The address an external service sees
Your public IP is the address an internet service sees on the connection used to reach it. It can belong to a home router, a mobile carrier, a workplace gateway, a VPN endpoint or a proxy. It is not necessarily the address assigned directly to your device, and it is not a reliable personal identity. Several people can share one public address through network address translation.
This check asks an external IP endpoint to report the source address of a request from your browser. It also shows the limited connection information exposed by your browser, when available. The two types of observation are labelled separately: the external address comes from ipify, while estimates such as effective connection type come from a browser API. Neither is a precise location measurement or a guarantee of network quality.
Compare the address with the route you expect
If you are checking a VPN, connect to the intended endpoint before running the tool. Record the returned address, then compare it with the address your VPN provider or administrator expects. A changed address can be evidence that the HTTP request followed a different route, but the observation says nothing about traffic the page did not generate.
A browser extension proxy may handle only some requests. Split-tunnel VPN rules can intentionally exclude particular applications or destinations. Corporate gateways can route traffic through several egress addresses. If a result is unexpected, look at those policies before concluding that a service has failed. The same browser may also use different paths for IPv4 and IPv6 traffic depending on destination and availability.
This implementation queries one endpoint and reports the address that endpoint observes. It does not make independent IPv4-only and IPv6-only measurements or claim to enumerate every available route. For a more complete investigation, compare with the WebRTC candidate test and appropriate operating-system network tools. Keep the checks close together in time so that a reconnection does not confuse the comparison.
The Overview tab explains the findings. Measured data lets you search individual fields and values, while JSON report shows the complete export. Export JSON to retain a baseline, or print the findings for your own records. Review the report before sharing it: browser characteristics, token claims, and file names can reveal information about your setup.
Read browser connection hints as estimates
Some browsers implement the Network Information API. It may expose an effective connection type, an estimated downlink rate, a round-trip-time estimate and a data-saving preference. These are hints intended to help websites adapt content. They are not a dedicated speed test and may be rounded or deliberately reduced. Other browsers do not expose them at all.
An effective type such as 4g describes a performance category, not proof that the device is connected to a fourth-generation cellular network. A laptop on Wi-Fi can receive the same label. Likewise, the downlink estimate is not the advertised speed of your broadband plan and should not be used as evidence in a dispute with a provider.
The browser’s online flag is another limited signal. It can indicate that the device has some network connectivity while a captive portal, firewall or service outage prevents access to the destination you care about. A successful response from the IP endpoint is evidence that this particular request completed. It does not prove that DNS, email, streaming or every website is functioning normally.
Avoid identity and location assumptions
IP geolocation databases infer locations from allocation and routing information. This tool does not query a geolocation database or show a made-up city. A VPN exit may be physically or administratively associated with a different location than expected, and carrier networks can route traffic through distant gateways. An IP address alone cannot reliably locate a person’s home or establish who used a connection.
Public addresses can be dynamic. Reconnecting a router, moving between cellular towers, changing networks or rotating a VPN endpoint can produce a new result. Conversely, a stable address does not prove that the same user is present. Shared office networks and carrier-grade NAT can aggregate many unrelated devices behind one visible source address.
If you plan to share the report, consider whether the address is necessary for the discussion. A public IP is not a password, but it can disclose network affiliation or become useful context when combined with other information. For general browser troubleshooting, the connection API’s availability may be enough; you do not always need to post the complete address.
What each connection field represents
| Field | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Public IP | The source address observed by api.ipify.org for this request. |
| Effective connection type | A browser performance hint, not a physical network identification. |
| Downlink / RTT | Browser-provided estimates; not a fresh bandwidth benchmark. |
| Save-Data | A preference signal that can help websites reduce data usage. |
Strengths and limitations
What this is useful for
The check gives a direct external observation and keeps it separate from browser estimates. It is useful for documenting HTTP egress after a network change and for comparing a VPN configuration. Unsupported browser hints are shown as unavailable rather than replaced with guessed values.
What to keep in mind
One request does not audit all traffic, enumerate every address family or verify a VPN kill switch. The tool provides no city-level geolocation, IP reputation judgement or claim that an address belongs to a particular individual. Network hints are not substitutes for controlled performance measurements.
Common questions
Why is this different from my Wi-Fi address?
Your device may have a private address used inside the local network. A router or carrier can translate that address before traffic reaches the internet. The external service reports the translated source address, which can be shared by many devices and can differ from your operating system’s interface address.
Does this prove that my VPN is connected?
It shows the source address of one browser request. Compare that observation with your expected VPN egress, but also inspect the VPN application’s state and routing rules. Browser-only proxies, split tunnels and other applications may follow different paths that this check does not exercise.
Who receives the lookup request?
When you press the button, your browser requests api.ipify.org directly. That provider sees your connection address and ordinary request metadata. This application does not ask for an account, send a browser fingerprint with the request or upload the combined diagnostic report.
Why is the network information section unavailable?
Support for the Network Information API varies across browser engines and privacy configurations. An unavailable section does not imply a faulty connection. The public IP request can still succeed independently, because it uses an ordinary external HTTP request rather than that optional API.