What is IP address? How to hide your IP address?

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The Internet Protocol (IP) is the principal communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet.

An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two main functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing.

An example of an IP address would be: 506.457.14.512

All devices that are connected to an internet connection have a unique IP address which means there’s a need for billions of IP addresses. This requirement is fulfilled by the new IP version IPv6.

Types Of IP address

There are two IP versions: IPv4 and IPv6. IPv4 is the older version that has a space of over 4 billion IP addresses. However, the new IPv6 version can provide up to trillions of IP addresses to fulfill the need of all internet users and devices.

The IPv4 version used to configure IP addresses in numerical value (numbers) which may conflict with other IP addresses. That’s why IPv6 adopted the hexadecimal method to provide unique IP addresses to billions of users in the world.

IPv4 Address:

An IPv4 address has a size of 32 bits, which limits the address space to 4294967296 (2³²) addresses. Of this number, some addresses are reserved for special purposes such as private networks (~18 million addresses) and multicast addressing (~270 million addresses).

IPv4 addresses are usually represented in dot-decimal notation, consisting of four decimal numbers, each ranging from 0 to 255, separated by dots, e.g., 172.16.254.1. Each part represents a group of 8 bits (an octet) of the address. In some cases of technical writing, IPv4 addresses may be presented in various hexadecimal, octal, or binary representations.

IPv6 Address:

In IPv6, the address size was increased from 32 bits in IPv4 to 128 bits, thus providing up to 2¹²⁸ (approximately 3.403×10³⁸) addresses. This is deemed sufficient for the foreseeable future.

The intent of the new design was not to provide just a sufficient quantity of addresses, but also redesign routing on the Internet by allowing more efficient aggregation of subnetwork routing prefixes. This resulted in slower growth of routing tables in routers. 

The smallest possible individual allocation is a subnet for 2⁶⁴ hosts, which is the square of the size of the entire IPv4 Internet. At these levels, actual address utilization ratios will be small on any IPv6 network segment. The new design also provides the opportunity to separate the addressing infrastructure of a network segment, i.e. the local administration of the segment's available space, from the addressing prefix used to route traffic to and from external networks. IPv6 has facilities that automatically change the routing prefix of entire networks, should the global connectivity or the routing policy change, without requiring internal redesign or manual renumbering.

The large number of IPv6 addresses allow large blocks to be assigned for specific purposes and, where appropriate, to be aggregated for efficient routing. With a large address space, there is no need to have complex address conservation methods as used in CIDR.

All modern desktop and enterprise server operating systems include native support for the IPv6 protocol, but it is not yet widely deployed in other devices, such as residential networking routers, voice over IP (VoIP) and multimedia equipment, and some networking hardware.

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Private IP Address

A private IP address is the address of your device connected to the home or business network. If you have a few different devices connected to one ISP (Internet Service Provider), then all your devices will have a unique private IP address. This IP address cannot be accessed from devices outside your home or business network.

For example: 192.168.1.1

Private IP addresses are not unique because there are a limited number of devices on your network.

You can find out the private IP address of your device using a few techniques. If you are a Windows user, then simply go to the command prompt and enter the command ipconfig. If you’re a mac user, then you need to enter the following command ifconfig in your Terminal app

If you are using the internet on a mobile phone, then you can go to your WiFi settings to find out the IP address. iOS users can find the IP address by clicking on the ‘i‘ button next to the network they are connected to. Android users can click on the network name in their WiFi settings, and it will show the IP address.

Public IP Address

Your public IP address is the main IP address to which your home or business network is connected. This IP address connects you to the world, and it’s unique for all users.

To find out your public IP address, simply go to SupportAlly site in your browser, and it will display the public IP and other browser information.

Static and Dynamic IP Address

All private and public IP addresses can be either static or dynamic. IP addresses that you configure manually and fix them to the network of your device are called static IP addresses. Static IP addresses cannot change automatically.

The dynamic IP address configures automatically and assigns an IP to your network when you set up the router with the internet. This distribution of IP addresses is managed by Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). DHCP can be your internet router that assigns an IP address to your network in your home or business environment.

Hide your IP Address

An IP address is your public identity that others can use to track your information. Some websites even track the patterns of how you click, which page you view the most, etc., and sell the data to companies. You might also want to hide your IP if you browse content, which is restricted to your area.

Some countries block specific content for their region, and as a result, the users can not view the content. If you are defying that restriction, you must change the IP address to avoid any issues.

Now, as you know why you must hide your IP, let’s see how you can change your IP address. There are numerous ways that you can use to change or mask your IP. There are browsers, proxy websites, and VPN clients that you can use.

How to hide or change your IP address

You can use these applications and services to hide your IP address:

• VPN or Virtual Private Networks (Paid and free)
• Tor browser (Free)
• Opera browser (Free)
• Public WiFi
• Proxy Websites

VPNs (Virtual Private Networks)

VPN lets you change your public IP. When you visit a website while being connected to a VPN, the site will not see your actual IP. VPNs give you a list of Countries or areas that you can choose from, and you'll be assigned an IP address of that area or country. These IPs are owned by VPN providers. There are both paid and free VPN providers available, although premium VPNs provide more options and privacy.

Some good VPN providers:

·       CyberGhost VPN: Best For new users

·       Nord VPN: Rated best in 2020

·       Express VPN: Top Rated for Speed

·       Surfshark: Comparatively Cheaper

·       Turbo VPN: Personal Favorite

·       Private VPN: Numerous Protocols Available

·       Ultra VPN: Good Customer Support

·       Vypr VPN: Desktop Friendly

When buying a VPN, make sure it has a no-logging policy. Most VPN providers offer you a trial period that you should use before purchasing them so that you can make sure their IPs work on the websites that you regularly browse (some websites block VPN IPs). You can also buy a dedicated IP address from your VPN provider.

Note: You can also buy a Linux Virtual Private Server (VPS) from Vultr or Digital Ocean if your want to have a dedicated IP different from your actual IP. Install GNOME desktop on it, and browse any website without exposing your actual IP. This looks complicated, but there are tons of tutorials online to help you.

Tor Browser (Website)

It is a simple yet effective browser that will help you mask your IP address every time you open it and visit some websites. It gives you an anonymous identity. It changes your IP address so that it becomes hard for anyone to track you.

There are two ways of running Tor. Either you can go for the complex one that involves the command line, or you can simply install the Tor Browser application for your Windows and get going.

It is available for multiple operating systems like Windows, OS X, Linux, and Android. So, you can use Tor to hide IP address on your Mac and Windows for completely free. It has various other advantages like it is completely anonymous, and everything you browse gets deleted after you close the browser, no history is saved, and every time you connect, you get a different IP. However, some websites might not support Tor. Another disadvantage is that it can sometimes be slow. Still, Tor is probably the best way to hide your IP address, if you don't want to pay for a VPN.

Opera Browser

Opera can also help you mask your IP and assign you a new IP that makes it hard for others to track you. However, it uses an in-built VPN service that does the magic. There’s no subscription required, and it uses the 256-AES encryption that makes it safe. 

Steps to enable VPN on Opera:-

1.      Open Opera

2.      Go to Settings in the top right corner and search "VPN" in the top-right search box. If you still don't find the VPN settings, follow the steps below.

3.      Then Go to Privacy & Security or Go to Advanced and then Privacy & Security.

4.      Then scroll down until you find the VPN tab. Click on Enable

5.      Close the declaimer if it appears and enables the VPN.

6.      You will see a small VPN logo in the URL address bar indicating VPN is live.

Note: Although using public WiFi will hide your IP, it's not the best solution if you also want to protect your privacy.

These days cafes, local eateries provide free WIFI to their customers. You can order something and bring your laptop along and get going. Whether it is your mobile, tablet, or laptop, when you connect it to a WIFI and search for something on the web, the IP address of the WIFI is what becomes exposed. That way, your IP won’t be revealed to the websites you browse.

Proxy Websites

One of the oldest methods to change IP address is using Proxy Websites. There is no barrier to the device or platform, as you can use the proxy websites directly from your browser. You just have to visit a proxy website, and you can browse anything from that tab.

Many websites might not work the way they're supposed to when you browse them using proxy websites. Also, I'd not recommend proxy sites to browse websites where you might have to add your credentials or other confidential information. Some good proxy sites:

• 4everproxy.com
• Hide.me