Public vs Private IP Addresses: What's the Difference?
If you've ever checked your IP on a website and then looked at your computer's network settings, you probably saw two completely different numbers. Both are correct — they're just two different kinds of address doing two different jobs.
Your public IP: the one the internet sees
Your public IP is assigned by your internet provider to your router. It's globally unique and routable — any server on the internet can send data to it. It's the address websites log, the one geolocation is based on, and the one shown on our IP checker.
Your private IP: the one your router assigns
Inside your home network, your router hands each device a private IP from reserved ranges that never appear on the public internet:
192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255(most home routers)10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255(large networks, some ISPs)172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255(less common)
These ranges are defined by a standard called RFC 1918. Millions of homes all use 192.168.1.x simultaneously without conflict, because those addresses only need to be unique within each home.
How they work together: NAT
Your router performs Network Address Translation (NAT) — it rewrites traffic from your devices so it all appears to come from your single public IP, then routes the replies back to the right device. That's why your laptop, phone and TV all show the same public IP on this site, even though each has its own private address.
Which one do I need, and when?
| Task | Address you need |
|---|---|
| Setting up port forwarding for a game server | Both — public to connect, private to forward to |
| Casting to a TV / printing | Private (same network) |
| Remote access to your home network | Public |
| Checking what websites see about you | Public — check it here |
Privacy implications
Websites can only see your public IP — your private addresses are invisible to them. That means your privacy exposure online is entirely about the public address: its location, its provider, and its history. If you want to control that, see how to hide your IP address.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my phone show a 192.168 address?
That's its private address on your Wi-Fi network, assigned by your router. Your public IP — the one websites see — is different, and shared by every device in your home.
Can two devices have the same private IP?
Not on the same network — that causes an IP conflict and both devices misbehave. On different networks (your home and your neighbour's), identical private IPs are completely normal.