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On sockpuppetry
Checking the history of Wikipedia:sockpuppetry, I found out that the "Sharing an IP address" section was changed from the "Roommates and sharing an IP address" section you contributed at 16:11, 15 February 2008. Today, your sentences "If two or more users live or work together or otherwise share a computer or an internet connection," is changed to "If two or more registered editors use the same computer or network connection,". On your user page I can see that you are a computer scientist, so I want to ask you one technical question. The question is
Can a checkuser classify between the situation that the different users using one computer on one IP address and the situation that the different users using multiple computers on one IP address ?
Thank you. 200z (talk) 04:28, 8 March 2016 (UTC)
- The checkuser tool reveals three things: public IP address, client IP address supplied by XFF, and the user agent string. See [1]. The client IP address available through XFF helps distinguish between users coming through the same gateway, such as all the Verizon Wireless users. The user agent string is the browser software name and version. This is like a finger print. There are many browser versions. So, you might see two users at the same IP, but with different user agent strings. This could be two people sitting in the same coffee shop on the same wifi. If you see same IP, same XFF, and same user agent string, then that's probably the same person. There are a many different possible circumstances, and different ways to search IPs, IP ranges and IP's by user account. Jehochman Talk 18:47, 8 March 2016 (UTC)