This web app uses various innovative techniques to find and reveal your real IP address. It uses different methods (server-side, online-services, webrtc) to detect your real IP address and also bypasses IP spoofing techniques (i.e. VPN, proxy, etc).

IP (Internet Protocol) address is used to connect a device to a network. The IP is either local or remote. The local IP address is used in a local network to allow a computer to be identified among other machines in the same network. This address could be similar in various networks since each network only sees its own internal devices. The remote public IP address, however, is unique for each device and can be used to identify the computer on the world wide web. Since this IP address is unique, it contains information about the region where this device is connected. It is a known method for servers to provide targetted contents for websites, for instance, a localized version of web pages based on the GEO location that is extracted from this IP address. It is also important to note that the IP address can also be used to track users.

What is IPv4?

Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is the 4th version of the Internet Protocol. It is one of the first protocols designed for the internet and was deployed first in 1983. This protocol uses 32-bit integer value for generating internet addresses.

What is IPv6 used for?

IPv6 is a new replacement to the traditional IPv4 address. As mentioned above, the IP4 uses 32-bit number to define both network and host address and it is limited to around 4 billion unique numbers. Since nowadays almost all the smart devices and gadgets are connected to the Internet, IPv4 addresses cannot provide enough unique IP addresses as needed, therefore, the new version of the IP protocol (IPv6) is gradually replacing it to offer a virtually limitless number of unique addresses.

How can I get my IP address

In this web app, there are 3 methods available to find the user's IP address:

1. From Server Response: in order to be able to get the response from the server, your browser needs to provide the IP address to servers. So, basically, the server that is delivering content to the user must have some sort of IP address of the client. In PHP server language, the IP can be retrieved from 'REMOTE_ADDR', 'HTTP_CLIENT_IP', 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR', 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED', 'HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP', 'HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR', 'HTTP_FORWARDED' properties of the global $_SERVER variable. If the server is not in PHP, it is still capable of finding equivalent variables.
2. Remote Services: There are many online services that have different methods to reveal the user's IP addresses. Some of these services are listed above.
3. Via WebRTC: WebRTC which is a new real-time communication protocol also needs to know your IP address so that a direct connection can be established. Unfortunately, this method can also be used to track users - real - IP address which is listed in section #3 of this page.

Technical notes about IP address

All machines are programmed specifically to respond to unique identifiers. This is to specify the domains and area of one command and to make sure it reaches the correct destination. The computers today on the internet use the TCP/IP protocol as the standard for network communication. In this protocol, the unique identifier for a computer is known as its IP address.

Types of IP address

IP addresses can be divided into two standards. One is the IP Version 4 (IPv4) and IP Version 6 (IPv6). Almost all the computers with IP addresses have an IPv4 address because the use of the IPv6 address system is still new but is making waves across the computers rapidly as well. Following is a detailed version for understanding the two standards. IPv4 runs on 32 binary bits to produce one single unique address on a network. An IPv4 address is defined by four numbers which are separated by dots. Every number represents an eight-digit binary (base-2) number, also called an octet; for example 430.24.60.130. IPv6 runs on 128 binary bits to produce the single unique address on a network. An IPv6 address is defined by eight groups of hexadecimal (base-16) numbers which are separated by using colons for instance: cdba: 0000:0000:0000:0000:3893:4589.

Allocation of IP address for your computer

IP addresses are also of two kinds, they can either be dynamic or static. A static address is configured by you manually by going through your computer’s network settings. Static addresses are usually rare, and they might create problems if you lack an understanding of IP. Dynamic IP addresses, on the other hand, are quite common, they are issued based on using a leasing system, meaning they are only active for a restricted period. When the lease expires for dynamic addresses, computers automatically generate a request for a new lease resulting in a new IP address for the computer as well.

Assigning of addresses by DHCP

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) which is responsible for assigning the dynamic IP addresses. DHCP typically runs on network hardware. This involves devices like routers or special DHCP servers. When you have added a computer to your network, you need to complete a four-step guide to obtain an IP address from DHCP.

1. a. Sending a broadcast message through the server on the network. This will help you in easily discovering the DHCP service provider.
2. b. Every DHCP provider hears your message and recognizes the unique hardware address of the computer. After this, it sends back a message enclosing the list of its services to that computer.
3. c. Next, the computer selects a DHCP provider itself from the services offers and then sends a request to the specific provider for an IP address allocation.
4. d. The DHCP provider then reviews your request and issues a unique IP address to your computer. The IP addresses do not match in any capacity to other addresses on the same network.

What is the meaning of the"(approximate)" keyword in the IP list?

A method with "(approximate)" label on it tries to find the nearest server that is responsible for delivering content to your browser. It means that your client is near to the area of this server. This IP can be used to find your approximate location by converting the server's IP address to its physical location.

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