Product » A free email server for Windows and Linux » Knowledge Base
| Document ID: | 5295 |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Why do I see my router's IP address in every log? |
| Creation date: | 5/10/19 9:13 AM |
| Last modified on: | 1/17/22 10:04 AM |
When you run any server, HTTP, POP3, IMAP or SMTP, Xeams gets the IP addresses of the connecting client from TCP/IP headers. Consider the image below:

In this above example, two different clients are connecting from the Internet. One is using an IMAP (185.45.45.6) and second is another SMTP server (158.19.46.84) trying to send an email. Although both of these clients are coming in from the Internet and have different IP addresses, you see 192.168.1.1, which is your router's IP address in every log, giving you an impression that your router is actually sending these messages. In some cases you may see the WAN IP address of your router instead of 192.168.1.1.
This happens because your router is masquerading the actual client's IP address and is acting sort of like a reverse proxy. To prevent this, refer to your router's documentation to see how to disable this feature. One suggestion is to ask Google the following question.
I am running an SMTP server on my Lan that is protected by a NameOfYourFirewall Firewall, which masks the IP address of the actual SMTP client connecting from the Internet. As a result, my SMTP server thinks every email is coming in from NameOfYourFirewall. How do I configure NameOfYourFirewall so it does not hide the foreign IP address?
There are several disadvantages if your router hides the actual IP address:
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