IP address meaning
An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a numeric label that identifies a device on a network and tells other devices where to send data. Just as a postal address lets a letter find a house, an IP address lets a packet find a computer. Every device that communicates over the Internet — phones, laptops, servers, cameras — needs one.
Public vs private IP address
Your public IP address is shown above. It identifies your router, carrier or VPN to the rest of the Internet. Inside your home or office, devices use private addresses from the RFC 1918 ranges and share the public address through NAT. See the full list in our guide to IP address classes and private IP ranges.
IP address examples
192.168.1.1– a typical private router address.8.8.8.8– a public DNS server address.127.0.0.1– loopback, always “this device”.169.254.12.7– link-local (APIPA), assigned when DHCP fails.2001:db8::1– an IPv6 documentation address.
IP address lookup: what you can and can’t learn
The lookup box above analyses the address itself: whether it is public, private, loopback or multicast, its legacy class, its binary, hexadecimal and integer forms, and its reverse DNS (PTR) name. An address does not by itself reveal a person or an exact location, and we do not attempt to guess one. To work out the network an address belongs to, use the IP subnet calculator.
Find your IP from the command line
curl https://ipcalc.net/api/my-ip
# {"ip":"203.0.113.7","colo":"BOM"}