IP Address Lookup
Find your public IP address and look up location info for any IP.
What Is an IP Address?
An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique numerical label assigned to every device connected to a computer network. It serves two purposes: identifying the host or network interface, and providing the location of the device in the network. Every website you visit, every email you send, and every online service you use relies on IP addresses to route data to the correct destination. Think of it as a postal address for your device on the internet.
IPv4 vs IPv6
IPv4 addresses are 32-bit numbers, typically written as four decimal numbers separated by dots (e.g., 192.168.1.1). With about 4.3 billion possible addresses, IPv4 ran out of available addresses. IPv6 was developed to solve this, using 128-bit addresses written in hexadecimal (e.g., 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334). IPv6 provides 340 undecillion addresses — enough for the foreseeable future.
How IP Geolocation Works
IP geolocation maps an IP address to a physical location using databases maintained by organizations like MaxMind, IP2Location, and regional internet registries (RIRs). These databases correlate IP address blocks with geographic information from ISP registrations. Accuracy varies: country-level is 95-99% accurate, city-level is 50-80% accurate, and exact location is rarely possible without additional data. VPNs and proxies can make geolocation inaccurate.
Public vs Private IP Addresses
Public IP addresses are globally unique and routable on the internet — this is the address websites see when you visit them. Private IP addresses (like 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, 172.16-31.x.x) are used within local networks and are not routable on the public internet. Your router uses NAT (Network Address Translation) to let multiple devices share one public IP address, which is why all devices on your home network appear to have the same public IP.
Hiding Your IP Address
VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) encrypt your traffic and route it through servers in other locations, masking your real IP. Proxy servers act as intermediaries but may not encrypt traffic. The Tor network routes traffic through multiple volunteer nodes for maximum anonymity but at the cost of speed. Each method has trade-offs between privacy, speed, and convenience. For most users, a reputable VPN provides sufficient privacy.