How do I get the external IP of my server using PHP?

Question

I often hear people say to use "$_SERVER['SERVER_ADDR']", but that returns the LAN IP of my server (e.g. 192.168.1.100). I want the external IP.

Answer 1

There is NO way to get your underlying IP Address that has been designated by your ISP via conventional PHP if you are using a router. A way to get the external IP is to find a service that will obtain it for you and echo the address back to you. I found a handy service which does just that. http://ipecho.net/

You can use:

$realIP = file_get_contents("http://ipecho.net/plain");