Get local IP address

c# networking

In the internet there are several places that show you how to get an IP address. And a lot of them look like this example:

String strHostName = string.Empty;
// Getting Ip address of local machine...
// First get the host name of local machine.
strHostName = Dns.GetHostName();
Console.WriteLine("Local Machine's Host Name: " + strHostName);
// Then using host name, get the IP address list..
IPHostEntry ipEntry = Dns.GetHostEntry(strHostName);
IPAddress[] addr = ipEntry.AddressList;

for (int i = 0; i < addr.Length; i++)
{
    Console.WriteLine("IP Address {0}: {1} ", i, addr[i].ToString());
}
Console.ReadLine();

With this example I get several IP addresses, but I'm only interested in getting the one that the router assigns to the computer running the program: the IP that I would give to someone if he wishes to access a shared folder in my computer for instance.

If I am not connected to a network and I am connected to the internet directly via a modem with no router then I would like to get an error. How can I see if my computer is connected to a network with C# and if it is then to get the LAN IP address.

Solution 1:

To get local Ip Address:

public static string GetLocalIPAddress()
{
    var host = Dns.GetHostEntry(Dns.GetHostName());
    foreach (var ip in host.AddressList)
    {
        if (ip.AddressFamily == AddressFamily.InterNetwork)
        {
            return ip.ToString();
        }
    }
    throw new Exception("No network adapters with an IPv4 address in the system!");
}

To check if you're connected or not:

System.Net.NetworkInformation.NetworkInterface.GetIsNetworkAvailable();

Solution 2:

There is a more accurate way when there are multi ip addresses available on local machine. Connect a UDP socket and read its local endpoint:

string localIP;
using (Socket socket = new Socket(AddressFamily.InterNetwork, SocketType.Dgram, 0))
{
    socket.Connect("8.8.8.8", 65530);
    IPEndPoint endPoint = socket.LocalEndPoint as IPEndPoint;
    localIP = endPoint.Address.ToString();
}

Connect on a UDP socket has the following effect: it sets the destination for Send/Recv, discards all packets from other addresses, and - which is what we use - transfers the socket into "connected" state, settings its appropriate fields. This includes checking the existence of the route to the destination according to the system's routing table and setting the local endpoint accordingly. The last part seems to be undocumented officially but it looks like an integral trait of Berkeley sockets API (a side effect of UDP "connected" state) that works reliably in both Windows and Linux across versions and distributions.

So, this method will give the local address that would be used to connect to the specified remote host. There is no real connection established, hence the specified remote ip can be unreachable.

Get local IP address

Solution 1:

Solution 2:

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