What is my IP address?

Learn more about IP addresses

In the sections below we explain what is an IP address, what is your IP location, the different types of IP addresses, and how to mask your IP address.

• What is an IP address?
• How do I check my IP address?
• How does my device get assigned an IP address?
• What is an IPv4 address?
• What is an IPv6 address?
• What is a public IP address?
• What is a private IP address?
• Static vs. dynamic IP address
• What is my IP Location?
• What can someone do with my IP address?
• How do I hide my IP address?

An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique identifier for each device on a network, such as the internet.

The primary purpose of an IP address is to allow devices find and communicate with each other. Without specific IP addresses, devices wouldn’t be able to communicate with each other over the internet.

In other words, IP addresses are somewhat comparable to postal addresses.

In a typical household, there are multiple devices connected to a single internet connection through a router (or combination of routers). In this scenario, all these devices have the same public IP Address.

If one of these devices (e.g. your cell phone) is connected to the internet through a wireless carrier, it would have a different IP address than a device connected to your home router (and through an internet service provider).

The secondary purpose of an IP address is for location addressing. In other words, to place your device in a approximate physical location in the world (also known as geolocation).

Checking your IP address is very easy. Use our tool from any web browser and it’ll display: your IP address (IPv4 and/or IPv6), IP location, hostname, and user agent.

You can also use a script to check your IP address automatically. If that’s what you want to do, use the https://ip4.top10vpn.com/ URL, instead.

If you want to look up an IP address (not necessarily yours), then use an IP Address Lookup tool.

When you connect to the internet, your internet provider (wireless carrier, local internet service provider, etc) assigns you an IP address.

There are different types of IP addresses available: IPv4, IPv6, static and dynamic. We explain each type in the section below.

A web-connected device is assigned an IP address in order to find, send and receive information from other devices connected to the internet.

There are two types of IP address protocols in use around the world: IPv4 (IP4) and IPv6 (IP6).

IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) was introduced in 1981, way before the huge growth of internet-connected devices.

IPv4 uses a 32-bit address structure, which supports approximately 4.3 billion IP addresses.

Each IPv4 address is unique and will usually look like this: 192.0.2.235. The IP address is separated into four fields of digits, with each field representing a ‘byte.’

IPv4 is still the most-used Internet Protocol (78-80% penetration), however IP4 addresses are running out quickly.

With increasing numbers of people around the world using the internet, there just aren’t enough IPv4 addresses for every internet user.

First introduced in 1995, IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) solves the supply problem of IPv4 addresses.

Differently to IPv4, IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, which gives IPv6 a capacity of up to 340 undecillion IP addresses!

Here is an example of what an IPv6 address looks like: 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334.

IPv6 addresses aren’t as widespread as IPv4, but if you’ve been assigned one then you should experience faster, safer and more reliable internet data transfers.

According to a Google study, global IPv6 adoption currently sits between 20% and 22%. However, in the US IPv6 penetration is over 30%.

You should note that a device using an IPv4 address can’t communicate with another device (or server) using IPv6.

IP addresses come in two types: public and private.

Your public IP address is the IP address visible to other devices you connect to on the internet. It’s also known as the ‘external’ IP address.

For example, when you visit Top10vpn.com without a VPN, we can see your public IP address and we’ll display it in our tool (don’t worry, we won’t store your IP address!).

Typically, if someone talks about an “IP Address” they are referring to their public IP address, not their private IP.

Your private IP address is the IP address assigned within your internal network, for example at home or at your office.

If you have devices connected to your home or office router, the router will assign each device a private IP address. This lets the router distinguish internet traffic going to and from each device.

Importantly, when you visit an external website or open up a mobile application, only your public IP address is visible.

Private IP ranges

Private IP addresses look different to public IP addresses, and fall into these three ranges:

• 10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255
• 172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255
• 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255

To see your private IP addresses, you’ll have to log into your router using the details provided by your router vendor or supplier, or look at the network settings on your device.

When your ISP assigns you a public IP address, you’ll either get a static or a dynamic address.

Static public IP addresses

A static public IP address means that your IP address will always remain the same. That’s unless you switch ISP, or you relocate.

Static IP addresses make connecting remotely to your computer or other home equipment easier, because your IP address never changes.

However, static IP addresses do pose some security risks. Since the IP address never changes, it’s easier for hackers to locate the relevant DNS server. If you’re interested, you can use our other tool to check your DNS server.

For residential connections, most ISPs assign dynamic public IP addresses. This means your IP address will change over time – typically when your router reconnects to the ISP after a reboot or network outage.

Dynamic public IP addresses

Dynamic IP addresses are assigned by Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) servers and change over time. Your IP address can change a few times a year, or several times a month.

ISPs are increasingly assigning dynamic IP addresses because they cost less to maintain. They can be frequently re-used and re-assigned to devices connecting to the internet. As opposed to having each customer always using the same static IP address.

In practice, having a dynamic IP address doesn’t change the way you use the internet. However, dynamic IP addresses make remotely accessing computers, equipment or web resources more difficult.

For instance, to connect to your PC or Webcam remotely, you need to know your IP address. That can become a problem if your IP address changes regularly.

You have two options to fix remote access issues caused by frequently changing IP addresses:

• Ask your internet service provider for a static IP address.
• Purchase a dedicated IP address from a trusted proxy or VPN service. We recommend using CyberGhost’s dedicated IP address solution.

When an IP checker tool detects an IP address, it queries a database (e.g. ARIN) to find the specific area in the world where the IP address is mapped to. This ‘area’ is known as your IP’s geolocation.

IP address locations are not the most accurate, but they do reveal in which city you appear to be located, and who your internet service provider is.

Your IP address reveals certain information about you. For example, where you’re located (approximately) and what internet-connected devices you use.

Furthermore, your ISP or mobile carrier can see what websites you visit through your public IP address.

Below is a short list of actions companies and individuals can take once they know your IP address:

• Determine your approximate location. Your IP address reveals your country, city, and sometimes your ZIP code.
• Block your IP address and restrict access to web services.
• Carry out a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. This involves sending huge amounts of traffic to your IP address server, causing the server to crash. When this happens, you’re internet connection drops.
• Scan for open ports. Hackers can scan open ports to identify your devices’ vulnerabilities to online attacks.
• Doxing. By obtaining your IP address, someone can dox you. This means uncovering your real identity, personal information, and releasing it to the public.
• Targeted advertising based on IP address. Businesses can display online ads only targeting specific IP addresses.

As detailed above, there are risks associated to individuals and companies knowing your IP address.

As such, we believe it’s very important to hide your IP address. The most common and user-friendly ways to do this are to use a web proxy, or a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Hiding your IP address with a web proxy

A web proxy (usually available via a website, or web application) lets you route internet traffic from applications on your device to a proxy server, and then on to your web destination.

Proxies are typically setup on an application by application basis, e.g. a web browser.

When you connect to a proxy server, your IP address changes to one assigned by the server. This masks your true IP address while using a proxied application, and the websites you visit only see the proxy’s IP address.

Hiding your IP address with a VPN

A VPN is a better software version of a web proxy, which you can install and use on most devices.

Like a proxy, VPNs divert your internet traffic through a private server, which assigns you a different IP address.

Unlike proxies, secure VPNs use sophisticated connection protocols (e.g. OpenVPN and WireGuard), and encryption (e.g. AES 256-bit), to further secure your internet data transfers.

The best VPN services route all your internet traffic through a secure VPN server. They anonymize your web activity, regardless of which application you’re using.

If you’re already using a VPN service, use our IP and DNS leak test tool to verify your IP and DNS credentials are not being exposed.