Quick answer
- Country, approximate city, ISP — yes, visible to every site you visit
- Your name, exact home address, what you type — no
- VPN connected? Sites usually see the VPN exit IP for browser traffic routed through that VPN
- Mobile/CGNAT can shift cities by hundreds of km — that's expected
What you see on this page
| Data type | Example | Meaning | Visible to websites? |
|---|
| IPv4 | 203.0.113.7 | Common 32-bit address format | Yes |
| IPv6 | 2001:db8::1 | Modern 128-bit format; may co-exist with IPv4 | Yes |
| Location signal | Country → City (approx.) | Estimated from provider data | Yes |
| ISP / ASN | AS12345 (Example ISP) | Identifies provider network | Yes |
| User-Agent | Chrome on Windows | Browser string for compatibility | Yes |
How it works
- Your provider assigns a public IP to your router or gateway (devices at home use private IPs).
- Sites see the public IP and look it up in one or more geolocation databases for country/city and ISP/ASN.
- Different networks (Wi-Fi vs mobile/VPN) can show different IPs and locations — that's expected.
Accuracy & privacy notes
- IP geolocation is approximate. It can resolve to an ISP hub or gateway rather than your exact place.
- VPN/proxy purposely shows the exit server location (by design); mobile/CGNAT can shift cities.
- No personal name or street address can be derived from an IP alone.
Why two IP checkers show different results
Open two “what is my IP” sites side by side and they often disagree. Usually each is right about something different.
| What differs | Why | What to check |
|---|
| The address itself | Your browser reached one site over IPv6 and the other over IPv4. Browsers try IPv6 first and fall back to IPv4 when IPv6 is slow or the site has none (Happy Eyeballs, RFC 8305). Both addresses are yours. | The Version row above; the IPv6 Leak Test shows whether your browser also exposes a public IPv6 address. |
| The city | Each site reads its own geolocation database (MaxMind, IP2Location, ipinfo, DB-IP and others), refreshed on its own schedule. | Trust the country; treat the city as an estimate. |
| The country | Some databases fall back to the country where the network was registered, not where it is used. Providers that publish a geofeed (RFC 8805) are placed more consistently. | IP Geolocation Lookup for a second reading. |
| The provider name | One site shows the retail ISP brand, another the company that owns the ASN, a third a hosting customer or reseller. | ASN Lookup names who announces the range. |
| The result after a change | A site cached your previous lookup, or the VPN reconnected to a new exit between the two checks. | Use Recheck here and reload the other site. |
Is my IP shared, public, or a VPN’s?
- Shared: mobile carriers and some fibre providers put many customers behind one public address (carrier-grade NAT). If your router’s WAN address is in 100.64.0.0/10 (RFC 6598), you are behind it. More in What is CGNAT?
- Public: the address shown above is public by definition: it is the one the internet sees. The 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x address in your device settings is private and is not what sites see.
- A VPN’s: with a VPN on, the Network row should name the VPN’s hosting provider, not your ISP. If it still names your ISP, browser traffic is not going through the tunnel; run the VPN Leak Test.
Verify IPv4/IPv6 and common leaks
- Run the VPN Leak Test to combine IP, DNS, WebRTC, IPv6, and browser signals.
- Run DNS Leak Test to review common DNS exposure signals.
- Run WebRTC Leak Test to check whether your browser exposes IP candidates.
- Run IPv6 Leak Test if your provider supports IPv6 and you want to compare both stacks.
- Read the Methodology to understand what these browser diagnostics can and cannot prove.
Learn more