Whats My IP

What’s My IP Address?

The top of this page shows your public IP addresses: IPv4 and IPv6, each with one-click copy. It also says which one your browser used to reach the site. If your connection has only one kind, the other is marked not present, with the reason.

Below that is what the address in use says about your connection: the network it belongs to, its reverse DNS name, an approximate location, the time zone where the address appears to be compared with your device’s clock, and any sign of a VPN, proxy or Tor.

The addresses come from the connection itself, as our site’s edge network receives it. Nothing your browser sends, no header or extension setting, can change them.

Example results

A home connection with both kinds of address:

• IPv4: 203.0.113.42
• IPv6: 2001:db8:4f2a:9900:1c3e:5a7f:2b9d:6e41, this site was reached over IPv6
• Provider: Example Broadband (AS64500), New York, United States
• Reverse DNS: no reverse DNS name
• Time zone: where the address is, America/New_York (UTC−04:00). Your browser’s clock: America/New_York (UTC−04:00). The two agree.
• Connection: no sign of a proxy, VPN or Tor.

The same household on a computer without IPv6 would see:

• IPv4: 203.0.113.42, this site was reached over IPv4
• IPv6: not present: this connection has no IPv6 route

The details below the addresses then describe the IPv4 address, which may have a reverse DNS name such as 203-0-113-42.res.example-isp.net.

Your public IP vs. the one in your network settings

Open your computer’s network settings and you’ll probably see something like 192.168.1.23 or 10.0.0.5. That’s a private address your router handed out, and it only works inside your home or office network.

Your router shares one public IPv4 address between every device connected to it: phones, laptops, the TV. That public address is the one shown here. It’s also why ipconfig or ifconfig will never give you the same IPv4 number as this page.

Mobile networks go a step further. Many carriers put large numbers of customers behind a single public IPv4 address, a setup called carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT). The address you see on mobile data may be shared with plenty of other people.

IPv4 and IPv6

IPv4 addresses are four numbers from 0 to 255, like 203.0.113.42. There are only about 4.3 billion of them. The registries that hand them out have run out of free blocks, which is why sharing one address between many devices became normal.

IPv6 addresses are longer and written in hexadecimal, like 2001:db8:4f2a:9900:1c3e:5a7f:2b9d:6e41. There are enough of them for every device to have its own. That’s the big difference from IPv4: your IPv6 address belongs to this device, not to your whole home.

When a connection has both, browsers prefer IPv6 and fall back to IPv4 if IPv6 doesn’t work. So this site was reached over IPv6 is the normal result on a connection that has both. If an address is marked not present, the connection simply has no route for it. That’s common for IPv6: many providers and home routers still don’t offer it, or it’s switched off.

Why your IPv6 address keeps changing

An IPv6 address has two halves. The first four groups (2001:db8:4f2a:9900 in the example) are the network prefix your provider gives your home. The last four are chosen by the device itself.

Most operating systems pick a new random second half every day or so, specifically so websites can’t follow one device around by its address. So if your IPv6 address looks different from yesterday’s, nothing is wrong. The first half still identifies your home connection, and it changes only when your provider changes it.

What the results mean

The sections below describe the address your browser used to reach the site, the one marked this site was reached over. Address type says which kind it is.

Reverse DNS

This is the name your provider has given the address. Home IPv4 addresses usually get a generated name with the address written into it, sometimes with words like dyn, dsl or pool, or a town. As the result points out, that town can be more precise than the location below, so keep it in mind when sharing a screenshot.

Home IPv6 addresses usually show no reverse DNS name. There are far too many of them for providers to name each one, and nothing is wrong. IP to Hostname explains reverse DNS in more depth.

Provider and network number

The Provider is the company the address belongs to: your ISP at home, your carrier on mobile, the VPN company or its data center when a VPN is on. The Network number (AS number) identifies that provider’s network, and clicking it opens ASN Lookup with everything else that network announces.

Location

The country, region, city and coordinates come from the address’s registration and the provider’s routing, not from your device or GPS. Open a map shows the point.

• Country: almost always correct.
• City: usually right on home broadband, often wrong on mobile data, because traffic can leave the carrier’s network in another city.
• Coordinates: normally the middle of a city or region, never your street.

Mobile and VPN addresses can land hundreds of kilometres off.

Time zone

The tool compares two time zones: the one where your address appears to be, and the one your browser’s clock is set to.

On a normal home or office connection, the two agree. When they don’t, there’s usually a simple reason: a VPN or proxy in another country, travelling with a laptop still set to home time, or a device whose time zone was set by hand. Websites use the same comparison as one of their signs of VPN traffic.

Connection

This section looks for three signs, and says which one it found and why:

• Proxy headers. Some proxies add headers announcing that they forwarded the request.
• A hosting or VPN provider’s address. Most VPNs run on servers in data centers, so the address belongs to a hosting company rather than a home internet provider.
• A Tor exit node. The addresses where Tor traffic leaves the network are published, so they can be recognised.

There’s one honest limit. Some VPNs and proxies route traffic through ordinary home internet connections. Their addresses look just like anyone else’s, so they don’t show up here.

Why check your IP

Testing a VPN

1. Load this page with the VPN off and note both addresses and the provider.
2. Turn the VPN on and reload.

The addresses and provider should change, usually to the VPN company or a hosting company, and the Connection section should report it. The time zone of the address will change too, while your browser’s clock stays the same.

Watch the IPv6 line in particular. Some VPNs only carry IPv4 traffic. If your real IPv6 address still shows with the VPN on, sites that use IPv6 can see past the VPN. That’s called an IPv6 leak, and the fix is a VPN that handles IPv6 or blocks it.

A VPN can also leak in ways this page can’t show. DNS Leak Tester checks whether your DNS lookups still go to your ISP. WebRTC Leak Test checks whether your browser exposes your real IP through WebRTC.

Reaching your home network from outside

To connect to a home server, NAS or game server from somewhere else, you need your public IP and a port forward on your router. Two things trip people up:

• The IP changes. Most home connections get a dynamic IPv4 address. Some keep the same one for months; others change it every time the router restarts. If yours changes often, a dynamic DNS service gives you a hostname that follows your IP around.
• CGNAT. Compare the IPv4 address on this page with the WAN or Internet IP in your router’s admin panel. If they don’t match, or the router shows an address between 100.64.x.x and 100.127.x.x, your provider has put you behind carrier-grade NAT. Port forwarding won’t work until they give you a public IPv4 address. Some providers do this on request, sometimes for a fee.

With IPv6, there’s no port forwarding. Each device has its own public address, and the router’s firewall decides what may come in. If you connect over IPv6, open the port in the firewall for the device’s address. Keep in mind that a randomly chosen address changes, so use the device’s fixed one.

Once the port is open, Open Port Checker confirms it’s reachable from the internet.

Getting allowlisted

Admins often limit access to servers, admin panels and databases to approved IPs. Send them the address shown here, not the 192.168 one from your network settings. If you have both, send both: your computer may connect over either. If your IPv4 address is dynamic, expect to send a new one when it changes.

FAQ

Can someone find my home address from my IP?

Not from public data. Location data stops at city or region level, and sometimes gets even that wrong. Your provider knows which customer had a given address at a given time, but it generally only shares that with authorities through a legal request.

Why does it show the wrong city?

It happens a lot, especially on mobile data and with providers that route traffic through a central hub. Location databases also lag behind when providers move address blocks between regions. If the country is wrong, websites may show you the wrong language or block content. The large location-data companies accept correction requests.

Can my IP address change?

Yes. Most home and mobile connections get a dynamic IPv4 address. Some providers change it every day or two; others keep the same one for months. Restarting your router sometimes gets you a new one. The second half of an IPv6 address changes regularly on purpose, as explained above. If you need an address that never changes, ask your provider about a static IP. Business plans usually include one.

Is it safe to share my IP?

It isn’t a secret, since every website you visit already sees it. Still, there’s no reason to post it publicly. It reveals your rough location and provider, and in online games an angry opponent can try to flood your connection with traffic (a DDoS attack). On a dynamic connection, restarting the router often ends that by getting you a new address.

Someone can’t hack you just by knowing your IP. The real risk comes from anything you’ve exposed yourself, like a forwarded port with a weak password or an old device that never gets updates.

How do I hide my IP?

• VPN or proxy: websites see the provider’s address instead of yours. You’re shifting trust, though, because the VPN company now sees your real IP. Make sure it covers IPv6 too.
• Tor Browser: sends your traffic through three relays, so no single one knows both who you are and which site you’re visiting. Sites can still tell that you’re using Tor.

Why does another “what’s my IP” site show a different address?

Most such sites show only one address, either IPv4 or IPv6, whichever your browser used. This page shows both, so compare the matching line. The other common cause is a proxy or VPN extension that’s active in one browser but not another.

Does this page store my IP?

No. The details are shown only to you and aren’t saved.