How does "location aware" WiFi work?

[NeoPTLD]

I'm surprised that it was able to pinpoint my laptop to 50' accuracy. I understand that it uses multiple access points to derive my location, however most of the other networks are secure access points.

If the other access points are secure and I don't have the password, how can it make influence in determining my location? Is there a router somewhere that is marked with GPS data or manually entered coordinates to act as an electronic survey marker?

I know that cell phone location can be located by triangulation, however I assume that coordinates of each tower is documented in the database, while individual WiFi access points aren't.

http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/geolocation/#geo-demo

How is it activating my computer through the web to communicate with other access points?

 

[Lasthitlarry]

Seems like they have your IP address which is location specific like a zip code, then you have a port open through Firefox which sends ping results for nearby networks.

Not sure HOW Mozilla does it, but seems pretty simple.

 

[Mark R]

Google has a database of access points, which they collected during their google earth data collection. This includes the SSID and the MAC address of the AP. These identifiers are always transmitted unencrypted (and the MAC is always transmitted, even if the SSID is hidden). There is no need to connect to a network to be able to get it's MAC address.

By collecting the MAC addresses of all APs in range, and querying google's database, you can determine the position with moderate certainty and accuracy.

 

[masteryoda34]

Google has a database of access points, which they collected during their google earth data collection. This includes the SSID and the MAC address of the AP. These identifiers are always transmitted unencrypted (and the MAC is always transmitted, even if the SSID is hidden). There is no need to connect to a network to be able to get it's MAC address.

By collecting the MAC addresses of all APs in range, and querying google's database, you can determine the position with moderate certainty and accuracy.

So if my router's MAC is in Google's database, and I move my router to a new place, the location services using this functionality will still show me in the old location? (Assume Google hasn't had time to discover that my router moved.)

 

[paperwastage]

So if my router's MAC is in Google's database, and I move my router to a new place, the location services using this functionality will still show me in the old location? (Assume Google hasn't had time to discover that my router moved.)

your router might have changed, but most likely Google uses other wireless networks as well (well, at least on android, when you allow google to take some control over your wireless settings... not sure what firefox/chrome's location based code gets access to)

plus GeoIP lookup