Where this number comes from
A web page cannot read its own public IP address. The browser has no API for it, and for good reason — your address is a property of the network connection, not of the document. The only thing that knows it is whatever server you are talking to, because the address is where it must send the reply.
So this page asks our own server. A tiny endpoint returns the address it sees on your connection, and that is what appears above. There is no third party in the loop for the number itself, and no backend process either — the web server answers from a variable it already holds, which is why the answer arrives instantly.
Why showing both IPv4 and IPv6 needs two hostnames
When you open a site, your system picks one protocol for that connection. If it chooses IPv6, the server only ever sees your IPv6 address — your IPv4 one is not part of the conversation at all. A single request can therefore never reveal both.
The way around it is to make two requests that are forced onto different protocols, using
hostnames that publish only one record type each: ipv4. resolves solely to an
A record, ipv6. solely to an AAAA record. The page calls both in the
background. If one comes back empty, that protocol genuinely is not available on your
connection — which is a useful diagnostic in itself.
What an IP address actually reveals
- Your provider, reliably. Addresses are allocated in blocks to networks, each identified by an ASN. This mapping is public and accurate.
- A rough location, unreliably. Geolocation databases infer position from where a provider routes traffic. City-level is often right for home broadband, usually wrong for mobile, and frequently wrong for corporate or satellite connections.
- Not your identity. Only your provider can link an address to an account, and only for the period it was assigned. That linkage requires legal process.
- Not your street address. If a site claims to know your exact address from your IP, it is guessing from the provider's routing region.
The browser panel
The second card is a different kind of exposure, and often the more surprising one. Nothing there involves your IP: it is what your browser tells every site you visit, automatically, as part of normal operation — user agent, languages, screen dimensions, pixel ratio, CPU core count, timezone.
Individually those values are unremarkable. Combined, they form a fingerprint that is frequently unique enough to recognise you across sites without any cookie at all. That is why the panel is here: hiding your IP behind a VPN does very little if the fingerprint stays constant. Browsers that resist fingerprinting work by normalising exactly these values.
Privacy
Your address appears in our access log, the same as on any website. The provider and location lookup is made by your browser directly to a public API — that request does not go through us, so its result is never visible to us and never stored.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my IP change?
Most home connections get a dynamic address from the provider, reassigned when the router reconnects or after a lease expires. Mobile networks change it even more often as you move between towers. A fixed address is normally a paid business option.
Why do I see no IPv6?
Because your provider or your local network has not enabled it. Roughly half of internet users still have IPv4 only. If your provider supports IPv6 but your router does not have it switched on, enabling it in the router settings is usually all it takes.
Can someone find my home address from my IP?
No. IP geolocation resolves to the provider's routing region — commonly the right city, often only the right state, sometimes the wrong one entirely. What an IP does reliably identify is your provider, who can link it to your account. That link is only accessible with a legal order.
Does a VPN change what this page shows?
Yes. With a VPN the address shown is the VPN server's, and the provider lookup will name the VPN company or its hosting provider. That is precisely how you verify a VPN is actually routing your traffic — load this page with it on and off.
Are you logging my IP?
Your address appears in the standard web-server access log, like on any site you visit. The provider and location lookup is a request your own browser makes directly to a third-party API — it does not pass through us, so we never see the result.