Guides/How we detect your IP address
How we detect your IP address
IP checkers look simple: open a page, see a number. Underneath, the server must read connection metadata, optionally run extra probes for IPv4/IPv6, and enrich the result with network databases. Here is how getwhatismy.com approaches that—transparently.
Server-seen address
The primary public IP is the address of the client connection that hit our servers (after any trusted proxy headers your host provides). That matches what an ordinary website would see for the same request path.
If headers are missing or ambiguous, we prefer showing Unavailable over inventing a value.
Dual-stack probes
A single HTTP request uses one address family. To reveal both, the browser requests dedicated IPv4-only and IPv6-only hostnames when JavaScript is available. Each probe returns the family-specific address when the path works.
This is why the interactive result can show more detail than a noscript fallback.
Enrichment: location, ISP, ASN
We look up city/region/country and ASN-related hints in local DB-IP Lite databases and may use reverse DNS for hostname/ISP clues. Those fields are estimates with known error modes—see our guides on location accuracy and ASN/ISP.
Attribution: IP Geolocation by DB-IP.
What we cannot know from IP alone
Street address, exact GPS, who is holding the phone, or your private LAN IP are not available from a public IP lookup. Local IP requires client-side APIs; GPS altitude requires permission.
Results are for information and troubleshooting. See Terms and Privacy.
Try it
Start on the [home IP check](/), compare IPv4 and IPv6, then open location or ISP for context.