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myiphero

01 — Network tool

IPv6 test

Check whether your connection supports IPv6, see your IPv6 address and which protocol your browser prefers.

Loaded over IPv4

IPv6 support

Run the test

Testing…SupportedNot supportedUnknown

All IP details

Results

IPv4

Detected

216.73.216.206

IPv6

Not tested

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Tested with two tiny requests to servers reachable over only one protocol each.

This connection

Preferred protocol
IPv4The protocol your browser used to load this page.
Address seen by the server
216.73.216.206
Network
AS16509 · Anthropic, PBC

What it means

Supported means your device can reach a server that has only an IPv6 address. If IPv4 is detected too, you have a dual-stack connection, the best case today: you can reach every website, and the browser picks whichever protocol is faster.

Not supported means only IPv4 works. Everything still loads, because nearly all websites remain reachable over IPv4. But your provider may be sharing one IPv4 address between many customers, which can cause problems with gaming, video calls, port forwarding and some captchas.

IPv4 vs IPv6 in one minute

  • Size: IPv4 has about 4.3 billion addresses (32 bits) and ran out years ago. IPv6 has 2128, enough for every device on earth many times over.
  • Format: IPv4 is four numbers, 203.0.113.42. IPv6 is eight groups of hex digits, shortened with ::, like 2001:db8::42.
  • Sharing: IPv4 relies on NAT, so many devices share one address. IPv6 gives each device its own public address, protected by your router’s firewall.
  • Speed: neither is inherently faster; IPv6 can avoid the overhead of carrier-grade NAT.

How it works

The test loads two tiny files. One lives on a host name that only has an IPv4 (A) record, the other on a host name that only has an IPv6 (AAAA) record. If the IPv6-only host answers, your device has working IPv6, including DNS resolution of IPv6 addresses. Each request times out after five seconds, so a broken IPv6 setup shows up as “Not detected” instead of hanging.

The preferred protocol is read on our server from the connection that delivered this page. Nothing is logged or stored. From a terminal you can run the same check with curl -6 myiphero.com/ip andcurl -4 myiphero.com/ip; see the API docs.

Frequently asked questions

What is my IPv6 address?

If the test above shows “Detected” next to IPv6, the address next to it is the public IPv6 address your device uses right now. Unlike IPv4, it usually belongs to your device itself rather than your router, and many systems rotate it every day for privacy.

Why does the test say IPv6 is not detected?

Your internet provider may not offer IPv6 yet, your router may have it switched off, or a VPN may be tunnelling only IPv4. Check your router’s WAN or internet settings for an IPv6 option (often “DHCPv6” or “prefix delegation”), restart it, and run the test again. If it still fails, ask your provider whether they support IPv6.

Do I need IPv6?

Not urgently. Almost every website still works over IPv4. But IPv6 avoids the address sharing (carrier-grade NAT) that some providers now use for IPv4, which can break online gaming, peer-to-peer apps and hosting. Mobile networks and many large sites already prefer IPv6.

Is IPv6 less private than IPv4?

Not in practice. Modern operating systems use temporary IPv6 “privacy addresses” that change regularly and do not contain your hardware ID. Both IPv4 and IPv6 reveal roughly the same thing: your provider and approximate location.

What does “preferred protocol” mean?

When both versions work, browsers try IPv6 first and fall back to IPv4 within a fraction of a second if it is slow (the “Happy Eyeballs” algorithm). The preferred protocol is the one your browser actually used to load this page.

Is it bad if I only have IPv4?

No. Your internet works normally. You simply cannot reach the small number of services that are IPv6-only, and you may be sharing your IPv4 address with other customers of your provider. You can check your full connection on the What is my IP page.

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