What is an IP address, and what does it tell people about you?
An IP address is a number that identifies a device or network on the internet, the way a postal address identifies a building. Every request you make carries one, so that the reply knows where to go.
Public and private addresses
Your home has one public address, given by your internet provider. It is the one websites see. Inside your home, your router hands out private addresses, usually starting with 192.168 or 10, to your phone, laptop and TV. Those private numbers mean nothing outside your house, which is why many homes can use the same ones. When you ask what is my IP, the answer is the public address.
IPv4 and IPv6
- IPv4 looks like 203.0.113.25. There are only about 4.3 billion of them, and they ran short years ago.
- IPv6 looks like 2001:db8::1 and has an almost unlimited supply.
Most networks now use both. Sometimes a site works on one but not the other, which is one reason a site can load on mobile data and not on Wi-Fi.
Static and dynamic
Most homes get a dynamic address that can change when the router restarts or after some time. Businesses and servers often pay for a static address that never changes, which matters when something must be reachable at a fixed place.
What an IP address reveals
- Your internet provider and roughly where it is based.
- An approximate location, usually the city or region, and often inaccurate.
- Whether you are on a VPN or a business network.
What it does not reveal
- Your name, your home address or your phone number. Only your provider can link an address to an account, and they do so only under legal process.
- What you do on a site, if the connection is encrypted with HTTPS.
- Your exact position. Location from an IP is a rough guess, not GPS.
Why IP addresses cause problems for sites
Sites use addresses to rate limit and block abuse, so sharing one with many people can cause trouble. Office networks, mobile networks and VPNs put thousands of people behind one address. If one of them misbehaves, everyone may see error 429 or error 403. See also VPNs and websites that stop working.
A worked example
You check your address at home and see 86.x.x.x, then again on mobile data and see a different address from another provider. The website sees you as two different visitors in two different networks. If a site works on one and is blocked on the other, the block is tied to the address range, not to you.
Staying private
A VPN replaces the address websites see with the VPN’s. It hides your address from sites, but your VPN provider can see your traffic, so choose one you trust. HTTPS protects content; an address cannot be hidden from the sites you contact without a VPN or similar tool.
Is it down for everyone, or just you? Paste an address and we test it from fifteen places.
Open the checkerRelated guides
- What is DNS, and why does it fail?
- Why a VPN can break websites, and how to fix it
- Website and network terms explained: a plain-English glossary
Last updated 2 November 2026. Written by the siteupdown.com team. Spotted a mistake?