May 23, 2021
3 mins read

What is the IP address and what is it used for

dirección ip
Photo by Designecologist on Pexels.com

The IP address is a way to identify yourself on the network. It’s a number that indicates where and how you’re connecting to the internet. It comes from Internet Protocol, internet protocol. Computers and their networks have several protocols. Protocols are the form of communication between two machines. They are based on a concept that could be defined as a handshake. There’s a lot of guys. This article will explain one of the protocols that we certainly use most in our day to day.

IP address as number

IP address is a numeric address that is assigned to each device connected to the internet. In many cases the IP address can be used to identify an organization or individual who has contracted internet services from an internet service provider. In this case we’d be talking about public ip. If you connect to an intermediate device, such as a router or access point, that device will in turn assign you private ip, which identifies a single device on a network.

Public IP

The public IP is provided to you by your internet service provider. There are two types of public IPs: fixed and dynamic. Fixed ones are IP addresses that are mostly contracted by companies. These companies want their servers to always work on the same public IP and in case for any reason it changes, some company services may not respond.

Dynamic IP addresses change over time. It will not always be the same and on many occasions a simple reset of the router changes you already the direction.

To know the public IP search google “what is my ip” and many websites provide it.

Private IP

Private Ip is assigned by a device, not an internet service provider. Each device that connects to a router will assign it a number. There cannot be two devices with the same private IP, just as there cannot be two routers with two public IPs the same.

Typically routers are assigned an IP that does not vary that most commonly is that it is 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1. There are particular companies that modify it because it is a configurable parameter. Now every device that connects, whatever it is, the router will assign you a number within the number range you have configured.

How to know private IP address on Windows and Mac

Let’s see how to know the private address on Windows and Mac computers easily.

Private IP on Windows

On Windows there are several ways to know public IP. I’m going to explain the most direct. If you have ever used Command Prompt (CMD) you can know the IP by these three steps:

  1. Open Command Prompt : If you have a Start  menu on your Windows system, open it and type  cmd in the search bar. If you don’t have a search bar, tap  Run.
  2. Type ipconfig  at the Command prompt (or the Run check box).
  3. You will find your IP in the text that will appear.
cmd windows

Private IP on MAC

On MAC the way to view the private IP is to go directly to the Network or Network app. You’ll probably see IPv4 (IP version 4). Version 4 has been known for a few years to run out of usable addresses in a few years. Now even coffee makers connect to the internet. Although the devices that pull the most from IP are mobile phones because virtually all of us have one. This is why version 6 will be used in the future to allow for many more directions.

The steps to follow to find the IP would be:

  1. Open the Apple menu and then SYSTEM PREFERENCES > NETWORK.
  2. Double-click the Network icon.
dirección ip

3. In Network Preferences select  Wi-Fi (or Ethernet if you are wired). This public address is different if we are connected to a router or a cellular data network, as can be seen in Fig. below.

There is an even simpler way to press the OPTION key and then Wi-Fi icon in the top menu of the MAC. It gives us more information than if we just click on the wi-fi icon. You’d see what comes next:

dirección ip

IP address as an identifier on the network

When you connect to the internet at home from multiple devices connected to a router, these devices will go out to the internet with a unique IP, the public one. If any of these devices take any illegal action it is possible to identify it because the record of the activity performed by the devices is saved several variables that can reach a single computer or device at the end.

Right now you’re connecting to this website. In the system register, and as it puts in the privacy policy of this website if you registered it would be content of several parameters and one of them is the IP address from which you make that registration.

RANGE of IP addresses

The ips range is the allowed numbers. An IP address is divided into four groups or blocks of 3 numbers ranging from 0 to 255. Each group forms an octet of eight zero or one numbers. That is, it would be a byte of information, which is equivalent to 8 bits.

dirección ip

References

Avelino Dominguez

??‍? Biologist ??‍? Teacher ??‍? Technologist ? Statistician ? #SEO #SocialNetwork #Web #Data ♟Chess ? Galician

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