what is an IP address and how can you cahange it?
By Lyzarazu
@Lyzarazu (27)
India
August 3, 2008 4:45am CST
hay frendz,can you tell me what is an IP address and if there any means to change it.iam asking this because whenever i have tried to register with some site they say YOUR IP IS ALREADY TAKEN.i use a dialup connection and have no clue as what to do.i have heard that identity theft is done by using others IP address.
5 responses
@the_ruler (1442)
• Turkey
3 Aug 08
the name IP stands for "Internet Protocol" and if you say internet protocol address then you will understand what kind of a thing it is.
As you already might know,internet is a NET and it consists of many computers connected to each other. All the websites, internet services we use, all of them are some kind of computers and connected to each other! This is how we visit other sites, send files or messages to other users etc.
So, if there are millions of computers connected to each other,then there will need to be a way to identify them. For this reason, we are using IP adresses. The most popular IP adress version is IP v4 now and it consists of numbers just like: "78.142.23.167". This is a typcal IP v4 adress and it is the EXACT adress of your computer on the internet. If I type "ping youripnumber" in the command prompt it will ping and will get some replies. Those replies are EXACTLY from YOUR computer because the IP adress I typed is your UNIQUE ID on the internet.
As I have just mentioned there are millions of computers on the internet and you can say the numbers wouldn't be enough to represent all the computers because the number has a limitation like 254.254.254.254 and it is also not used. For this reason there is a new IP v6 and it will also have letters inside.
When it comes to changing your ip, it is depended on your internet connection type. If you have a dial up connection then you will most likely have a dynamic ip and it will change everytime you connect to internet. but if you have broadband connection then you might have both dynamic or static ip adresses. If you have a static adress then you should contact to your isp to change your ip number but if you have a dynamic ip adress just disconnect from the internet and connect again to change it.
@the_ruler (1442)
• Turkey
3 Aug 08
first go to www.whatismyip.com and note your ip adress. Then disconnect from the internet and connect again. Go check the www.whatismyip.com adress again and see if your ip adress have changed. if it is changed then that means it is a dynamic ip adress, otherwise you have a static one.
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
3 Aug 08
Your IP address is the code that uniquely identifies your computer on the Internet. It is composed of a group of four numbers between 0 and 255, for example: 86.9.202.246. IP addresses are assigned by your ISP to identify your connection to their network. There are ways of changing the IP address that a website sees by using a proxy server (you log into a proxy server which sees your real IP address but passes on your data to other sites as if it came from the proxy).
If you have broadband, your IP address will not usually change unless your ISP gives you a new one for any reason, for example, if they are reorganising the system or you have problems connecting. If you are on dial-up, your IP address may be different every time you log on (dial up your ISP) but this isn't always the case. Sometimes your ISP will assign a fixed IP for each customer so your IP address will be the same every time you dial up.
Signing up to a website usually involves choosing a unique username or ID. I think that you have misread the message you are getting ... it says "Your ID is already taken" (meaning that someone else has chosen the username that you typed in.
Websites will often use IP addresses to help determine whether two different users are using the same computer (and therefore may have two accounts with the same website, which is sometimes against their Terms of Service, depending on what the site is). It would be quite unusual for a site to use the IP address when a person signs up. Read their TOS to see if this is the case and whether they specifically say that two users may not sign up from the same computer.
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
3 Aug 08
I wonder if the sites you are trying to access are connected in some way (perhaps run by the same organisation). I also wonder if it is a problem with their checking procedures. It may be, for example, that they (shortsightedly) ignore the final number of the IP address (which is the one that might change on a dial-up connection) or it may be that you or someone using your computer or another one that shares your Internet connection has already registered with these sites. I should have mentioned that the IP address will appear to be the same for all computers on a home network that share a connection to the Internet!
I think the only way you can resolve this is by contacting their Customer Services department. Since most of these companies are run by very small staffs, often the Customer Support is unfortunately minimal.
You may just have to forget about sites like this that don't allow you access based on an IP address that they already have recorded as being used.
1 person likes this
@Lyzarazu (27)
• India
3 Aug 08
thanx owlwings,my problem is not with taken ID,they say that two registrations are not allowed from the same computer but its for the first time that iam visiting these sites and all the sites are giving the me same response and this problem only just started yesterday.i have joined many sites before without any problems and i know that i external IP remains the same as i have checked it a number of times.
@Lyzarazu (27)
• India
3 Aug 08
thanx owlwings,my problem is not with taken ID.some sites say like two registrations are not allowed from the same computer but its for the first time that iam visiting these sites and the problem just started yesterday.i have registered with many sites before without any problems and i know my external id remains the same as i have checked it a number of times.
@shinigami79 (259)
• Japan
3 Aug 08
ip means Internet Protocol there are two types of IP theres dynamic Ip address and theres Static Ip a Dynamic IP means your IP will change to something else a Static means it will stay the same. An IP is what is use to connect you to the internet and it could also be use to identify who you are/ your machine.. thats all :)
@sharie16 (2212)
• Philippines
3 Aug 08
There are software that you can change the IP address. So have one for that, you can download that operating system via internet. Maybe the problem with your internet connection was that you dont have a static IP Address.
@bennyzeb (6)
•
4 Nov 08
An IP is your unique identifier on the Internet. It is issued by your ISP and remains static until the Internet connection is lost. You could use a proxy site to change your IP address or you could use something more reliable like a proxy software product like the on at http://www.tohideipaddress.com
