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LookupOwl

What is my IP address?

The address the internet sees for you right now, and the network it comes from.

Also look up the reverse DNS name and the registered network (name, range, country) of the address. Each lookup is given about two seconds and is simply left out when it does not answer.

Try:

Your IP address

Checked live lookup17 ms

JSON

Your public IPv4

216.73.216.216

This is the address websites see when you visit them. It belongs to your internet provider, not your device, and may change from time to time.

Network
AWS-ANTHROPIC

216.73.216.0/22

Registered in
Unknown

ARIN registry. This is where the block is registered, not where you are.

Reverse DNS
None

No name is published for it

We keep
Nothing

Shown back to you; we don't cache or log it

Check again

Structured result (JSON) · 373 B
{
  "ip": "216.73.216.216",
  "version": 4,
  "isPublic": true,
  "notes": [],
  "reverseDns": {
    "status": "none",
    "hostnames": []
  },
  "network": {
    "status": "found",
    "name": "AWS-ANTHROPIC",
    "handle": "NET-216-73-216-0-1",
    "cidr": "216.73.216.0/22",
    "range": "216.73.216.0 - 216.73.219.255",
    "rir": "ARIN",
    "type": "Assignment"
  }
}

What you are looking at

The address at the top of the page is your public IP address, the one every website sees when you connect. Your internet provider, mobile carrier, workplace or VPN assigns it to your connection. It does not belong to your laptop or phone. Inside your home your devices use private addresses such as 192.168.1.23, and your router swaps them for the shared public address when traffic leaves the building.

The page shows the address our server received your request from. If your connection works over both IPv4 and IPv6, you may see an IPv6 address such as 2001:db8:1234::5, because devices prefer IPv6 when it works. Your IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are different, and both are valid. Next to the address you see the network it belongs to, its reverse DNS name and the country where its block is registered.

How to use the result

  1. Copy the addressUse the Copy IP button to allow-list your office in a firewall, a database or a cloud console, or to tell support which address you connect from.
  2. Check your providerRead the network name shown with the address, or paste the address into the IP WHOIS lookup for the full record and the abuse contact. An unexpected name is how you spot a VPN or proxy.
  3. Compare it with your routerOpen your router's status page and find its WAN (internet-facing) address. If it is an IPv4 address that differs from the IPv4 address here, another layer of address translation sits between you and the internet. See the questions below.

To get the address from a terminal, call the REST API. The reply is JSON, and the address is in the ip field of data. The flags -4 and -6 force the IP version. Add ?details=false to skip the reverse DNS and network lookups.

Shell
curl -4 https://lookupowl.com/api/v1/tools/what-is-my-ip
curl -6 https://lookupowl.com/api/v1/tools/what-is-my-ip
curl -4 "https://lookupowl.com/api/v1/tools/what-is-my-ip?details=false"

What your IP reveals, and what it does not

  • Your network. Anyone can see which provider or organisation an address is registered to. With details on (the default), the page shows the network's name and address range, the registry that holds the record (such as ARIN or RIPE NCC) and the country where the block is registered.
  • Reverse DNS. This is the hostname your provider published for the address, if there is one. Home connections often have a generic name or none. Each of the two extra lookups gets about two seconds and is left out if it does not answer.
  • Location. LookupOwl does not guess where you are. The country it shows is where the address block is registered. Geolocation databases from other companies do guess. They usually get the country right and the city only sometimes, and mobile and VPN addresses can be far off.
  • Not your name or street address. Only your provider can link an address to a customer, and normally only for a legal request.
  • Not your browsing history. The address says nothing about what you do online. The sites you visit see it, and your provider sees the traffic that passes through it.
Address you seeWhat it is
10.x.x.x, 172.16.x.x to 172.31.x.x, 192.168.x.xPrivate (RFC 1918). This is a local network address that websites never see. If the page shows one, something between you and our server is passing on its own address.
100.64.x.x to 100.127.x.xShared address space (RFC 6598), used by carriers for CGNAT. You see it on your router, not on websites.
127.0.0.1, ::1, 169.254.x.x, fe80::Loopback or link-local. It only means something on your own device or link, so the page tells you it is not a public address.
Any other IPv4 address, such as 203.0.113.7A public address, shared with others or yours alone.
IPv6 starting with 2 or 3, such as 2001:db8::1A global IPv6 address. It is often unique to your connection or device.

Common problems and questions

  • The address is not what my router says. Another layer of address translation sits in between, either carrier-grade NAT at your provider or a second router, such as your provider's modem, in front of yours. The CGNAT question below tells the two apart.
  • It is somewhere I am not. You may be on a VPN, Tor, a company proxy, a school network, Apple's iCloud Private Relay or a mobile carrier gateway in another city. Then the address is the exit point's, not your own. The country shown is where the block is registered, not where you are.
  • It keeps changing. Most home connections have dynamic addresses that change when the router restarts or the lease renews. IPv6 devices also rotate temporary addresses on purpose. Use a dynamic DNS service or ask for a static address if you need stability.
  • I see IPv6 but need IPv4. Run curl -4 from a terminal, or turn IPv6 off on the device for a moment. A connection can have both.
  • The page says my address is not public. Something between you and our server is not passing your public address on. Look up your public address from a device on the same network instead.
  • I was blamed for something I did not do. An address alone proves little. Many customers can share one over time, or at the same moment with CGNAT.

How it works and what we keep

Our CDN passes on the address of the connection that reached our server, and the application reads it from there. Because the answer is about you, it is sent with Cache-Control: private, no-store. It is never cached for anyone else and never put in a shared page. Our logs never contain the address itself. They hold only a keyed hash of your network address that changes every day, as the privacy policy explains.

With details on, the page asks DNS for the reverse name and a public registry for the network record. Those servers see your address in the question, and, as with any lookup, the registry's answer can be held in memory for a short time. Turn details off to skip both. The address shown is not passed to Google Analytics, but like any visit it is counted there, and Google sees the connection the visit comes from.

Standards behind IP addressing

  • RFC 791: IPv4. RFC 8200: IPv6.
  • RFC 1918: private IPv4 ranges. RFC 6598: shared address space for carrier-grade NAT.
  • RFC 8305: Happy Eyeballs, how devices choose between IPv6 and IPv4.
  • RFC 8981: temporary IPv6 addresses for privacy.

Questions people ask

What is my IP address?

It is the address shown at the top of this page. It is the public address your connection uses to reach the internet, assigned by your internet provider, workplace or VPN. Every website you visit sees the same address, and it can change when your router restarts or you switch networks.

Is my public IP address private?

It is not secret, because every site you visit sees it, but on its own it does not name you. Only your provider can say which customer had an address at a given time. LookupOwl does not cache the answer, and our logs never hold the address itself. The privacy policy lists what is kept.

Why do I have an IPv4 and an IPv6 address?

Most networks run both. IPv4 addresses are scarce and often shared, while IPv6 addresses are plentiful. Your device uses whichever works best, so the one this page shows depends on what the device tried first. To see the other, use curl -4 or curl -6, or visit from a network that has only one.

How do I change my IP address?

Connect to a different network, restart your router if your provider hands out dynamic addresses, use a VPN, or ask your provider for a new or static address. Mobile networks change addresses often. After any change, reload this page to confirm the new address.

What is CGNAT and how do I know if I'm behind it?

Carrier-grade NAT lets a provider share one public IPv4 address among many customers, so port forwarding and self-hosting over IPv4 need the provider's help. You are likely behind it if your router's WAN address starts with 100.64 to 100.127. If it starts with 10., 172.16 to 172.31 or 192.168, or is an IPv4 address that differs from the IPv4 address shown here, there is more than one layer of NAT, for example your provider's modem in front of your router.

Can you tell where I live from my IP address?

No. LookupOwl does not locate you. It shows the network that holds the address and the country where that address block is registered, which can differ from where you are. Geolocation databases from other companies only guess at the city. Your name and street address stay with your provider.

Why isn't there an MCP tool for this?

Because a request from an AI assistant arrives from the assistant's servers, so the answer would be their address, not yours. The tool is therefore offered on the web page and the REST API only, where the request really comes from your device.

Does a VPN hide my IP address?

It replaces your address with the VPN's for the sites you visit, while the VPN provider can still see yours. Open this page before you connect and again afterwards. If the address and the network name both changed, the VPN is working.

Use it from AI, the API or the command line

Every LookupOwl tool is also a free API and an MCP tool, with no key and no account. This one is what_is_my_ip. Please be kind to the rate limits.

curl
curl "https://lookupowl.com/api/v1/tools/what-is-my-ip?q=true"

Description for AI agents · OpenAPI · llms.txt