Checking your IPv4 and IPv6 addresses individually tells you they exist. Checking whether they're consistent with each other is the more useful question — and it's a distinct check most people never think to run.
What "consistency" actually means here
Consistency isn't about the addresses looking similar (they never will — IPv4 and IPv6 use entirely different formats) — it's about whether the underlying network identity behind each one tells the same story: same general country, same or related network owner, same privacy classification (VPN/proxy/hosting vs. direct residential).
How to check it
- Force an IPv4-only request and note its country, ASN, and network classification.
- Force an IPv6-only request and note the same details.
- Compare the two directly — NetRiskScan's IPv6 Leak Test does exactly this comparison automatically.
What inconsistency indicates
A meaningful mismatch — particularly one where your IPv4 identity looks protected (VPN/proxy) while your IPv6 identity looks like a direct, unprotected connection in a different location — is the specific pattern associated with a VPN failing to cover IPv6 traffic. See VPN IPv6 Leaks and Split Network Paths.
What a "different but not concerning" mismatch looks like
Sometimes the country differs but the network owner is the same across both protocols — often a multi-region provider or CDN quirk rather than a genuine leak, since a single organization controls both addresses. Timing differences between when each request was measured can also introduce minor noise into geolocation data specifically.
FAQ
Should both addresses always match exactly?
Not necessarily identically, but broadly consistent — expecting perfect symmetry (same exact city, for instance) sets an unrealistic bar given how differently IPv4 and IPv6 geolocation databases are maintained.