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How to find and change or Hide your IP address on your PC

Internet is a tool that we use on a daily basis and for various functions, from social networks to work emails passing through online shopping. Perhaps what we don’t know is that every time we connect to the internet through a device (whatever it is, smartphone or computer) we are associated with an IP address, which can be public or private.

IP derives from the English Internet Protocol and can be defined as the home address in a large collective world map of devices connected to the internet. Each public IP address is unique and establishes our geographical location and with which device we are connected to the network. In this way, the server of the site about which we want to receive information will be able to find us and send the requested signal. On the other hand, the private IP address is our internal network, i.e. our devices are associated with a single code in reference to the home modem and router. There are currently two IP protocols, version 4 (IPv4) and version 6 (IPv6), and both have the task of identifying our device.

How to find your IP address

The question will arise spontaneously: how do I find my IP? It is actually a very simple operation. On the Internet, there are many sites that find and show the public IP address of your device for free. You can simple type on google search “what is my IP address” to get the details. In addition to the IP address, formed by a series of numbers, it will be possible to know the geolocation of the server to which you are connected and also the name of the internet provider.

If, on the other hand, we want to find the private IP address, i.e. that of your home network, connected to the router, we will have to follow these steps:

  • Press Windows key + S type cmd, right click on command prompt and select run as administrator
  • Type ipconfig and press enter
  • A series of data will appear, including the default gateway entry and a number – that’s your IP address

ipconfig command

On Mac the process to discover the IP is not very different, just enter the system preferences, network and click on advanced.

How to change the IP address

The IP address therefore serves to let us communicate online but at the same time it is an excellent system for locating and verifying data. In fact, the internet provider but also the institutions, through the IP address, can collect data relating to our geographical position, which sites we visit, which torrents we download, and which mail or messaging services we use. This data, combined with the metadata and cookies collected while browsing, can provide a complete profile about us. To avoid this type of tracking it is possible to use different systems that manage to change our IP address and virtually take us to another country.

There are free services like hide.me or web proxies that work as a screen by diverting our connection to another server and hiding our real location from the arrival server. To use a web proxy just connect to the site, choose a country and give the ok to browse incognito. These proxies work directly from the browser but are not always stable and above all they are not suitable for streaming, downloads and other operations that require speed and stability.

Did incognito mode in your browser keep browsing activities private?

No, the Incognito mode is only meant for cookies and site data, browsing history, and information you enter into forms.

VPN take care of this. Virtual Private Networks in fact provide the user with a list of servers all over the world, in order to change their IP address in the blink of an eye simply by choosing the location of the server. In addition to hiding your IP address, a VPN also keeps out possible cyber dangers by completely isolating your network. As Harold Li of ExpressVPN himself says: “VPNs are now considered an indispensable tool for digital protection.” Furthermore, unlike free proxies, VPNs also guarantee stability and an adequate connection speed to also support streaming and all several more complex web services. There are also free and paid services for VPNs, which of course they offer additional features and adequate technical support.

Why change IP address

As we have already seen there are several reasons for changing the IP address, but summing up we can list them as follows:

  • Protect our position,
  • Virtually navigate to another country
  • Accessing the Internet Anonymously, Avoid data tracking
  • Use services available only in your country from abroad

Whether you use a proxy or a VPN, in just a few steps you will be guaranteed truly anonymous browsing.

How to change my IP address

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) hides your public IP address and connects you to a server in a different location with a different IP address.

When you download or install a (free or paid) VPN service, you will get different server locations with different IP addresses. And connecting the server change your current IP address with that server IP address.

Manually enter IP address

How to change your local IP address in Windows

  • Press Windows key + R, and type ncpa.cpl and click ok to open the network connections window,
  • Locate and right-click on active network adapter select properties,
  • Double click on Internet protocol version 4 to open its properties,
  • Here select either obtain IP address automatically or use the following IP address and enter the details of the new IP address.

VPN locations

Is Hiding an IP Address Illegal?

So the final question Hiding an IP Address Illegal? And the answer is Hiding your IP address is not illegal, and so is the use of proxies, VPN services, public Wi-Fi, and Tor. However, what you do after hiding it could make it illegal.

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