What is an IP address?

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Logging in is usually very easy these days. No technical expertise needed, just turn on your device and you'll usually be connected right away. If you're not a fan of networking, this simplicity will certainly be appealing, as it means you don't have to get involved in low-level details like protocols, packets, and ports. . But it's useful to learn more about some networking concepts, and IP address is at the top of the list. While this involves exploring some technical ideas, nothing, not even the greenest beginner on the net, will understand. And once you understand these basics, you'll discover new ways to improve your privacy and security, as well as better connection troubleshooting you may encounter in the future.

definitions

The Internet is a vast network of devices, ranging from the routers, computers, mobile phones, and tablets you have at home to the high-end web servers and computing power used by large organizations. Every time a device logs in, it is assigned a public IP address. The standard type (also called an IPv4 address) of public address consists of four numbers separated by periods, the first number is usually between 1 and 191, and the other three between 0 and 255, such as: 81.151.203.58 A second type of format address, called IPv6, might look like this: 2001:db8:0:1234:0:567:8:1 The IP address is essential because it tells everyone where you are and allows you to communicate. When you enter Google.com in your browser, for example, your system uses a domain name server to translate that domain to a public IP address like 216.58.213.100. Your browser sends a request for the Google search page, with its own IP address attached, and Google uses your address to return the page. None of this would be possible without sharing addresses. IP addresses are not just for the internet. If you connect your device to a router at home, it is assigned a private IP address, usually starting at 192.168. This allows you to communicate with other devices on your network, possibly sending information through the router, or sharing resources such as files, folders, or a printer.

It's easy to find your public IP address (Image credit: Google)

Find your public IP address

There are many ways to find out your public IP address. Type "what's my ip" into Google, for example, and the site displays your public IP address. Point your browser to the whatismyip.com website and you will find your public and (probably) private IP addresses. Developers use special geolocation services to find out the IP address of a device and get more information about it. Regular users don't need to understand this kind of complexity, or even know it exists, but one or two of these services can make life a little easier for everyone. Enter api.ipify.org into your browser, for example, and you'll see plain text of your IP address, and nothing else. It's intended to make it easier for an app to extract this data, but nothing prevents it from being used, and the site is probably the easiest and fastest way to find your way around. public IP address. Keep in mind that your public IP address can change depending on how you connect (over a mobile network, public Wi-Fi network, home broadband connection, etc.) and it can change again. when you reconnect to a network To test this with home broadband, use whatismyip.com to check your current public address, then power cycle your router, wait for it to reconnect to the Internet, and try whatismyip.com again.

IP Footprints displays a map showing your location (Image credit: IP Footprints)

IP address lookup services

Here's a handy list of the top 10 websites you can use to find your IP address (starting with the option just mentioned): What's My IP – This simple and clear website displays your IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, your location and your Internet provider. Nothing too technical and no advertising. What is my IP address? An easy way to find your IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. It also shows what you think about your position on a map, but it's not always accurate. IP Address Guide: View your IP address and run other technical tools (ping, traceroute, IP address conversions) in one click. Suitable for experienced users. IP2 Location – Launch the site and click “Try the Demo” to see your IP address, your location, your Internet provider, and a bunch of other low-level details (network speed, proxies, etc.). ). IP Address Locator: Point your browser here and you'll see not only your current IP address and current location, but also the distance to nearby cities. IP Location – No worries, no fuss, just a simple display of your IP address and location, and a search box where you can locate other IP addresses in seconds. IP Address Information: This site displays your IPv4 address on the home page and contains links to many other web tools where you can find more information. IP Footprints: Your IP address and a map showing your location are displayed on the home page. Other technical tests are available in the menus of the website. Sniper Info – This service is for developers, but anyone can use Info Sniper to check their own IP address. At best, use a map to show your location. Find an IP Address - A quick way to view your IP address, location, and other details that may be revealed by your browser (browser version, operating system, language).

This is one of the ways to determine your private IP address in Windows (Image credit: Microsoft)

Find your private IP address

Your private IP address identifies your device only on the local network, which makes it a bit less interesting than the public address. But if you're trying to troubleshoot a network problem, or if you're having trouble sharing resources, tracing it can be helpful. And luckily, Windows now has plenty of ways to help you. Here are three. 1. At the same time, press Ctrl + Esc + Left Shift to start Task Manager. Click More details if you see it, and then click the Performance tab and choose your active network adapter in the left pane (you'll probably have a graph showing recent data transfers). Your private IP address is shown on the right. 2. Click the network icon in the system tray, and then click the network you are connected to. Click the network name again in the window that appears. Windows should display your private IPv4 address. 3. Click Start, type cmd, click Command Prompt to open a command prompt, type ipconfig, and then press ENTER. The command lists all your network cards, probably only one of which is connected, and the IPv4 address you see is the one you need.

Potential dangers to your intellectual property.

The IP address system is great for helping you communicate online, but it also has some problems, especially in terms of privacy. In fact, every time you access a website, send a message, or use another web resource, you must provide your IP address to get a response. This service may use your address to find out more about you. A public IP address like 81.151.203.137 is not a simple random number, for example. A website can see this information and perhaps see your Internet provider, your business if you are connecting from work, your country or even the nearest city. Your IP address may stay the same for a long time, and in some cases, it may never change. This allows websites to record your IP address on your first visit, recognize it when you return, and record what you do over time, even if it doesn't. It's not just a matter of privacy; There are also practical problems. Have you ever visited YouTube or another streaming site and been told that content wasn't available in your area, for example? The website probably used your IP address to find out where you are and then blocked you if you are not in an approved country. To find out what a website can discover from your IP address, visit iplocation.net. The site offers four different geolocation services to discover your country, your ISP and the nearest city. Geolocation is not an exact science and we found that these four services showed different cities for our IP address. But a service has understood and if this website also bears our name, it could allow you to identify our real address.

A VPN may allow you to choose to appear elsewhere, even in another far away country (Image credit: NordVPN)

Change your IP address

Although your public IP address always provides information about you, there is an easy way to reduce the risk of problems: you can change it to something else. One option is to access the Internet through a different network. If you're connected to your phone and it connects via your home Wi-Fi network, for example, switch to your mobile network and you'll have a different IP address. Depending on your setup, you may be able to get a new public IP address by rebooting your device, closing your connection and reopening it, or if you're at home, power cycle your router. (There's no guarantee, though, so use a site like What Is My IP, or any of the others we've described above, to verify your address before and after the reset.) But the most effective way to change your digital identity is to sign up for a VPN (Virtual Private Network), a service that allows you to replace your old IP address with a new one, at any time. Most VPNs give you a choice of IP addresses from 20 or more countries around the world, allowing you to give the impression that you are in the US, UK, Asia, or anywhere else. If you can't access web content destined for the United States just because you are somewhere else in the world, it may be enough to obtain a United States IP address from a virtual private network. Another important advantage is that the VPN securely encrypts your connection to protect it from snoopers. If you access the Internet through public Wi-Fi, hackers will have a very difficult time monitoring your traffic, stealing usernames, passwords, and other personal information. If that sounds good, sign up for a free VPN or two and find out how they work. It's usually very simple: install an app, choose your IP address country, and click Connect. A list of the best free VPNs will help you choose a good one. However, keep in mind that free VPNs can be slow and often limit the amount of data you can use each month. However, there are plenty of high-quality commercial services out there, some of which are less than $3 a month – check out our favorites in terms of paying deals in our best VPN roundup.