What Is My IP Address? How to Check Your Public IP in 2026
Whether for DevOps troubleshooting, network security, or simply wondering "what is my public IP address", IP lookup is a frequent need for both developers and everyday users. Your public IP is what the internet sees — assigned by your ISP — and is completely different from the local private IP (e.g. 192.168.x.x) assigned by your router.
In 2026, with remote work, VPNs, CDNs, and cloud services all mainstream, knowing an IP's location, ISP, ASN, and IP type (Residential / Datacenter / VPN, etc.) is increasingly important. MeTool's IP lookup tool runs entirely in the browser: it auto-detects your public IP on load, lets you query any IPv4 address, and pins results on an interactive map — no software to install, no sign-up required.
IP Lookup Tool Features
Auto-Detect Your Public IP
The page automatically queries and fills your current public IP into the input field, with city, region, country, ISP/ASN, IP type, timezone and a map pin — all in seconds with zero clicks.
IP Type Detection
One of the tool's standout features. Using ASN-level data from ipapi.is, the tool accurately classifies any IP's network nature: Residential (green) — home broadband users assigned by ISPs like Comcast, China Telecom; Datacenter/Hosting (amber) — cloud providers or IDCs like AWS, Alibaba Cloud, Cloudflare; VPN / Proxy / Tor (red) — known anonymization exit nodes; Mobile (sky blue) — 4G/5G carrier exit IPs; Business (blue) — enterprise-owned ASNs.
Look Up Any IP Address
Type any IPv4 address (e.g. 8.8.8.8) and press Enter or click Lookup to get the full info for that IP. Click 'My IP' to instantly switch back to your own public IP.
Interactive Map with Smart Tile Switching
Each query pins the result on an interactive map. Users in China automatically get Amap (Gaode) tiles; users elsewhere get OpenStreetMap. Seamless and automatic.
Four-Tier Automatic API Fallback
The tool chains ipinfo.io → ipapi.co → freeipapi.com → ipapi.is. If any service is down or times out, it switches to the next automatically — reliable results even when a provider has issues.
Residential IP vs. Datacenter IP — What's the Difference?
The key to classifying an IP is simple: who owns the ASN (Autonomous System Number)?
- Residential IP: The ASN belongs to a consumer ISP that assigns IPs to home broadband subscribers. Examples: China Telecom AS4134, China Unicom AS4837, Comcast AS7922, AT&T. These IPs are hardest for anti-bot systems to flag as automated traffic.
- Datacenter / Hosting: The ASN belongs to a cloud provider or hosting company. Examples: Amazon AS14618, Google AS15169, Cloudflare AS13335, Alibaba Cloud AS37963. Commonly associated with servers, crawlers, and automation tools.
- VPN / Proxy / Tor: The IP range is flagged in threat intelligence databases as a known VPN exit, proxy node, or Tor relay. Accessing some services from these IPs may trigger CAPTCHAs or blocks.
- Mobile: A 4G/5G carrier CGNAT exit IP. One IP often corresponds to many dynamic users sharing the same address.
Understanding IP type is directly valuable for fraud detection, bot detection, VPN verification, and security auditing.
Typical Use Cases for IP Lookup
- Verify your VPN is working: After enabling a VPN, query your IP to confirm it changed and the IP type shows as "VPN". If it still shows Residential, your traffic may not be going through the tunnel.
- Trace malicious request sources: Look up suspicious IPs from your server logs — knowing whether an attacker is using home broadband, a hosting proxy, or a Tor exit helps inform your response strategy.
- CDN node verification: Query the IP a CDN domain resolves to and confirm the IP type is Datacenter and the map pin is in the expected edge region.
- Understand your network exit: On home broadband, mobile data, or public WiFi, instantly see your current public IP, ISP, and IP type to verify your network environment matches your expectations.