Shows the public IP address websites see, roughly where it places you, and whether your browser’s WebRTC feature reveals a different address (a common VPN leak).
The check runs in your browser. Country and network come from the Cloudflare edge that serves this page plus the public ipapi.co lookup; city-level results are approximate. Nothing is logged by vpnguide.nz.
Every device on the internet needs an address, and the block above shows yours exactly as a website sees it. If you are connected through a VPN, the address shown belongs to the VPN server rather than to your home connection — which is the whole point of using one.
This page explains what that number actually reveals about you in New Zealand, what it does not, and what to do if it is showing something you did not expect.
What an IP address is
An IP (Internet Protocol) address identifies your connection so that the replies to your requests come back to the right place. Without one, a web server would have nowhere to send the page you asked for.
Two versions are in use at once. IPv4 addresses look like 203.0.113.24 — four numbers up to 255. There are only about 4.3 billion of them, which ran out years ago. IPv6 addresses look like 2404:4408:63a1:5e00::1 and there are enough of them that every device on earth can have billions to itself. Most New Zealand connections now have both, and the tool above shows whichever your browser used to reach us.
Public and private addresses are different things
The address above is your public address: one per household, shared by every device behind your router. Inside your home, your router hands each device a private address, usually starting with 192.168. or 10. — those are reserved ranges that never appear on the public internet. Seeing a 192.168.1.x address on your laptop is completely normal and tells a website nothing.
What your IP address actually reveals
| A website can usually see | A website cannot see |
|---|---|
| Your internet provider (Spark, One NZ, 2degrees, Starlink and so on) | Your name or street address |
| Your rough location — usually the city or region, sometimes only “New Zealand” | Which device or person in the house is browsing |
| Whether you are on a business, residential, mobile or hosting network | What you do on other websites |
| Whether the address belongs to a known VPN or proxy range | Your exact address, without a court order to your provider |
Geolocation by IP is approximate. New Zealand connections are often placed in Auckland regardless of where you live, because that is where most provider infrastructure terminates. If a site insists you are in another city, that is why.
Why your address keeps changing
Most home connections get a dynamic address that your provider can change when your modem restarts or your lease renews. A static address usually costs extra and is mainly bought by businesses running their own servers.
Mobile and fixed wireless connections add another layer called CGNAT, where hundreds of customers share one public address. Starlink does the same by default. That is harmless for browsing but it breaks incoming connections, which is why port forwarding, some gaming setups and remote access tools fail on those connections but work on fibre.
Changing what sites see
A VPN replaces your visible address with the address of its server, so a site sees the VPN’s location and network instead of yours. That is legal in New Zealand and is the usual way to keep an address private on public Wi-Fi or to reach a service while travelling. Our best VPN guide covers what to look for, and the free VPN guide explains why the no-cost options so often sell the privacy you came for.
Two other options exist. A proxy changes your address for one app or browser only, without encrypting anything else. Tor routes traffic through three volunteer relays and hides your address well, but it is slow and many NZ banking and streaming sites block it outright.
When a VPN is on but your real address still leaks
The most common leak is WebRTC, a browser feature for video calls that can ask your network for its address directly, bypassing the VPN tunnel. Run the WebRTC test in the tool above with your VPN connected: if it reports an address that differs from the one at the top of the page, the leak is real. Turning on your VPN app’s leak protection, or blocking WebRTC in your browser, closes it.
DNS leaks are the other kind. Those cannot be tested reliably from an ordinary web page, so use your provider’s own DNS leak tool. If you have changed DNS settings on your router, our guide to changing DNS on a router explains how those settings interact with a VPN.
Is an IP address personal information in New Zealand?
It can be. The Privacy Act 2020 covers information about an identifiable individual, and an address that can be traced back to a named account holder falls inside that definition once it is combined with other data an agency holds. Our Privacy Act guide sets out the rules that apply to organisations collecting it, including the notification duties that came into force in May 2026.
Disclaimer
This page is general information, not legal advice. Using a VPN is lawful in New Zealand, but individual services set their own terms of use and may restrict access from VPN addresses.
Reference sources
Frequently asked questions
What is my IP address right now?
It is shown at the top of this page, along with the country, network and Cloudflare edge location a website sees when you connect. Refresh the check after connecting or disconnecting a VPN to see it change.
Does my IP address show my home address?
No. It identifies your internet provider and a rough location, usually the nearest city where your provider’s equipment sits. Only your provider can link it to an account, and they require a legal request to hand that over.
Why does my IP address say Auckland when I live somewhere else?
Geolocation databases map addresses to the provider’s network location rather than to your house. Most New Zealand traffic is routed through Auckland, so that is where a lot of connections appear to be, including many in Christchurch and Wellington.
How do I hide my IP address?
Connect through a VPN, which replaces it with the server’s address, or use Tor for stronger anonymity at the cost of speed. Turning on private browsing does not change your address — it only clears local history.
Is it dangerous if someone knows my IP address?
For a home connection the practical risk is low. It cannot be used to access your devices directly through a modern router, though it can be used for rough location targeting and, in rare cases against gamers and streamers, for denial-of-service attacks. Keeping your router firmware current and leaving remote administration off deals with the realistic risks.
Why do I have two different IP addresses?
One is the IPv4 address and one is the IPv6 address, and your browser will use whichever the site supports. Both belong to your connection. Separately, your devices each have a private address inside your home network, which never leaves the house.
Does a VPN change my IP address on every device?
Only on devices running the VPN app, unless you install the VPN on your router, in which case every device on that network shares the VPN’s address. That is the usual way to cover smart TVs and consoles, which cannot run VPN apps themselves.
