Web based IP Address Detection and DNS Leak Test

[xiaofan]

When I use a VPN or alternative solutions like Shadowsocks/V2Ray/Trojan, or use custom DNS servers like Pi-hole or Adguard Home, usually I will test using DNS Leak Test and What Is My IP Address.

DNS Leak Test: test DNS leak for IPv4
https://www.dnsleaktest.com/

What Is My IP Address: shows your IPv4/IPv6 address
https://whatismyipaddress.com/

"DNS Leak Test" will reveal your IPv4 address and usually the result is the same as "What Is My IP Address".

Interestingly I tried Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 with Warp (kind of free VPN with focus on using 1.1.1.1 DNS) under Windows 10 and the two do not match this time.

DNS Leak Test shows the Cloudflare IPv4 address.

What Is My IP Address shows Singtel IPv4 address and an IPv6 address apparently from Cloudflare (no IPv6 from Singtel as I disable IPv6 in Singtel Mesh Router).

Then I tried "Test your IPv6" site as well.
https://test-ipv6.com/
It shows both Cloudflare IPv4 and IPv6 address.

Just to make sure I tested a few DNS leak site:
ExpressVPN shows Cloudflare IPv4
https://www.expressvpn.com/what-is-my-ip

purevpn shows Singtel IPv4.
https://www.purevpn.com/what-is-my-ip

So there are a few interesting points.
1) It seems using 1.1.1.1 warp gives you an IPv6 address even if your ISP does not offer one.
2) 1.1.1.1 warp is not a real VPN.
3) But 1.1.1.1 warp does not suffer DNS leak. All the above tools show that the DNS server is from Cloudflare.
4) Different website may detect different IP address.

 

[xiaofan]

Then I test the free Windscribe VPN (20GB free upgrade in my case, default is 10GB free) under Windows 10 using the free HK node. Now everything is as expected. All the tools detect the same Windscribe IP address. IPv6 test will of course fail as there is no IPv6 address.

Only thing is that the IP address is detected as an Australian IP address by the tools.

 

[xiaofan]

Tested another v2ray app hosted on Salesforce Heroku (using Amazon AWS). All the tools detect the same AWS IP and AWS location in the US.

IPv6 test shows no IPv6 address but warns against broken of misconfigures IPv6. This may be an Amazon AWS problem.

 

[xiaofan]

Tested another v2ray app hosted on Salesforce Heroku (using Amazon AWS). All the tools detect the same AWS IP and AWS location in the US.

IPv6 test shows no IPv6 address but warns against broken of misconfigures IPv6. This may be an Amazon AWS problem.

However, since Shadowsocks/V2Ray/Trojan are mainly popular in China, so I tested with a few China websites and they are actually able to detect my Singtel IP address and not the Amazon AWS IP.

1) https://tool.chinaz.com/
2) https://www.ipip.net/

But when I use Windscribe VPN HK nodes, then they will detect the Windscribe HK IP. And they correctly detect the location as HK and not Australia. So it seems to me the above two sites are more capable than the other sites.

Lesson learned: for privacy and security, traditional VPN may be better than Shadowsocks/V2Ray/Trojan. Shadowsocks/V2Ray/Trojan are popular in mainland China to bypass GFW because traditiontal VPN are mostly been detected and blocked by GFW. So they are better than traditional for bypassing censorship. And they can be faster as well.

 

[windwaver]

When I use a VPN or alternative solutions like Shadowsocks/V2Ray/Trojan, or use custom DNS servers like Pi-hole or Adguard Home, usually I will test using DNS Leak Test and What Is My IP Address.

DNS Leak Test: test DNS leak for IPv4
https://www.dnsleaktest.com/

What Is My IP Address: shows your IPv4/IPv6 address
https://whatismyipaddress.com/

"DNS Leak Test" will reveal your IPv4 address and usually the result is the same as "What Is My IP Address".

Interestingly I tried Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 with Warp (kind of free VPN with focus on using 1.1.1.1 DNS) under Windows 10 and the two do not match this time.

DNS Leak Test shows the Cloudflare IPv4 address.

What Is My IP Address shows Singtel IPv4 address and an IPv6 address apparently from Cloudflare (no IPv6 from Singtel as I disable IPv6 in Singtel Mesh Router).

Then I tried "Test your IPv6" site as well.
https://test-ipv6.com/
It shows both Cloudflare IPv4 and IPv6 address.

Just to make sure I tested a few DNS leak site:
ExpressVPN shows Cloudflare IPv4
https://www.expressvpn.com/what-is-my-ip

purevpn shows Singtel IPv4.
https://www.purevpn.com/what-is-my-ip

So there are a few interesting points.
1) It seems using 1.1.1.1 warp gives you an IPv6 address even if your ISP does not offer one.
2) 1.1.1.1 warp is not a real VPN.
3) But 1.1.1.1 warp does not suffer DNS leak. All the above tools show that the DNS server is from Cloudflare.
4) Different website may detect different IP address.

Sorry to bump this post up because I'm also having the same issue and I don't know why.

 

[xiaofan]

Sorry to bump this post up because I'm also having the same issue and I don't know why.

What is the issue you are facing? Which VPN? I no longer use purevpn or other commercial VPN. Rather I use VPN hosted on home router (Asus InstantGuard, Wireguard on OpenWRT/pfSense) or the cloud (wireguard on free Oracle VPS, seldom used).

Anyway, if you use CloudFlare free Warp VPN, it has improved. Just tested it under Windows.
1) 1.1.1.1 warp gives you an IPv6 address even if your ISP does not offer one.
2) 1.1.1.1 warp does not suffer DNS leak. All the above tools show that the DNS server is from Cloudflare.
3) Different website may shows either Cloufflare IPv4 or IPv6 address. This is now correct behaviour.

Speed is pretty good today.

 

[windwaver]

What is the issue you are facing? Which VPN? I no longer use purevpn or other commercial VPN. Rather I use VPN hosted on home router (Asus InstantGuard, Wireguard on OpenWRT/pfSense) or the cloud (wireguard on free Oracle VPS, seldom used).

Anyway, if you use CloudFlare free Warp VPN, it has improved. Just tested it under Windows.
1) 1.1.1.1 warp gives you an IPv6 address even if your ISP does not offer one.
2) 1.1.1.1 warp does not suffer DNS leak. All the above tools show that the DNS server is from Cloudflare.
3) Different website may shows either Cloufflare IPv4 or IPv6 address. This is now correct behaviour.

Speed is pretty good today.

Oh, I was testing DNS leaks on some websites and it was really odd.

Some sites reported DNS leaks while some didn't even with the same settings.

What is a more reliable way to test for DNS leaks?

 

[xiaofan]

Oh, I was testing DNS leaks on some websites and it was really odd.

Some sites reported DNS leaks while some didn't even with the same settings.

What is a more reliable way to test for DNS leaks?

Just use the following is good enough in general.
https://www.dnsleaktest.com/
But you can try a few others from VPN vendors. They should give the same results. DO NOT worry when they say the "DNS requests exposed" as long as the DNS mentioned match your VPN provider if you use VPN, or your specified DNS if you are not using VPN. Because they want to sell their VPN, the results will always say "DNS request exposed" or "vulnernable". Therefore I would not recommend users to use the following.

ExpressVPN: https://www.expressvpn.com/dns-leak-test
Surfshark: https://surfshark.com/dns-leak-test
Astrill: https://www.astrill.com/dns-leak-test

Example output from Astrill:
Result: VULNERABLE
DNS leak not detected, but to be on the safer side, use Astrill VPN

Example from ExpressVPN: I do npt need to worry as the "exposed" DNS servers belong to Cloudflare and I am using Cloudflare DNS. If the "exposed" DNS points to Singtel then I will need to be worried.

DNS requests exposed!
Whoever runs your DNS servers can log every website you visit.

IP ADDRESS	PROVIDER	COUNTRY
162.158.161.81	Cloudflare	Singapore
162.158.161.229	Cloudflare	Singapore

 

[windwaver]

Just use the following is good enough in general.
https://www.dnsleaktest.com/
But you can try a few others from VPN vendors. They should give the same results. DO NOT worry when they say the "DNS requests exposed" as long as the DNS mentioned match your VPN provider if you use VPN, or your specified DNS if you are not using VPN. Because they want to sell their VPN, the results will always say "DNS request exposed" or "vulnernable". Therefore I would not recommend users to use the following.

ExpressVPN: https://www.expressvpn.com/dns-leak-test
Surfshark: https://surfshark.com/dns-leak-test
Astrill: https://www.astrill.com/dns-leak-test

Example output from Astrill:
Result: VULNERABLE
DNS leak not detected, but to be on the safer side, use Astrill VPN

Example from ExpressVPN: I do npt need to worry as the "exposed" DNS servers belong to Cloudflare and I am using Cloudflare DNS. If the "exposed" DNS points to Singtel then I will need to be worried.

DNS requests exposed!
Whoever runs your DNS servers can log every website you visit.

IP ADDRESS	PROVIDER	COUNTRY
162.158.161.81	Cloudflare	Singapore
162.158.161.229	Cloudflare	Singapore

Oh ok, I've used this website before.

I have always assumed it is the same if I hardcode DNS servers in my router or individual client so I tested it out.

Surprisingly, some websites reported different results so I thought it might be the website that is trying to confuse me, that's why I asked.

I'll use the website you indicated, seems to be the most consistent.