What is an IP Address?īut before we jump in, let's clarify – what is an IP address?
In this article, I will show you how to find out what your router IP address is on a Windows machine and Android smartphone. This will give you access to the setup page so you can make configuration changes like changing passwords, kicking out unwanted users, limiting users, and so on. The first connection to the ISP's server reveals the IP address of that server to your modem/router as the WAN address that it has connected to.Sometimes you might need to know your router’s IP address. Technically a 4G/5G router has a script sent over the 4G/5G cellular network called the APN - access point name - with your cellular networks handshake and connection settings to the ISP's physically located server that then connects to the internet. If this is the case then your 4G or 5G modem/router is connecting over the air to your ISP's physical servers first - the WAN address reported by the router - and then that server connects to the internet where a public WAN address is assigned to the imternet requests at the ISP's server.
There is another reason why this can occur and that is simply if you are using a 4G or 5G router (rather than a standard modem/router that connects an RJ45 ethernet cable to the incoming broadband connection at the wall or in the US this is sometimes a coaxial connection PLUS a wall plug to power it - a 4G/5G modem/router will only have the wall plug for power). Otherwise, someone is knowingly squatting IP space. This is speculation, but since your WAN IP starts with 172, someone could be assuming the whole 172.0.0.0/8 range is private (but actually only 172.16.0.0/12 is private). Also, using 172.100 creates a risk of these routes being leaked into the global BGP table. Using (parts of) 172.100 avoids possible conflicts with private addresses, but could make (parts of) the hosts rightfully using 172.100 addresses unreachable for you. The right thing to do (according to RFC6598) would be using addresses from 100.64.0.0/10. 172.100 was assigned by ARIN, 182 by APNIC.Īssigning RFC1918 private addresses to customers when using carrier-grade NAT can cause problems when the same network is in use inside the customer's network. It is indeed strange that a 172.100 address is being assigned to customers, which are then hidden behind some 182 network. This way, they can provide internet access to many customers using just one public IP.Īssuming you are not using a proxy, something's off. As to 'why?', ISPs do this to overcome an IPv4 address shortage. Chances are your internet provider is doing carrier-grade nat. Your router is indeed behind another router performing address translation. Often these sites will also tell you there is a proxy in play if the proxy sets the HTTP X-Forwarded-For header. A website telling you what your public IP is would see the 182 address. One example is a proxy server which uses the 182-address to access the internet.
Your WAN address is your public address, but you are yourself using something that makes it look like you are accessing the internet somewhere else.