Your Computer’s IP Address Explained
This short article gives some basic information about “IP addresses“, and is aimed at those not familiar with the concept of their computer’s IP address.
What is an IP address?
An IP address looks like this: 12.123.45.123 – It’s a sequence of four sets of numbers with a dot in between.
IP addresses are at the heart of how the Internet works, and when you go to a website or send an email, you’re connecting from your computer’s IP address, through various servers on the Internet (all with their own IP address), to the destination machine’s IP address
Whenever you’re connected to the Internet, you will have an IP address
What is my IP address?
When you connect to the Internet, you will be assigned an IP address by your Internet Service Provider. There are two types of IP address:
- A Static IP Address – Typically, businesses get these, so that their IP address never changes
- A Dynamic IP Address – More common for home users, these get assigned to you automatically when you switch on your router or modem and connect to the Internet
You can check right now what your current IP address is using one of a large number of sites, including:
A screenshot from the website whatismyipaddress.com
What is my IP address used for?
The IP address is assigned to you by your Internet Service Provider, and is used whenever you surf the web, download a file, send an email, or do anything else online.
When you visit a website, the website sees your IP address, and uses this to get general information about who’s visiting and which countries people are visiting from
Whenever you send an email, your IP address is sent too, and can be seen by viewing the email header
If you were to do something naughty on the Internet, in many cases, you can be traced using this IP address – the complainer would contact your Internet Service Provider and make a complain against the person using that specific IP address at a specific time, and the ISP has a record of the name and address of the bill payer for that IP address
IP addresses can also be used to prevent email and forum spam, and there are several databases of IP addresses that are used by known spammers
How can I check an IP address?
We’ve already shown above how you can find out what your current IP address is, but what about checking other IP addresses? Here are some useful links:
- CQ Counter Whois IP – Enter an IP address to find out who owns it
- DNSStuff – Tools for checking on an IP address
- Stop Forum Spam – A free database of known IP address spammers
Got a question about IP addresses? Let us know!
