Know Your IP Address FAQ

Question 1

What is my IP address?

Accepted Answer

Your public IP is the address websites see when you connect. Check it free at https://knowyouripaddress.com/ . You get IPv4 or IPv6, city, region, country, and ISP. That is an IP lookup of your own connection, not a name or street.

Question 2

How do I look up someone else’s IP address?

Accepted Answer

Open IP Lookup at https://knowyouripaddress.com/ip-lookup and paste an IPv4 or IPv6 address. You get ISP, hostname, country, region, city, and a map estimate. You will not get a person’s name, phone, or house. You can also pass an address as https://knowyouripaddress.com/ip-lookup?q=8.8.8.8

Question 3

Can someone find me from my IP address?

Accepted Answer

An IP lookup can guess country, often city, and the ISP. It cannot show your street, your name, or a live camera. Police with a warrant go to the ISP. Read https://knowyouripaddress.com/learn/can-someone-find-me-from-ip

Question 4

How do I hide my IP address?

Accepted Answer

A VPN is the usual way. It changes the public IP sites see. Then reload https://knowyouripaddress.com/ to confirm the number changed. Full steps: https://knowyouripaddress.com/hide-my-ip and VPN meaning at https://knowyouripaddress.com/vpn

Question 5

What is a VPN?

Accepted Answer

A virtual private network encrypts traffic to a remote server. Sites see that server’s IP, not the one your ISP assigned. Start at https://knowyouripaddress.com/vpn

Question 6

What is the difference between a MAC address and an IP address?

Accepted Answer

Websites see your public IP. A MAC address stays on your local Wi-Fi. Hiding your IP needs a VPN, not a new MAC. https://knowyouripaddress.com/learn/mac-vs-ip-address

Question 7

Why do all devices at home show the same public IP?

Accepted Answer

NAT on the router shares one public IPv4. That is normal. Details: https://knowyouripaddress.com/learn/what-is-nat

Question 8

How can I tell if someone is on my WiFi?

Accepted Answer

A public IP lookup will not name the extra phone. Check the router’s device list and change the Wi-Fi password. https://knowyouripaddress.com/learn/someone-on-my-wifi

Question 9

What is a DDoS attack?

Accepted Answer

A flood of traffic at a public IP or site until it slows down. Checking what is my IP does not cause it. Posting that IP in a game lobby can. https://knowyouripaddress.com/learn/what-is-ddos

Question 10

What free network tools are on Know Your IP Address?

Accepted Answer

Besides My IP and IP Lookup, the homepage tools cover ASN and ISP lookup, DNS, reverse DNS, CIDR calculators, IP validation, WebRTC diagnostics, latency, a rough speed sample, and a privacy report. The full list is https://knowyouripaddress.com/services Open a tool with a link like https://knowyouripaddress.com/?tool=dns

Question 11

Are the IP tools free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Checking your IP, looking up an IP, the network tools, VPN guides, and Learn articles are free. No account. We do not sell your lookup as a lead.

Question 12

Does every website I visit see my IP address?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Your IP is part of every request your browser makes — without it, the site would have nowhere to send the page back. That is normal and not a hack. What sites do with it is mostly geolocation for language, pricing, and fraud checks.

Question 13

Why does my IP location show a city I have never been to?

Accepted Answer

The location comes from your ISP's records, not from GPS. ISPs route traffic through regional hubs, so the map often points at the hub city. Mobile connections are the worst for this — the city can be hundreds of kilometers off. Country is usually right.

Question 14

What is the difference between IPv4 and IPv6?

Accepted Answer

IPv4 looks like 203.0.113.10 and ran out of spare addresses years ago. IPv6 looks like 2001:db8::1 and has more addresses than we will ever use. Most connections today have both. Test yours at https://knowyouripaddress.com/tools/ipv6-test

Question 15

Does restarting my router change my IP address?

Accepted Answer

Often, but not always. Home connections usually have a dynamic IP, and a restart can pull a new one from the ISP's pool. Some ISPs hold the same address for weeks anyway. Check https://knowyouripaddress.com/ before and after the restart to see if it moved.

Question 16

What is the difference between a static and dynamic IP?

Accepted Answer

A dynamic IP can change whenever your ISP reassigns it — that is what almost every home connection has. A static IP never changes and usually costs extra. You only need static for things like hosting a server or some office VPN setups.

Question 17

What is 192.168.1.1 and why is my IP different on this site?

Accepted Answer

192.168.x.x addresses are private — they only exist inside your home network. Your router holds the single public IP that websites see, and that is the one this site shows. Both are your IP, just on different sides of the router.

Question 18

Can someone hack me if they know my IP address?

Accepted Answer

Knowing your IP alone is not enough to hack you. The realistic risk is a DDoS flood (mostly a gaming problem) or narrowing your rough area. Routers with default passwords and open ports are the real weakness, not the IP being known.

Question 19

Does incognito or private mode hide my IP address?

Accepted Answer

No. Incognito only stops the browser saving history and cookies on your device. Websites see the same IP as always. Hiding the IP itself takes a VPN, proxy, or Tor — see https://knowyouripaddress.com/hide-my-ip

Question 20

What is the difference between a VPN and a proxy?

Accepted Answer

Both swap the IP websites see. A VPN encrypts all your device's traffic at the system level; a proxy usually covers one app or browser and often skips encryption. For privacy, a paid VPN is the safer default. Details at https://knowyouripaddress.com/vpn

Question 21

How can I check if my VPN is actually working?

Accepted Answer

Connect the VPN, then open https://knowyouripaddress.com/ — the IP and city should be the server's, not yours. Then run https://knowyouripaddress.com/tools/webrtc-leak-test because WebRTC can expose your real address even with the VPN on.

Question 22

What is a WebRTC leak?

Accepted Answer

WebRTC is the browser tech behind video calls. While setting up connections it gathers your addresses, and a badly configured setup can hand a website your real IP even behind a VPN. Test it at https://knowyouripaddress.com/tools/webrtc-leak-test

Question 23

Why are my emails bouncing or going to spam?

Accepted Answer

A common cause is your sending IP sitting on a spam blocklist. Test it at https://knowyouripaddress.com/tools/ip-blacklist-check — the tool queries Spamhaus, SpamCop, SORBS and others live and names the exact list. Each list has its own removal process.

Question 24

How do I find out who sent me a suspicious email?

Accepted Answer

Open the email's raw headers (in Gmail: three dots, then Show original) and paste them into https://knowyouripaddress.com/tools/email-header-analyzer — it shows the sending server, the origin IP, and whether SPF, DKIM, and DMARC passed. A DMARC fail on a bank email is a huge red flag.

Question 25

How do I check where a short link goes without clicking it?

Accepted Answer

Paste it into https://knowyouripaddress.com/tools/link-expander — our server follows the redirects and shows the full chain and final domain, so your device never touches the destination.

Question 26

Are QR codes on parking meters and menus safe to scan?

Accepted Answer

Mostly, but sticker-over-the-real-code scams exist. Photograph the code and upload it to https://knowyouripaddress.com/tools/qr-code-decoder — you will see the link as text before deciding to open it. The decoding runs in your browser; the image is not uploaded.

Question 27

How do I check if my password has been leaked?

Accepted Answer

Use https://knowyouripaddress.com/tools/password-checker — it checks the Have I Been Pwned breach database without your password ever leaving the browser (only a 5-character hash prefix is sent). If it appears in breaches, stop using it everywhere, today.

Question 28

How do I find out who owns a website or domain?

Accepted Answer

Run it through https://knowyouripaddress.com/tools/whois-lookup — you get the registration date, registrar, expiry, and nameservers straight from the registry. Owner names are redacted since GDPR, but a shop whose domain is three weeks old tells you enough.

Question 29

There is a device on my WiFi I do not recognize. How do I identify it?

Accepted Answer

Copy its MAC address from your router's device list into https://knowyouripaddress.com/tools/mac-address-lookup to see the manufacturer. Note: modern phones use randomized addresses that show no manufacturer — that mystery device is often your own phone. If in doubt, change the WiFi password.

Question 30

What is DNS in simple terms?

Accepted Answer

The internet's phone book. You type a name like example.com, DNS returns the IP address behind it. Look up any domain's records — including mail servers and nameservers — at https://knowyouripaddress.com/tools/dns-lookup

Question 31

Why does the speed test show less than what I pay for?

Accepted Answer

Our test uses a single download stream, so treat it as a floor. WiFi position, other devices, and busy hours also eat into the number. If a wired connection tests far below your plan at a quiet time, that is worth raising with the ISP. Test at https://knowyouripaddress.com/tools/speed-test

Question 32

Is it legal to look up someone's IP address?

Accepted Answer

Yes. IP lookups read public registry and routing data — the same information every website you visit already processes. What is illegal is misusing it: harassment, DDoS attacks, or attempting to break into a network.

Question 33

Does Know Your IP Address store or sell my lookups?

Accepted Answer

No. Lookups are not tied to accounts (there are none) and we do not sell lookup data as leads. Saved searches on the homepage live in your own browser's storage, which you can clear anytime. More at https://knowyouripaddress.com/about

Question 34

Why is my IP different on my phone than on my WiFi?

Accepted Answer

On WiFi you use your home connection's public IP. On mobile data you use the carrier's, which often changes as you move and is shared with many users through carrier-grade NAT. Same phone, two networks, two IPs — completely normal.

Question 35

What is a passkey and should I use one?

Accepted Answer

A passkey signs you in with Face ID, a fingerprint, or your device PIN instead of a typed password. It is much harder to phish. Turn them on for email and banking where offered. Details: https://knowyouripaddress.com/learn/passkeys-explained

Question 36

Why does Starlink or satellite internet show the wrong city for my IP?

Accepted Answer

Satellite providers map public IPs to gateways and data centers, not your dish. Country is usually right; city often is not. Same pattern as mobile CGNAT. https://knowyouripaddress.com/learn/starlink-satellite-internet

Question 37

How do I secure smart cameras and IoT devices at home?

Accepted Answer

Put them on a guest or IoT Wi-Fi, change default passwords, turn off unused remote access, and keep firmware updated. Checklist: https://knowyouripaddress.com/learn/smart-home-iot-security

Question 38

Can Google or iCloud read the files I upload?

Accepted Answer

On most mainstream clouds the company can access content for features or legal process even when disks are encrypted. Zero-knowledge or end-to-end tools aim to prevent that. https://knowyouripaddress.com/learn/cloud-storage-who-can-read

Question 39

How do I contact Know Your IP Address?

Accepted Answer

Email contact@knowyouripaddress.com or use the form at https://knowyouripaddress.com/contact We never call, text, or message on WhatsApp. Anyone who does is not us.

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