How does the dashboard map widget determine a device’s location?

The interactive map widget on the Portnox Cloud Dashboard shows device locations, but they may not be exact.

• If Portnox Cloud can obtain exact geolocation information, for example, from AgentP installed on a mobile device (if, during installation, the user allowed to share their geolocation information with AgentP, and if geolocation services on the mobile device are active), then the map location is exact and based on this geolocation information. However, the location is updated once an hour, not in real time.

• In most cases, there is no geolocation data for an endpoint device (such as a desktop computer with no GPS module) or there is no way to obtain geolocation information from the device (such information is not part of network communication, and is not tracked by authentication repositories). In such cases, Portnox Cloud can only get geolocation information from the public IP address of the device, which is usually managed by the Internet service provider (ISP), and points to the ISP’s network center, not to a specific endpoint location.

  Note: You can see the location reported on the basis of an IP address by using the MaxMind geolocation service: for your current IP or for other IP addresses.