What's my IP?

What this tool checks

This tool shows the public IP address your request arrived from: the address every website sees when you connect. Your devices at home usually have private addresses such as 192.168.x.x, but those never leave your router. The internet sees the outside address of your router, mobile network, VPN or proxy, and that is the one shown here.

Alongside the address, the page shows:

• IP version – whether this connection used IPv4 or IPv6.
• Reverse DNS – the host name your address points back to (its PTR record), if your provider has set one.
• Network (AS) – the autonomous system number and name of the network that announces your address, from RIPEstat's routing data. Normally your provider, mobile operator or VPN company.
• Prefix – the routed block your address belongs to, for example 198.51.100.0/24.
• Browser and Languages – the User-Agent and Accept-Language headers your browser sent.

For scripts there is a plain-text version that returns just the address:

curl thenetworkery.com/ip

Command-line clients such as curl, wget, HTTPie and PowerShell get plain text automatically; in a browser, add ?format=text to the same address.

What it can't see: your private (LAN) address, or the address family you didn't use. If your connection has both IPv4 and IPv6, the browser picks one. To see both, run the browser and connection test, which checks them separately. This tool does not show a location.

Reading the results

The large address at the top is your public IP, with a copy button for allow-lists and support tickets.

"You are connecting over IPv4" or "IPv6" tells you which protocol your browser chose. An IPv6 address contains colons (2001:db8::1), an IPv4 address is four numbers separated by dots (192.0.2.10). Seeing IPv4 does not prove you have no IPv6; it only means this connection didn't use it.

Reverse DNS is often a long provider name with your address or a customer number in it. It is set by whoever controls the address block, so a missing or generic name is normal for home connections. Mail servers are the exception: they need one.

Network (AS) and Prefix tell you who is responsible for the address. If you expected to be behind a VPN and the network shown is your home provider, the VPN is not carrying this browser's traffic. You can explore the network further with the BGP lookup or WHOIS.

"This address is not public" appears if the address seen is private, carrier-grade NAT (100.64.0.0/10), loopback or another special-purpose range. In that case no network or prefix is looked up.

Common problems and fixes

The IP shown is the VPN's, but you wanted your own (or the other way round)

The page shows whatever address the request came from. With a full-tunnel VPN that is the VPN's exit address; with a split tunnel your browser traffic may bypass it. Check the VPN client's routing settings (on WireGuard, the AllowedIPs line), then reload.

The address changes every day

Most home and mobile connections get a dynamic address. If you need a stable one, for example to be allow-listed by a supplier, ask your provider for a static IP, or use dynamic DNS for a home server.

curl prints a web page instead of the address

Your client didn't identify itself as a command-line tool, for example because a script set a browser-like User-Agent. Request thenetworkery.com/ip?format=text instead.

You need to check IPv4 and IPv6 from a script

Force the address family:

curl -4 thenetworkery.com/ip
curl -6 thenetworkery.com/ip

If the -6 call fails with a connection error, your machine has no working IPv6 route.

FAQ