How Do You Know If a VPN is Working? How to Find Your IP Address and Make Sure Your VPN Is Working Correctly
If want to do remote work or find that you cannot make it into the office for whatever reason, using a virtual private network, or VPN, is something you’re going to want to use to keep your computers and your employers’ information secure. If you are working for a large corporation, they probably may have already supplied a VPN app that employees are required to use to connect to corporate emails and files. Small and medium businesses can any number of VPN apps to connect to their workplace securely. We reviewed a few VPNs we like in this blog post.
After you download and install any VPN, you just push a button to turn it on. You may notice that your web browsing is a little bit slower. But if you want to ensure that your VPN is working, you will have to check your external IP address before and after you enable to VPN. I’ll show you a few ways to do that and I’ll be using IPVanish to show you.
If you don’t have a VPN installed and need step-by-step instructions, read our NordVPN review and our IPVanish versus NordVPN review
How Can I Find My WiFi IP Address?
An IP is short for Internet Protocol. It is used to identify computers, mobile devices, websites, and hardware like routers connected via the Internet. Each device connected to the Internet has an IP address which is like a street address for all internet connected devices. An IP address is a numeric identifier used to identify computers and other internet connected devices. Each Internet service provider (ISP) has a range or blocks of IP addresses assigned to it. That way other ISPs, like Time Warner, can route internet traffic and streaming TV, to other ISPS, like Verizon based on the block of IP addresses.
Your phone and computer both have an internal IP address and an external IP address.
An internal IP address is assigned to your device by your home, office, or other internet router. It is what your router uses to divvy up and send all the web traffic it receives to the correct device. For example, your router needs to know the device address if your phone requested to view a certain web page and serve it to you. While your kids requested to watch a Hulu show and serve that content to their device.
An external IP address is how devices outside of your internet network – servers, internet connected phones, laptops – find your device on the internet. It is also how you navigate to websites.
Your external IP address at home is probably your router’s IP address. it’s useful to know the IP address external servers are seeing for your computer. This will also help you know if your VPN is working.
Your router receives and sends internet traffic for all the devices that are internally connected to it. The router that your device is connected to, sends all internet traffic – emails, messages, chats, web pages – to each device using the internal IP addresses it has assigned to each connected device. Your device’s internal IP address is set by the router it’s connected to. If you change locations – for example you work from another office for a day – then your IP address changes too.
How Do I Know if My VPN is Working?
When you use a virtual private network (VPN) to connect to the internet you change your external IP address. But you don’t have to change locations. That’s why you can use a VPN to watch blocked content like sporting events that are blocked in your area. If you are working from home or elsewhere you’ll want to find Your IP address and make sure your VPN Is working correctly
If set up as a firewall, your router can also block devices from accessing malicious websites or information that you have chosen to block – like content that is inappropriate for children.
Note: I used IPVanish VPN, the VPN subscription service I purchased to use when I traveled to Taiwan to test this.
How Do I Locate My IP Address?
Use the command line on Windows system command prompt
- Click the Windows Magnifying Glass
- Launch the Windows command prompt by typing cmd in the Run window.
- Type ipconfig
- Press Enter on your keyboard
This will show you the details of all network interfaces configured on your Windows system.
This will give you your internal (local) IP address only. That means it’s how the other computers on your home or office network see your phone or laptop.
Use Curl in a Command Window
NOTE: This is how I checked my IP Address. I used a Windows laptop and IPVanish to compare my external IP address before and after connecting.
- Click the Windows Magnifying Glass
- Type cmd
- Type curl ifconfig.me
- Hit return
You’ll see you get a very plain looking screen with just your external IP address. This will agree with the method I used (Curl) and what your VPN service reports if your VON is working.
Use AWS to Check Your IP
- Open a web browser
- Go to checkip.amazonaws.com
- Read your external IP address
Google Your IP Address
- Open a web browser
- Type in IP address
- Read your external IP address
Get Your IP Address from Your VPN
If you are using a VPN to work remotely, then your VPN app should show you what IP address your traffic is being routed through and what city that server is in.
