Take a minute to read this, and you won’t ask yourself …

What’s my IP address? What the heck is an IP address, anyway? IP address, Internet Protocol, whatever! Just leave that IP junk to the IT people, right?  That is usually the attitude of us ordinary folk, who generally have no clue about such technical things, even though some of it is quite easy to learn.

After reading this you won’t have to ask yourself “what’s my ip address” any longer. Plus, your IT team will be happy.

Essentially, an Internet Protocol is simply a way to numerically identify your computer on a network for communication purposes. Each device on a network is assigned a binary number (it’s legible to us humans, however) that aids not only in communication but also routing data.

When the Internet was young, the IP address system was a 32-bit number (IPv4 – as in IP, version 4), but as the Information Superhighway grew by leaps and bounds, address space was depleted and a new addressing system was adopted, using 128 bits (IPv6) instead of 32.
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IPv4 addresses look like this: 208.65.180.299 while IPv6 addresses look more like this: 2001:db6:0:1234:0:567:1:1.

It is easy to find the answer to the question, “Whats my IP address” these days. There are numerous Web sites out there that will spit out the IP address for you. For example, a quick search in Google pointed me to www.ip-address.com, www.whatismyipaddress.com and www.whatismyip.com right off the bat. Simply click on any of the links and bam!, up comes your personal IP address.

If you don’t want to rely on a Web site to show you your IP address, you can check for it manually in the following ways:

*Windows 95/98: Go to Start/Run and type the command “winipcfg.” A screen with your computer’s IP address should pop up.
*Windows 2000, XP, Vista: Go to Start/Run and type the command “ipconfig.” Again, a screen will pop up with your IP address.

Your IP address can be either static or dynamic. A static IP address never changes. Generally this is the case for computers connected via LAN connection. If you are using a cable modem, your IP address is static unless you power off the modem. When you turn on your computer you will be assigned a new IP address. A dynamic address changes each time you dial- or login for a new session.

Your IP address is generally protected by a firewall or router, if you have them. If you don’t, it is a good idea to invest in good firewall and antivirus software.