IPv4 vs IPv6
See whether your connection is using IPv4 or IPv6 right now, then read a clear side-by-side comparison of the two protocols. No sign-up, nothing to install.
IPv4 vs IPv6 at a glance
| Feature | IPv4 | IPv6 |
|---|---|---|
| Introduced | 1981 | 1998 |
| Address length | 32 bits | 128 bits |
| Address format | Dotted decimal, e.g. 203.0.113.45 | Hexadecimal groups, e.g. 2001:db8::1 |
| Total addresses | About 4.3 billion | About 340 undecillion |
| Separator | Dots ( . ) | Colons ( : ) |
| NAT | Widely needed to share scarce addresses | Rarely needed — every device can be globally unique |
| Configuration | Manual or DHCP | Stateless auto-configuration (SLAAC) or DHCPv6 |
| IPSec security | Optional, added later | Designed in from the start |
| Header | Variable length, more fields | Fixed length, simpler and faster to process |
| Broadcast | Uses broadcast | Replaced by multicast and anycast |
| Adoption | Still the majority of traffic | Growing steadily, often run alongside IPv4 (dual-stack) |
What is the IPv4 vs IPv6 tool?
IPv4 vs IPv6 is the question of how the internet labels every device that connects to it, and the two answers are two generations of the same idea. This page does two things on one screen. It detects the address your connection is actually using and tells you whether that address is IPv4 or IPv6, and it lays out a clear comparison of the two protocols so you understand what the result means. You get the live fact and the background in a single glance, with no sign-up and nothing to install.
How to use it
- Open the page. It immediately asks our edge server for the address it sees on your request and shows it back to you.
- Read the badge next to the address. Four numbers separated by dots is IPv4; groups of hexadecimal digits separated by colons is IPv6.
- Tap copy to put the exact address on your clipboard for a firewall rule, an allowlist, or a support chat.
- Scroll to the comparison table to see how the protocol you are using differs from the other one. Read it, get your answer, and move on.
The method behind it
A browser cannot read its own public address. The JavaScript on this page only ever sees your device's local network address, never the public one the rest of the internet uses. The only honest way to learn the public value is to ask a server that received your request to echo it back, so this page calls a small same-origin endpoint at the edge that reads the connecting address and returns it. Once the address arrives, classifying it is simple and deterministic. An address containing a colon is IPv6, and an address made of four dot-separated decimal groups is IPv4. We show only the protocol your connection actually used to reach us. Whether you can see both an IPv4 and an IPv6 address at the same time depends entirely on your network — many connections only have one.
The key differences
IPv4, introduced in the early 1980s, uses 32-bit addresses, which allows about 4.3 billion unique values. That sounded enormous at the time and turned out to be far too few for a planet of phones, laptops, servers, and smart devices. IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, raising the pool to roughly 340 undecillion values — so large that address exhaustion stops being a practical concern. The two protocols also differ in format, in how they handle network address translation, in their headers, and in their built-in support for security extensions, all of which the comparison table above spells out row by row.
Examples
- Your result shows
203.0.113.45with an IPv4 badge: four dotted decimal groups, the classic format, meaning your connection reached us over IPv4. - Your result shows
2001:db8:85a3::8a2e:370:7334with an IPv6 badge: colon-separated hexadecimal groups, the newer format, meaning your connection reached us over IPv6. - A connection on a modern dual-stack network may show an IPv6 address here because the network prefers IPv6 when both are available.
Common use cases
- Learning the concrete difference between the two protocols before a networking exam, interview, or certification.
- Checking whether your home or office connection has IPv6 yet, or is still IPv4-only.
- Grabbing the exact address a server will see from you to paste into a firewall, allowlist, or database rule.
- Settling a debate about why some sites show a long colon address and others a short dotted one.
Why use this one
Most pages about IPv4 vs IPv6 are pure articles with no way to check your own connection, and most "what is my IP" pages echo a number with no explanation of what protocol it is or why it matters. This page gives you both at once: a live, honestly labelled detection of the address and protocol you are using, sitting right above an authoritative comparison table. It is private — the address is read once to show it to you and never logged or stored — and it stays minimal and mobile-friendly so you read your answer and go.
It is part of a small set for checking what your browser and connection reveal. To see your public IP from several sources at once, use What Is My IP; to read the identification string your browser sends, use What Is My User Agent; and to check the display your device reports, use What Is My Screen Resolution.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use IPv4 or IPv6?
For most people the choice is automatic. Your device, router, and provider negotiate whichever protocol both ends support, and modern networks often run both at once (dual-stack), preferring IPv6 when it is available and falling back to IPv4 when it is not. You rarely need to pick manually.
Is IPv6 faster than IPv4?
Not inherently. IPv6 can feel faster on some routes because it avoids extra NAT translation and uses a simpler header, but real-world speed depends far more on your provider, the path to the server, and congestion than on the protocol version itself.
Why don't I see my IPv6 address?
Many networks are still IPv4-only, so there is simply no IPv6 address to show. If your connection has no IPv6 route, this page reports only your IPv4 address, which is expected rather than an error.