Hey Stephane, >> select /*+ first_rows(1) */ aa.* >> from geo_location aa, >> geo_blocks b >> where aa.locid = b.locid >> and ip2number('192.168.1.1') between b.startipnum and b.endipnum; >> > Rich, > > It's a question of bounds. > > Just add the additional condition > > and b.startipnum >= to_number(substr('&ip_addr', 1, > instr('&ip_addr'), '.') - 1)) * 16777216 > > and you should feel the difference. No need to create a FBI on > ip2number(). But I haven't created an FBI. And while the addition of the above to the WHERE clause does cause a sub-second return, reworking the statement to: select /* first_rows(1) */ aa.* from geo_location aa, geo_blocks b where aa.locid = b.locid -- and ip2number(:p_ipaddr) between b.startipnum and b.endipnum and to_number(substr(:p_ipaddr, 1,instr(:p_ipaddr, '.') - 1)) * 16777216 between b.startipnum and b.endipnum ...does not. While somewhat faster at ~5s, it's not sub-second. > And, please, remove the hint, it's ugly. I'd love to. I only have one hint on one query on this system and it's for an outline. However, without the hint I get an FTS, which I know isn't necessary, based on the sub-second response times I can get by changing the predicate. Removing it would certainly be ideal. I'll probably be running this statement in PL, where I can parse the IP via the function and then pass the result to the SQL via bind, so my question is more academic. But I'm having a mental issue of generalizing the situation so that I can apply it to other future issues like this. Thanks for the ideas! Rich -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l