the net and have not turned off sharing) then everyone who has the network flights on will see it.

Deadcalm,

This topic has been discussed at length before. The network is not meant to be a accurate representation but just a tool to quickly view the range of the countries that customers are in and the max range.

[Deadcalm]

Airnav, I do understand your point, but I think you may be missing mine - nobody said anything about being accurate, just approximate - and clearly the system you use doesn't necessarily show the countries that your customers are in (as in my case).

I am aware of the previous discussion - I took part.

Is the map and pin idea purely to show YOU where your customers are, or is it intended as a guide FOR your customers, to see where users may be approximately located, and to ascertain the contribution they may be making to the network, for the good of the network community (for which, incidentally, they will be paying)?

There is a distinction.

DC

[AirNav Support]

Its not for us, we can see more detail if we really want to.

It was designed to give a general representation of the network coverage. Current customers just need to start up the network and they can see the coverage, they don't really need to know where exactly is everyone located just whether it covering a specfic airport or area.

For prospective customers it gives them a idea of what sort of areas will be be covered. View the network map of the world with the range rings and view it in RadarBox and it loosks pretty much similar (coverage will be slightly less but the areas in both appear)

It was never developed to give anybody a accurate view as we will think have to tackle various privacy issues.

Having said that, in many cases the geocode lookup for ISPs in many countries is quite good and can pinpoint to the nearest town.

[RodBearden]

Tony

You can find out where your ISP is, or says you are at this site:

www.ip-adress.com/

Rod

[TONY]

Rod, thankyou for that, it shows me at Harrogate Yorkshire not Swinden Wiltshire

TONY

[tarbat]

It is a shame we can't get more accurate locations.  Looking at the map now, prospective customers would get the impression that there's nobody sharing in Scotland, whereas there's at least one (me) sharing in that country!

How about an option in RB to share your lat/long position instead of the location of your ISP, who may be in a different country?

[Tallyho]

I think tarbat's suggestion is spot on, if the user does not mind sharing his location information then he should be allowed to do so and thus paint a much more accurate coverage map. Perhaps the coverage map could have different colored "pins" to indicate "actual" or "isp" locations. That should take all the legal concerns away from AirNav and make it a user decision.

[AirNav Support]

This was an idea which was thought off originally, it is down on the requests however this is not a priority request as we still see the network map as just being an approximate for potential customers.