Frequently Asked Questions
What every tool on the page is doing, and how to read the results.
ShittyRobots.com runs a handful of small network diagnostic tools in your browser. Load the front page and it reports what any website already learns about you the moment you connect: your public IP address, the rough location and network tied to that IP, details your browser volunteers about your device, whether the connection looks like a VPN or datacenter, and a port checker for testing inbound reachability. This page explains each part in detail.
General
What is this site for?
It answers the everyday questions that come up when something on your network is not working or when you are curious what you are leaking: "What is my IP address?", "Is my VPN actually on?", "Did my router port forwarding take effect?", "What can a website see about my browser?". Everything is shown on one page with no sign-up.
Do I need to install anything?
No. The tools are a normal web page. The client-side checks run in JavaScript in your browser; the IP, location, and port checks are handled by a small server and returned to your browser when the page loads.
Is any of this stored?
The site has no user accounts and no database of visitors. Results are generated live for your own view and are not saved. The hosting provider may keep standard access logs (IP address, timestamp, requested URL) for a limited time for security and operations, which is typical of any website. See the Privacy Policy for specifics.
Is it accurate?
The IP address and the raw browser values are exact. The location, ISP, and VPN/proxy flags come from a third-party IP database and are estimates that can be out of date or coarse. The port checker reports exactly what a connection attempt from the public internet to your IP returned at that moment.
Your IP Address
What is the IP address shown at the top?
It is the public IP address that your traffic appears to come from as seen by the server. On a home connection this is usually the single address your ISP assigns to your router, shared by every device behind it. If you are on a VPN, it is the VPN server's address instead.
Why does it sometimes show an IPv6 address?
Many networks now use IPv6 (long addresses with colons, like 2606:4700:...) alongside the older IPv4 format (203.0.113.7). The site shows whichever address your browser used to reach it. If your connection supports both, IPv6 is often preferred.
Why does it say "local/private address" and skip the location?
If you open the site from the same machine that is serving it, or across a local network, the server sees a private address such as 127.0.0.1, ::1, 192.168.x.x, or 10.x.x.x. Those ranges are reserved for internal use and are not routable on the public internet, so there is no location or ISP to look up.
Can two people have the same public IP?
Yes. Every device behind one home router shares that router's public IP. Larger ISPs, and most mobile carriers, also place many customers behind a single address using carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT), so thousands of people can appear to share one IP.
Location & ISP
How does the site know my city?
It does not know it directly. Your IP address is looked up in a third-party geolocation database (ip-api.com), which maps address ranges to a rough location using registration records, ISP-supplied data, and other signals. Nothing on your device reports your position; GPS and Wi-Fi location are not involved.
The city is wrong. Why?
IP geolocation is only an estimate. Country is usually correct, but the city often reflects your ISP's regional hub or registration address rather than where you physically are, and it can be tens or hundreds of miles off. VPNs, mobile networks, and business connections are especially unreliable. If it matters, treat the city as a hint, not a fact.
What do ISP, Org, and ASN mean?
ISP is the internet service provider that operates your connection. Org is the organization the address block is registered to, which may be the same as the ISP or a parent company. ASN (Autonomous System Number) identifies the specific network on the internet's routing map that announces your IP range; every ISP and large hosting company has one or more.
Browser & System
Where do these values come from?
They are read from your browser with standard JavaScript. Your browser exposes them to every site you visit; the site is just displaying them back to you so you can see what is on offer.
What is the difference between "Screen" and "Viewport"?
Screen is the full resolution of your display. Viewport is the size of the area the web page can actually draw into, which is smaller because of the browser's toolbars, tabs, and any window borders. Resizing the window changes the viewport but not the screen.
What are Timezone and Language used for?
Timezone is your system's configured zone (for example America/Los_Angeles), derived from your operating system settings. Language is your browser's preferred content language. Both are commonly used by sites to localize content, and together with other values they contribute to a device "fingerprint."
What does "Do Not Track" mean here?
Do Not Track is an optional browser setting that sends a request-not-to-be-tracked signal to websites. The row shows whether your browser is sending it. In practice almost no sites honor it, and most browsers have removed the option, but it is still reported when present.
Can I hide this information?
Not entirely, because the browser needs to share some of it to render pages correctly. Privacy-focused browsers and modes reduce it by rounding screen sizes, limiting timezone and language detail, and blocking scripts. A VPN changes your IP and its apparent location but does not change what your browser reports about the device.
VPN / Proxy Detection
How does it decide I am on a VPN or proxy?
The IP database flags address ranges that are known to belong to VPN services, public proxies, or Tor exit nodes. If your current IP is in one of those ranges, "VPN / Proxy / Tor" shows as detected. It is a lookup against known lists, not an analysis of your traffic.
What does "Hosting / Datacenter IP" mean?
It means your IP belongs to a range operated by a cloud or hosting provider rather than a consumer ISP. VPN servers usually live in datacenters, so this often lights up alongside the VPN flag. It also appears if you are browsing from a server, a cloud desktop, or some business networks.
It says "not detected" but my VPN is on. Is my VPN broken?
Not necessarily. It means your VPN's exit IP is not on the database's known lists, which is common for smaller or newer VPN providers and for self-hosted setups. Check that the IP and location shown are the VPN's and not your real ones; if they are, the VPN is working even though the flag is quiet.
It flags a VPN but I am not using one. Why?
False positives happen. Address ranges get reassigned, and business, campus, or mobile networks sometimes share infrastructure with hosting providers. The flags are best treated as "this looks like X," not proof.
What does "Mobile Connection" mean?
The database believes your IP belongs to a cellular carrier (phone or mobile hotspot) rather than a fixed home or office line. Like the other flags, it is an estimate.
Port Checker
What does the port checker actually do?
You enter a port number, and the server makes a single outbound TCP connection attempt from the public internet to your current public IP on that port. It then reports whether the connection succeeded. This tells you whether that port is reachable from outside your network.
What do the results mean?
Open means the connection succeeded: something is listening on that port and your firewall, router, and ISP are all allowing it through. Closed or not reachable means the attempt was refused or timed out, so nothing usable is exposed there from the outside.
Why is my port closed when the service is definitely running?
Common reasons, roughly in order: no port-forwarding rule on your router pointing that port to the right internal device; a firewall on the device blocking inbound connections; your ISP blocking the port (ports 25, and sometimes 80 and 443, are frequently blocked on residential lines); or carrier-grade NAT, where your ISP does not give you a real public IP at all, so inbound connections can never reach you. Also confirm the service is bound to all interfaces, not just localhost.
Why can I only check my own IP?
By design. The tool always uses the IP address of the device making the request and never accepts a target address, so it cannot be pointed at someone else's server. That keeps it a diagnostic for your own connection rather than a port scanner for arbitrary hosts.
Which ports are worth checking?
Whatever port the thing you are troubleshooting uses. Frequent ones: 22 (SSH), 80 and 443 (web servers), 3389 (Windows Remote Desktop), 32400 (Plex), 25565 (Minecraft), and 51820 (WireGuard). If you are verifying a port-forwarding rule, check the exact external port from that rule.
Is running this check legal and safe?
Yes. It only tests reachability to your own address with a single connection attempt, which is the same thing any client does when it connects to a service you host. It does not send data to the port or attempt to interact with whatever is listening.
Still stuck?
If something on the page looks wrong or a result does not make sense, send a note to jaredlong01@gmail.com with what you saw and what you expected.