🔍 IP Address Lookup
Trace any IP address — location, ISP, ASN, security score & live map from three real-time sources.
QUERYING 3 DATABASES...
What is IP Address Lookup?
An IP address lookup retrieves detailed information tied to any public IP address on the internet. Every device connecting to the internet is assigned an IP (Internet Protocol) address by its ISP. This address acts as a digital identifier and carries metadata: the country and city where the ISP's network infrastructure is located, the organisation that owns the address block, the ASN used for routing, and security indicators such as proxy, VPN, Tor, and datacenter flags.
ToolsNovaHub queries multiple independent real-time sources simultaneously — ipwho.is and ipinfo.io — and cross-references results for maximum accuracy. The security score is computed from detected flags: proxy adds 35 points, VPN adds 30, Tor adds 65, and datacenter hosting adds 10. A score above 50 indicates high risk; below 15 is clean. Country details including currency, language, calling code, and EU membership are resolved from a local lookup table for instant results without extra API calls.
How to Use It?
Type or paste any IPv4 or IPv6 address and click Lookup →. Your own IP is suggested in the placeholder. Results appear within 1–2 seconds including a live embedded map. Click ↗ Open in Google Maps for a full map view at the exact coordinates.
Example: A site admin notices repeated failed login attempts from 185.220.101.45 in their server logs. Pasting this IP into IP Lookup instantly reveals it belongs to a known Tor exit node hosted in a German datacenter — with a security score of 95% (high risk). The admin can now confidently block the IP range at the firewall level rather than guessing.
🌐 Public vs Private IP Addresses
Every device has at least one IP address, but not all IPs are reachable from the internet. Private IP addresses — ranges like 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, and 192.168.0.0/16 — are reserved for use inside local networks (homes, offices, data centres) and are never routed on the public internet. Your router uses NAT (Network Address Translation) to map all your private-IP devices to a single public IP — the one this tool actually looks up.
If you paste a private IP into this tool, you'll get no geolocation results — that's expected, not a bug. To find YOUR public IP, use the My IP Address tool instead.
🔢 IPv4 vs IPv6 — What's the Difference?
| Aspect | IPv4 | IPv6 |
|---|---|---|
| Format | 192.168.1.1 (4 numbers, 0–255) | 2001:db8::1 (8 groups of hex digits) |
| Total addresses | ~4.3 billion | ~340 undecillion (virtually unlimited) |
| Adoption | Universal — every network supports it | Growing — especially on mobile networks |
| Geolocation accuracy | Mature databases, generally more complete | Newer allocations, sometimes sparser coverage |
Most networks today run "dual-stack" — meaning a device has BOTH an IPv4 and an IPv6 address simultaneously. This tool works with either format; results for IPv6 addresses may occasionally show less detail (e.g. ASN holder name) simply because some data providers have less complete IPv6 databases.
📡 ASN Explained — What Is an Autonomous System?
An ASN (Autonomous System Number) is a unique identifier assigned by IANA/regional registries (ARIN, RIPE, APNIC, etc.) to a network that controls a block of IP addresses and makes its own routing decisions. Every major ISP, cloud provider, university, and large company has at least one ASN. When you see AS15169 Google LLC, it means the IP belongs to a network block that Google's routers announce to the rest of the internet via BGP (Border Gateway Protocol).
ASN information helps you understand the actual network operator behind an IP — which can differ from the consumer-facing "ISP" name. Use the "View Full ASN / BGP Route Info" link in the Network card to see the complete list of IP ranges announced by that ASN on bgp.he.net.
📍 Why Geolocation Is Not Exact
IP geolocation databases map IP address BLOCKS to geographic coordinates based on where the ISP has REGISTERED that block — not where any individual device physically is. This leads to several well-known limitations:
- ISP routing hubs: Large ISPs sometimes register an entire region's IP block to their head-office city, so users 200km away may show as being in the capital.
- Mobile carrier-grade NAT: Thousands of mobile users can share the same public IP, registered to the carrier's gateway location — not each user's actual city.
- VPNs and proxies: The location shown is the VPN SERVER's location, which can be anywhere in the world regardless of the real user.
- Database lag: IP blocks occasionally get reassigned between organisations/regions, and geolocation databases can take weeks to update.
Country-level accuracy is generally high across most geolocation providers, since country assignment changes rarely. City-level accuracy varies more and depends on the specific provider's database freshness and the network type (residential, mobile, or hosting). Treat results as "likely region," especially for legal, security or compliance decisions — never as a precise street address.
⚖️ ISP vs ASN — What's the Difference?
| ISP (Internet Service Provider) | ASN (Autonomous System) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it represents | The company that sold you/your network the internet connection | The network entity that technically routes and announces the IP block |
| Example | "Jio Fiber", "Comcast Business" | "AS55836 Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited" |
| Can they differ? | Yes — a reseller ISP may lease IP space from a larger ASN holder. The ISP name is consumer-facing; the ASN is the technical routing entity, sometimes the parent company or an upstream provider. | |
| Which is more reliable for investigations? | ASN data is generally more stable and technically authoritative since it comes directly from BGP routing registries (RIR databases) rather than commercial ISP-name mappings. | |
📊 Understanding Your Results
⚠️ Common Errors & What They Mean
192.168.1.1) or IPv6 (2001:db8::1) address — check for typos, extra spaces, or a port number accidentally included (e.g. remove :8080).10.x.x.x, 172.16–31.x.x, 192.168.x.x) and loopback (127.x.x.x) are not publicly routable, so no geolocation exists for them. This is expected behaviour, not a bug.💡 Advanced Tips
📜 IP Lookup vs Other Tools — When to Use What
| Need | Best Tool | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Single IP deep-dive (location, ASN, security) | IP Lookup (this tool) | Richest single-IP detail with map & security score |
| Your own current IP | My IP Address | Auto-detects, includes IPv6 + privacy check |
| 20 IPs from a log file | Bulk IP Lookup | Batch processing with CSV/Excel export |
| Is this IP a known spammer? | Blacklist Check | Checks 15 dedicated spam/abuse databases |
ToolsNovaHub tools are built and independently maintained with a focus on accurate, no-signup network and security utilities. Spotted an error? Let us know.
📋 Related Tools & Guides Comparison
| Resource | Type | Link |
|---|---|---|
| My IP Address | Ip | Open Tool → |
| Bulk IP Lookup | Ip | Open Tool → |
| IPv6 Lookup | Ip | Open Tool → |
| ASN Lookup Guide: BGP, Autonomous Systems & Internet Routing Explained | Guide | Read Guide → |
| Batch IP Analysis: How to Efficiently Check Many IPs at Once | Guide | Read Guide → |