Your public IP address

What's my IP Address

Your IP Address is a unique identifier on the internet, without it you would neither be able to send or receive any information. Its like your home address but online.
Your IP Address usually changes when disconnecting from the internet. It could be that you turn off your computer, mobile phone or just simply switch on flight mode on your phone. Later on when reconnecting you usually automatically get assigned a new IP.
There are many ways to find out what your IP address is. Easiest is to type the question “What’s my IP/whatsmyip.com” in the search bar of your favorite web browser. We will clearly show you your IP on our front page. We will also try to locate you based on your IP.

This is how the IP (Internet Protocol) works

Without being too technical its quite simple to explain the basics. All network traffic is divided into smaller packages and then sent away with both a sender and receiver IP address. The data is then reassembled when received.

Lost packages: Accidents happens, both in real life and on the internet. Sometimes a network connection cuts off or a router is damaged. This usually results in a lost package. Those packages that never arrive to the receiver are considered to be a “lost package” after a set amount of time. When that occurs the sender(computer) just simply sends out a new copy of that package with a little bit of help by something called TCP/IP.

Why you might need to know your IP

One of many reason could be that you are a developer and are trying to sort out a network problem when communicating with your server. That’s my own most common reason, but it could also be when needing to filter out suspicious network traffic or when you need to communicate with a support and identify yourself to solve the reason for something not working on the internet.

Why you would need to trace an IP

One of many reason could be that you like to verify that the one you are communicating with is the one he says he is. For example; if you know that your friend is located in USA then you can assume that his or hers IP should originate from USA. It would be a big warning sign if the IP originated from China or Russia.