IP Address FAQ

It is a numeric label assigned to every device on a network. It works like a return address on an envelope: when you request a page, the server needs somewhere to send the reply, and your IP address is that somewhere.

You have two, and they do different jobs. Your public address is what the internet sees, and it is shared by everything behind your router. Your private address, usually something like 192.168.1.14, identifies your specific device inside your own home network.

IPv4 uses 32 bits, giving about 4.3 billion addresses. That sounded limitless in the 1980s and ran out in the 2010s. IPv6 uses 128 bits, giving a number so large it is effectively inexhaustible.

Most connections now run both at once. See IPv4 vs IPv6 for the full comparison.

Because they share one. Your router holds a single public address and uses Network Address Translation to multiplex every device behind it. Each device gets its own private address on the inside, and the router rewrites the traffic on the way out.

No. Geolocation databases resolve an address to a city or region, and the coordinates they return are frequently the centre of a city or the location of an ISP facility. Being several kilometres off is the normal case, not the exception.

The link between an address and a named subscriber exists only inside your internet provider's records, and in most countries they release it only in response to a court order or a law enforcement request.

For most people, no. Every website, game server and email host you touch already has it — that is how the internet functions.

There are two realistic risks. The first is a denial-of-service attack, where someone floods your connection to knock you offline; this happens mostly to streamers and competitive gamers, and your ISP can usually help. The second is an attack against your router itself, which only works if the router has an unpatched vulnerability or exposed admin access. Keeping router firmware updated and remote administration turned off closes that door.

Yes, and it is the one thing a VPN reliably does. Sites see the VPN server's address instead of yours.

What it does not do is make you anonymous. Cookies, browser fingerprints and any account you log into identify you regardless. It also moves trust rather than removing it: your provider can no longer see your traffic, but the VPN company can. See how to hide your IP address for the honest version.

No, and this is the single most common misunderstanding about it. Private browsing only stops your own device from keeping history, cookies and form data after you close the window. Your IP address, your internet provider and every site you visit are entirely unaffected.

Several options, from least to most effort:

• Unplug your router for a few minutes; many providers issue a different address on reconnection.
• Connect through a VPN, which replaces it immediately.
• Switch to mobile data, which puts you on a different network entirely.
• Ask your provider directly — most will reset it, and some sell static addresses.

Most residential connections use dynamic allocation. Your router leases an address for a set period, and when the lease expires it renews — sometimes with the same address, sometimes with a different one. Providers do this because it lets them serve more customers from a limited pool.

Because IP geolocation is an estimate. Mobile networks route traffic through regional gateways that may be in another city. Some ISPs register whole blocks to a head office. VPNs deliberately relocate you. If the map on our homepage points somewhere you have never been, nothing is broken.

Usually the address you were assigned was used for abuse by a previous holder, or it belongs to a range associated with VPNs and data centres. Request a new address from your provider, turn off any VPN, or contact the site and give them the exact address so they can review it.

A static address never changes. It is genuinely useful if you host a server, run security cameras you check remotely, need reliable remote desktop access, or must be allow-listed by a corporate system.

For ordinary browsing, streaming and gaming, it adds nothing. Most providers charge extra for it, and dynamic DNS solves the common cases for free.

No. There is no application server and no database behind these tools. Lookups run in your browser against public APIs, and results are cached only in your own tab. Our privacy policy covers what our hosting and advertising partners receive.

Yes, all of them, with no account and no limits. The site is funded by the advertising you see around the content.

Almost always an ad blocker or privacy extension blocking the public API the tool calls. Pausing the extension for this site resolves it. Strict corporate firewalls can have the same effect.