cloudflare IP address doesn't match apple IP address

Various services use IPv4 addresses in the 82.209/16 range, across various countries.

In addition to the use of NAT explaining why your RFC1918 private address differs from your public address of your gateway box as correctly described above, the IPv4 address that is visible at Cloudflare can be associated with iCloud+ Private Relay, VPNs, Tor, and I2P, among other privacy or performance tools, which means the IPv4 address visible to Cloudflare may not match your gateway IPv4 address.

192.168 addresses are what RFC1918 (the standard for IPv4 addresses) call private addresses. They aren't internet addresses - they are solely for assigning addressable space inside your home network. Almost everyone in the world uses 192.168.xx.xx, 172.16.xx.xx or 10.0.xx.xx addresses inside their personal home networks.

Your router provides a service called Network Address Translation (NAT) - mapping private addresses inside your home network to addresses that are Internet Routable. 82.209.xx.xx is the IP address that your Internet Service Provider assigned to you - and where the rest of the world sees your traffic originating from.

Volantiad wrote:

Wow g_wolfman! Super clear/understandable response and lightening fast: thank you :)! MrHoffman, interesting elaboration, too. I wasn't using Private Relay or a VPN when I clicked the link to the site. I don't know what Tor or I2P are but I don't think I was using any privacy/performance tools above and beyond what comes out of the box with my iMac & Sonoma 14.1. Regardless, it's good to know that there's no funny business going on with my IP address(es).

Commonly enabled, iCloud+ Private Relay is part of macOS 14: Use iCloud Private Relay on Mac - Apple Support

The widely-hyped “coffee shop” VPNs tend to be privacy problems, as well as causing the occasional routing problem.

macOS 14.7.7 is current, for those running macOS 14. Consider an update.