IPv6 test

How this test works

Most networks that support IPv6 also keep IPv4, and browsers quietly pick one per connection. That is why a single what-is-my-IP page cannot tell you the whole story: it shows the address of whichever protocol won the race for that one request. This test forces the question for each protocol separately.

1. The protocol of your request. When the page loads, our server records whether your request arrived over IPv4 or IPv6, and shows that address. If it was IPv4, the IPv4 field is filled in and the IPv6 field waits for the second step. If it was IPv6, the IPv6 field is filled in and the IPv4 field cannot be known from the server side, because your browser did not use IPv4 to reach us.
2. A connection that can only be IPv6. The page script requests an echo endpoint on our probe server at a hostname that has only an IPv6 record. A browser that reaches it does so over IPv6 and nothing else, and the endpoint replies with the address it saw. That address is your public IPv6 address as websites see it. If the request fails, your connection has no usable IPv6 route, and the field says not detected.
3. Comparison. When both addresses are known and the request came over IPv4, the IPv6 address is looked up in the same geolocation database as everything else and its country is compared with the country of the IPv4 address. Different countries while the IPv4 goes through a tunnel is the leak case, scored as a fail worth 15 points in the anonymity score. The same country is reported as a note. No IPv6 is a pass, because nothing can leak over a route that does not exist.

The network field shows the autonomous system that announces the address you reached us with, from the public routing table. For an IPv6 leak it is often the most readable evidence: the IPv4 network says a VPN provider or hosting company, and the IPv6 network says your home ISP.

How to read your result

For proxy and VPN users the row to aim for is the first one: IPv4 shows the exit and IPv6 says not detected. The second row is also fine when the IPv6 address belongs to the same provider as the IPv4 exit. The third row needs fixing before any login that cares where you are, because a site with IPv6 support will see your real network without doing anything unusual.

On a plain home connection the test is informational. Having IPv6 is good for connectivity and nothing here needs changing; the address shown is what sites see, and the IP lookup gives you its location, prefix and registry record.

How to fix it

Two approaches: make the tunnel carry IPv6, or stop IPv6 while the tunnel is up. The first is better when the provider supports it; the second always works.

VPN clients

1. Look for an IPv6 option in the client's settings. If the provider tunnels IPv6, enable it and reconnect; the IPv6 field should then show an address in the exit's country.
2. If the client offers "IPv6 leak protection" or "block IPv6" instead, enable that; it blocks IPv6 on the system while connected, and the field should say not detected.
3. If the client offers neither, use the operating system steps below.

Windows

1. Open Settings, then Network and internet, then Advanced network settings, then More network adapter options. Right-click the active adapter, choose Properties, clear the box next to Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6), and press OK.
2. The same can be done from an administrator PowerShell with Disable-NetAdapterBinding -Name "Wi-Fi" -ComponentID ms_tcpip6, substituting your adapter's name. Re-enable later with Enable-NetAdapterBinding.
3. Reload this page; the IPv6 field should say not detected.

macOS

1. Open System Settings, then Network, select the active service, then Details, then TCP/IP, and set Configure IPv6 to Link-local only or Off.
2. Or in Terminal: networksetup -setv6off Wi-Fi, replacing Wi-Fi with the service name. Restore with networksetup -setv6automatic Wi-Fi.
3. Reload this page.

Linux

1. Temporarily: sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1 and the same for net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6. Persist it in /etc/sysctl.d if you want it to survive a reboot.
2. With NetworkManager, set the connection's IPv6 method to Disabled or Link-local only.
3. Reload this page.

Android and iOS

1. Neither system has a simple IPv6 switch. For mobile data on Android, open the APN settings and set APN protocol to IPv4; carriers vary in whether the setting is editable.
2. The practical fix on phones is a VPN app that either tunnels IPv6 or blocks it while connected; check the app's settings for an IPv6 option.
3. On Wi-Fi, disabling IPv6 on the router affects every device and is the simplest path if you control it.

Routers

1. In the router's WAN or internet settings, disable IPv6, or set it to passthrough off. Devices will then have no IPv6 route at all, which is the cleanest state for an IPv4-only tunnel.

Proxies and antidetect browsers

1. Browser proxies carry what the browser sends through them and do not change the system's IPv6 route; if the browser is allowed to connect directly for any reason, IPv6 is available to it. Disable IPv6 at the system or router level as above.
2. If you need IPv6 to show for a site, you need a proxy that provides an IPv6 exit; an IPv4 proxy cannot produce one.
3. Rerun this test inside the profile after the change.

Limits of this test

• One endpoint, one moment. The IPv6 field reflects whether your browser could reach our IPv6-only endpoint right now. A route that comes and goes, as some mobile networks and tunnels do, may show differently on another run.
• The IPv4 field is unknown when the request arrived over IPv6. The server cannot see an address you did not use. The IP lookup, which prefers IPv4 on most browsers, is the way to see it; it is not something this page can force.
• Country comparison uses the DB-IP Lite database, refreshed monthly. IPv6 blocks are often newer and less precisely located than IPv4 blocks, so a different city or region between the two is normal; a different country is the signal we act on.
• The test depends on our probe server. If the IPv6 field says the test is not available, the probe could not be reached; the request-protocol line at the top is still accurate.
• A browser with IPv6 blocked by an extension or policy will show not detected even though the operating system has a route; other applications on the device may still use it. The test describes the browser.
• Temporary addresses rotate, so the address you see today may not be the one in yesterday's log. The prefix is what stays constant and what reputation and geolocation data attach to.

What is my IPv6 address, and why is it so long?

An IPv6 address is 128 bits written as 8 groups of hexadecimal digits separated by colons, with runs of zeros compressed to a double colon. The first part is the network prefix your ISP or provider assigned, usually a /64 for one network or a /56 or /48 for a home or business; the second part identifies the device within that network. Because the pool is vast, every device gets its own public address and there is no address sharing of the kind that IPv4 relies on. For privacy, operating systems derive the device part randomly and rotate it, which is why the address you see can change from day to day while the prefix stays put.

IPv6 and geolocation

Geolocation for IPv6 works the same way as for IPv4: the database maps the prefix to the place the holder registered it or the place its traffic clusters. IPv6 allocations are larger and more recent, so the city estimate is often rougher than for the same ISP's IPv4 blocks, and a new prefix may show the ISP's head office until the next database build. The country is reliable, which is why the leak comparison on this page is made at the country level and not the city level. If you want the full picture for your IPv6 address, including the announcing network and the registry record, paste it into the IP lookup.

Why having no IPv6 is not a problem, and when it is

Most of the internet still reaches every site over IPv4, and a connection without IPv6 loses nothing visible. For VPN and proxy users, no IPv6 is actually the simplest safe state. The case where the absence matters is the opposite one: a site you must reach that is IPv6-only, which is still rare, or a network where IPv4 is carrier-grade NAT shared by many users and the IPv6 address is the one with a clean reputation. For everyone else, the two things to know are whether you have it, which this page tells you, and whether it goes around your tunnel, which this page also tells you.