Public vs private IP addresses
Why your phone shows 192.168.x.x but websites see something else.
Your device usually has two IP addresses at once. The private one identifies it inside your home or office network. The public one identifies your whole network to the rest of the internet.
How it works at home
Your internet provider gives your router one public address. Your router then hands out private addresses to every phone, laptop, and TV on your Wi-Fi. When one of them visits a website, the router swaps the private address for the public one on the way out and swaps it back when the reply arrives. This process is called network address translation, or NAT.
That's why the address in your phone's Wi-Fi settings doesn't match the one on our home page. Both are correct. They just belong to different networks.
Private address ranges
These ranges are reserved for private networks and are never used on the public internet:
| Range | Where you'll see it |
|---|---|
192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255 | Most home routers |
10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255 | Larger networks, some routers and mobile hotspots |
172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255 | Offices and some routers |
Two other special addresses are worth knowing. 127.0.0.1 always means "this device" and is used for testing. Addresses from 100.64.0.0 to 100.127.255.255 are used by some providers to share one public address among many customers, a setup called carrier-grade NAT.
Does it matter which one I share?
Your private address is only meaningful inside your own network, so sharing it reveals very little. Your public address is what websites, games, and online services see, and it shows your provider and approximate area. Read more in what is an IP address.
Last updated October 2026.