What Is My IP Address on Computer and Router? (Windows/Mac Guide)

This guide covers: What Is My IP Address on Computer and Router? (Windows/Mac Guide).

If you are asking "what is my IP address on computer," you are usually mixing together three different addresses: your computer's local IP, your router's gateway IP, and your public IP on the wider internet. They are related, but they are not interchangeable. Once you separate those roles, it becomes much easier to troubleshoot Wi-Fi issues, router-login problems, port forwarding, and the common confusion around what websites actually see.

What "my IP address" means depends on where you are looking from

Your computer usually has a local/private IP inside the home or office network. The router also has a local gateway address on that same LAN. Then, on the outside, the router or modem-facing device presents a public IP to the internet. That public IP is what websites, game servers, and external services usually see.

So when someone asks for the "internet address of my computer," the best answer is: it depends on scope. Inside the LAN, your computer has one address. To the public internet, your traffic often shares the router's public IP with every other device in the house. That is why a laptop can be 192.168.1.25 locally while websites see the household as one public address.

The three addresses you should distinguish

• Computer IP: the local address assigned to your device by the router or DHCP server, often in a private range such as 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, or 172.16-31.x.x.
• Router LAN IP: the default gateway used by local devices to reach the rest of the network, often 192.168.1.1, 192.168.0.1, or 10.0.0.1.
• Public IP: the internet-facing address announced by the connection. This is what our IP checker shows.

How to find your computer's IP address

On Windows, the quickest route is:

ipconfig
ipconfig /all

Look for IPv4 Address under the active adapter and for Default Gateway if you also want the router IP.

On macOS, a practical check is:

ifconfig
networksetup -getinfo Wi-Fi

On Linux, the equivalent is usually:

ip addr
ip route

In each case, the local IP appears on the active interface, and the router IP usually appears as the default route or gateway.

How to find the router IP correctly

The router IP you use for admin access is typically the default gateway on the local network, not your public IP. That is why common router login addresses include 192.168.1.1, 192.168.0.1, 10.0.0.1, and occasionally 192.168.100.1 for certain modem/router combinations.

If you only need the exact steps, our Find My Router IP guide is the focused version. The important concept here is that the router gateway address is a local control point, not the same identifier that outside services use for your connection.

How to check your true public IP

Your public IP is the address exposed when your network traffic leaves the router and hits the public internet. The fastest check is the homepage lookup, which shows the visible IP, basic location, and network owner. That is the answer people usually want when they search for "what is my IP address."

If you compare the public result with the local address from ipconfig or ifconfig, you will immediately see why they differ. The local address is scoped to your home or office network. The public address is shared at the internet edge.

Why the router's WAN IP and your public IP can still differ

In a typical home connection, the router's WAN-side address and the public IP reported by a website line up closely. But if the ISP uses carrier-grade NAT, the router may receive an upstream-facing address that is still not the final public identity visible on the open internet. That is why comparing the router status page with an external IP check can reveal an extra translation layer you did not realize existed.

This matters most for gaming, self-hosting, remote cameras, and port forwarding. Ordinary browsing works fine through CGNAT, so users do not notice it until they expect inbound reachability or a one-to-one public address relationship.

Where this matters in practice

• Router login and admin access. You need the gateway IP, not the public IP, to open the router interface.
• Game hosting and remote access. Port forwarding is configured toward the local device IP but depends on public reachability.
• VPN checks. A VPN usually changes the public IP, not the private LAN address on your laptop.
• Printer and NAS troubleshooting. Local devices are reached through their private addresses, not through the public IP.
• Support tickets. Many misunderstandings vanish once you specify whether you are talking about the device IP, the router gateway, or the public WAN address.
• Double NAT and CGNAT diagnosis. Comparing router WAN IP and public IP reveals when another translation layer exists upstream.

Router IP, modem IP, and RIP are three different things

People also search for phrases like "router information protocol" and then confuse that with the router's address. These are unrelated.RIP usually means Routing Information Protocol, a legacy routing protocol used between routers. It is not the number you type into the browser to open the admin panel.

A modem admin IP is another separate concept. Some ISP modem/router combos expose local management at addresses such as 192.168.100.1. That address is still local to the device or LAN. It is not proof of what the public internet sees.

DHCP changes are why yesterday's device IP may stop working

Most home routers assign local addresses dynamically with DHCP. That means your laptop, printer, NAS, or console can receive a different private address after reconnecting or rebooting. If a bookmark, firewall rule, or port-forward target suddenly stops working, the device may have simply moved from one LAN address to another.

When a stable local IP matters, the cleaner solution is usually a DHCP reservation on the router rather than guessing or constantly rechecking. That keeps the local network predictable while preserving the same broad difference between device IP, router IP, and public IP.

How IPv6 changes the "computer IP vs router IP" question

Everything above assumed IPv4. With IPv6, the relationship between computer IP, router IP, and public IP shifts:

• Every IPv6-enabled device gets its own globally unique address.There is no NAT translation between the device and the public internet by default. Your computer's IPv6 address is also the address websites see.
• The router IPv6 address is just one device in the range. Instead of acting as the public translation point (the way it does for IPv4 NAT), the router relays a block of public IPv6 addresses to each device on the LAN.
• Link-local addresses start with fe80:: and only work inside the local network. If ifconfig shows only anfe80:: address, your IPv6 is incomplete and not reaching the public internet.
• Privacy extensions (RFC 4941) rotate the device portion of your IPv6 address periodically, so the same machine may appear with different IPv6 addresses across sessions even without a VPN. This is enabled by default on modern Windows, macOS, and iOS.

Practical impact: with IPv6, your "computer IP" and "public IP" can be the same. With IPv4, they almost never are. If both protocols are active (dual-stack), a website may see either depending on which the connection prefers.

How to find each IP on Windows, Mac, and Linux

The three addresses (computer IP, router IP, public IP) live at different layers, so each operating system surfaces them differently. Here are the exact commands and clicks:

Windows 10 and 11

• Computer IP (private): open Command Prompt and run ipconfig. The "IPv4 Address" line under your active adapter (Wi-Fi or Ethernet) is your computer IP. Or: Settings > Network & Internet > active connection > Properties.
• Router IP (default gateway): in the same ipconfigoutput, look for "Default Gateway" under your active adapter. That is the address you type in a browser to open the router admin page.
• Public IP: open a browser and use the homepage checker, or run curl ifconfig.me in PowerShell.

macOS

• Computer IP:Apple menu > System Settings > Network > click the active connection > Details > TCP/IP tab. The IPv4 address shown is your computer IP. Or in Terminal: ipconfig getifaddr en0 for Wi-Fi (en1 for Ethernet on most Macs).
• Router IP:on the same TCP/IP tab look for "Router". Terminal alternative: netstat -nr | grep default.
• Public IP: Terminal curl ifconfig.me or the homepage checker.

Linux

• Computer IP: open Terminal and run ip addr show (or the older ifconfig). The inet address on your active interface (eth0, wlan0) is your computer IP.
• Router IP: run ip route show default— the address after via is the default gateway.
• Public IP: curl ifconfig.me or dig +short myip.opendns.com @resolver1.opendns.com.

Common default router IPs by brand

Most home routers ship with one of a handful of default LAN addresses. If you do not know your router IP and cannot reach the admin page, try these common defaults in a browser:

• TP-Link, D-Link, Linksys, Tenda, ASUS: 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1
• Netgear, Belkin, older Linksys: 192.168.1.1
• Xfinity / Comcast (Arris, Technicolor): 10.0.0.1
• AT&T BGW210, Verizon Fios: 192.168.1.254 (AT&T) or 192.168.1.1 (Verizon)
• BT Smart Hub: 192.168.1.254
• Virgin Media Hub: 192.168.0.1
• Mesh systems (Eero, Google Nest Wifi, Orbi): managed through the vendor app, not a browser admin page; the router IP is typically 192.168.86.1 (Nest Wifi) or assigned dynamically.

For the always-correct answer regardless of brand, use the OS-specific "default gateway" command above.

Common pitfalls and edge cases

• Assuming the local IP is what websites see.In most homes, websites see the shared public IP, not the laptop's private address.
• Using the router LAN IP as if it were the public IP. 192.168.1.1 can be useful for admin access but it is not the address a remote server sees.
• Ignoring CGNAT.If the router's WAN IP is in a CGNAT range, you still may not have a directly usable public IPv4 address.
• Forgetting multiple adapters. Ethernet, Wi-Fi, VPN, virtual machines, and Docker can all create several interface addresses on one computer.
• Mixing up IPv4 and IPv6. Modern devices often carry both. One lookup may show IPv4 while a local command shows several IPv6 entries too.
• Reading a stale public IP. Router reboots, ISP changes, and VPN sessions can alter the visible public address over time.

Useful IP Trackers tools for this workflow

• IP Address Lookup shows the public IP and quick internet-facing network context.
• IP Location Lookup helps confirm what outside services think about the public address.
• ASN Lookup identifies which network is announcing the visible public connection.
• Reverse DNS Lookup can reveal provider or infrastructure naming hints around the public IP.
• WHOIS / RDAP Lookup adds ownership context for public addresses and blocks.

Frequently asked questions

Is my computer IP the same as my router IP? Usually no. Your computer has its own local address, while the router has the gateway address used by devices on the LAN.

Is my router IP the same as my public IP? Often no. The router LAN IP is for local administration. The public IP is the internet-facing address outside sites see.

Why do I have both 192.168.x.x and another IP online? The private address is your local LAN identity. The other address is the public IP representing the whole connection to the internet.

What does 192.168.100.1 usually mean? It is commonly a local management address for certain modem or modem/router devices.

Can my public IP change while my computer IP stays the same? Yes. ISPs and VPNs can change the public-facing address without changing your laptop's private LAN address.

What if I only want the simplest answer? Use the homepage checker for the public IP and a local command like ipconfig or ifconfig for the device IP.

Related reading: Public vs Private IP, Find My Router IP, Find My IP on Windows, Find My IP on Mac, and What Is My IP Address?

By Theodore Uzun

Founder and Senior Software Engineer, IP Trackers

Published February 19, 2026Editorially reviewed