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Sunday, August 15, 2010

Subnet Masks and Subnetting

Subnetting in Practice
Subnetting works by applying the concept of extended network addresses to individual computer (and other network device) addresses.

An extended network address includes both a network address and additional bits that represent the subnet number.
... . Together, these two data elements support a two-level addressing scheme recognized by standard implementations of IP. The network address and subnet number, when combined with the host address, therefore support a three-level scheme.

Consider the following real-world example. A small business plans to use the 192.168.1.0 network for its internal (intranet) hosts. The human resources department wants their computers to be on a restricted part of this network because they store payroll information and other sensitive employee data. But because this is a Class C network, the default subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 allows all computers on the network to be peers (to send messages directly to each other) by default.

The first four bits of 192.168.1.0 -
1100
place this network in the Class C range and also fix the length of the network address at 24 bits. To subnet this network, more than 24 bits must be set to '1' on the left side of the subnet mask. For instance, the 25-bit mask 255.255.255.128 creates a two-subnet network as follows. Network address
(24 bits) Subnet number
(1 bit) Extended network Host address range
11000000 10101000 00000001 0 192.168.1.0 192.168.1.1 - 192.168.1.127
11000000 10101000 00000001 1 192.168.1.128 192.168.1.129 - 192.168.1.255


For every additional bit set to '1' in the mask, another bit becomes available in the subnet number to index additional subnets. A two-bit subnet number can support up to four subnets, a three-bit number supports up to eight subnets, and so on.
Private Networks and Subnets
As mentioned earlier in this tutorial, the governing bodies that administer Internet Protocol have reserved certain networks for internal uses. In general, intranets utilizing these networks gain more control over managing their IP configuration and Internet access. The default subnet masks associated with these private networks are listed below. Network address range Default mask
10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 255.0.0.0
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 255.240.0.0
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 255.255.0.0


Consult RFC 1918 for more details about these special networks.
Subnetting Review

Subnetting allows network administrators some flexibility in defining relationships among network hosts. Hosts on different subnets can only "talk" to each other through specialized network gateway devices like routers. The ability to filter traffic between subnets can make more bandwidth available to applications and can limit access in desirable ways.

Can Someone Find me with my IP Address?

Possibly, but most likely not without a subpoena.

In most cases all that can be easily determined is who the person's ISP is and possibly the state and city they reside in.

In some cases with static IP address DSL or business DSL services the ISP provides IP allocation records to the American Registry for Internet Numbers (http://www.arin.net), the non-profit organization responsible for managing Internet numbering resources in North America.

As an example SBC used to include customer information in those allocation records, but due to privacy concerns now uses their own information with a customer reference number.

For users who want to afford themselves some additional level of anonymity we suggest you read about internet anonymity, Proxy Servers, and how to hide your ip address.

Try using this tool to look up your IP address.
How can someone find out who I am?

A little background first.

IP address allocation is handled by The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). IANA in turn, delegate authority to Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). The RIRs, in turn, following their own regional policies, further delegate blocks of IP addresses to their customers, which include Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and end-user organizations.

Each of the RIRs handles a specific geographic area:
ARIN (North America and portions of the Caribbean)
AfriNIC (Africa)
APNIC (Asia and the Pacific region)
LACNIC (Latin America and portions of the Caribbean)
RIPE (Europe, Middle East, Central Asia)

Each of these organizations allow lookups to be to that data. Different ISP's segment their blocks of IP addresses by region and you can see that in the lookup. The lookup provides the name and address of the organization the block of IP addresses was allocated to. The ISP's can name these blocks if they choose. The naming often indicates a geographic location, for example, IRV-CA, aka Irvine, California.

Here are links to the URLs where you can lookup an IP address. Be aware that if you lookup an Asian allocated IP address in a different region's RIR it will provide a link to the appropriate RIR.
North America and portions of the Caribbean
Africa
Asia and the Pacific region
Latin America and portions of the Caribbean
Europe, Middle East, and Central Asia

In general, I start by looking up an IP address with ARIN seeing what geographic location information I can learn from the results.

From there I do a reverse DNS (rDNS) lookup to see what hostname the ISP provides. A hostname is something like www.example.com, or can be more specific to include regional information.

From there I do a traceroute which displays the hostnames many of the machines in between two points on the internet. (I'm making this *really* none technical here...) Sometimes the rDNS/hostname of a specific IP address will not reveal any location but the rDNS/hostname of the machine next along the path will reveal some.

That's about all the information that can be obtained without a subpoena. In many cases people reveal small amounts of personal information about themselves on forums, chat rooms, blogs, etc that can be used to build a profile of who you might be.

How do I use a Proxy Server?

Please be aware that the use of proxy servers without the express permission from the owner of the proxy server may be illegal in some states and/or countries. Use at your own risk.

Use your favorite search engine and search for 'proxy server list'. You'll find many sites with lists of proxy servers, their IP address, the port they listen on, and usually what country they are in. Write down a few of them.


Proxy Types

You may see references to four different types of proxy servers:
Transparent Proxy

This type of proxy server identifies itself as a proxy server and also makes the original IP address available through the http headers. These are generally used for their ability to cache websites and do not effectively provide any anonymity to those who use them. However, the use of a transparent proxy will get you around simple IP bans. They are transparent in the terms that your IP address is exposed, not transparent in the terms that you do not know that you are using it (your system is not specifically configured to use it.)
Anonymous Proxy

This type of proxy server indentifies itself as a proxy server, but does not make the original IP address available. This type of proxy server is detectable, but provides reasonable anonymity for most users.
Distorting Proxy

This type of proxy server identifies itself as a proxy server, but make an incorrect original IP address available through the http headers.
High Anonymity Proxy

This type of proxy server does not identify itself as a proxy server and does not make available the original IP address.

Please make sure to read about anonymous proxy risks before using a proxy server.

If you need further assistance using proxy servers please post a question in the proxy server forum.
Browser Settings

The following are instructions to configure various browsers to use an http proxy server.
Instructions for Internet Explorer 6.0
On the Tools menu in Internet Explorer, click Internet Options, click the Connections tab, and then click LAN Settings.
Under Proxy server, click to select the Use a proxy server for your LAN check box.
In the Address box, type the IP address of the proxy server.
In the Port box, type the port number that is used by the proxy server for client connections (by default, 8080).
You can click to select the Bypass proxy server for local addresses check box if you do not want the proxy server computer to be used when you connect to a computer on the local network (this may speed up performance).
Click OK to close the LAN Settings dialog box.
Click OK again to close the Internet Options dialog box.
Instructions for Internet Explorer 5
Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Internet.
Click the Connections tab, click LAN Settings, and then click to select the Use Proxy Server check box.
In the Address box, type the appropriate proxy server information, and use the following format: http://

Click Advanced, and then type the appropriate proxy settings in the Servers area. Use the following syntax for the proxy settings: http://
: where
is the Web address of the proxy server, and is the port number that is assigned to the proxy server. For example, if the proxy server's address is "proxy.example.microsoft.com" and the port number is 80, the setting in the Proxy Server box should appear like this: http://proxy.example.microsoft.com:80 Important: If you use a backslash (\) instead of a slash (/) in the proxy server's address, the settings disappear from the Proxy Server box and Internet Explorer does not find the proxy server.
Instructions for Firefox 3.0
Select the Tools Menu
Select Options
Select the Advanced Icon
Select the Network tab
Under connection select Settings
Under Settings you can chose "Auto-Detect Proxy setting for this network" or "Manual Proxy Configuration"
If choosing "Manual Proxy Configuration" Enter the IP address for the HTTP proxy server
Enter the port of the HTTP proxy server
Click Okay
Instructions for FireFox 2
Select the Tools Menu
Select Options
Select Connection Settings
Select Manual Proxy Configuration
Check Use the same proxy for all protocols
Enter the IP address for the HTTP proxy server
Enter the port of the HTTP proxy server
Click Okay
Instructions for Netscape 8.1
Select the Tools Menu
Select Options
Select General
Select Connection Settings...
Check Manual Proxy Configuration
Enter the proxy server's IP address in the HTTP Proxy field and the proxy's port into the Port field.
OK your way out
Instructions for Netscape 7.1
Select the Edit Menu
Select Preferences
Maximize Advanced
Select Proxies
Choose Manual proxy configuration
Enter the proxy server's IP address in the HTTP Proxy field and the proxy's port into the corresponding Port field.
OK your way out
Opera 8.5
Select the Tools Menu
Select Preferences
Select Advanced Tab
Select Proxy Servers
Check the box next to HTTP
Enter the proxy server's IP address in the first box and the proxy's port in the box after "Port"
OK your way out
Safari 2.0.3
Select Preferences
Select Advanced
Select Proxies: Change Settings
Check the box next to Web Proxy (HTTP)
Enter the proxy server's IP address in the first box and the proxy's port in the box after the ":"
Select Apply Now

GhostSurf Review

GhostSurf is a computer software program that allows for anonymous surfing of the Internet. Like other software programs of this nature, Ghostsurf provides security for the private browsing of Internet websites. It also provides peace of mind. With Ghostsurf you get ideal Internet anonymity, which means that you have the ability to surf the web without be tracked or traced.
Why Surf Anonymously

There are a number of reasons why Internet users prefer to anonymously surf the web. One of the most important reasons is the level of vulnerability presented by Internet use. When visiting a website, you are revealing yourself (and data about your usage) to the targeting and data collection of many different agencies - federal authorities, search engines, and online marketing groups are just a few. Information regarding your computer system, browser, usage, and web history are all examples of what data targeting groups can collect.

Besides protecting personal information, there are many logical reasons for wanting to surf the web anonymously. Citizens of those countries with restrictive Internet or communication policies will want to mask their particular web use and habits. Similarly, those who view the Internet at work may want to hide data from their employer on what websites have been visited exactly; for example, when looking for a new job.
How Ghostsurf Works

The idea of anonymous surfing is actually very simply: a buffer is placed in between your computer and the sites you view online. This buffer allows you to view the website, but doesn't allow the site (or anyone else) to trace your computer information back through that buffer. Most anonymous surfing software follows this pattern, and the buffer is generally a proxy server. When accessing the Internet under normal conditions, your computer's web browser will access and "talk to" the websites you want to view: this is how your computer is identified. However, when utilizing proxy-style anonymous surfing software, the proxy server becomes the middleman, the buffer. When accessing the Internet the computer's browser will first talk to the proxy server and then the proxy server will "talk to" the web site you want to view. As a result, the web site ultimately does not identify your computer's information; it identifies the proxy server.

Ghostsurf does not operate by this common, proxy-style, buffer method. The software instead offers a basic, but effective, method for anonymous surfing: scrambling your IP address. Whenever your computer connects to the Internet, Ghostsurf scrambles the IP address much like a good firewall package would do. This scrambling of the IP address encrypts your Internet connection, and provides you with the privacy and protection you need to surf anonymously.
The Benefits of Ghostsurf

One of the most attractive incentives of Ghostsurf is its level of personal customization. Privacy levels can be customized in real time to suit your changing needs, including the ability to block your personal information and mask your IP address. These privacy levels can be simply adjusted at any time by a moving slider. At one end is the lowest level, Normal, your computer data is sent through the Internet without modification, encryption, or rerouting. At the other end, the highest level, all personal information is removed, encrypted or rerouted. Again, the level of privacy customization is always up to you.

Beyond the moving slider of privacy protection, Ghostsurf allows users to exclude certain websites altogether. This means that some websites will be allowed your personal information if you choose so. For example, you may want your personal information blocked from Internet websites in general, but not your online banking website or web-based email. If so, Ghostsurf will allow you to customize your privacy levels in order to provide your personal information to these selected sites while still protecting you from all others.

And finally, Ghostsurf offers a number of useful program utilities that give you an added benefit. The software program will remove your browser history, delete any cookies and, if you have the Platinum edition, will remove pop-up ads. Ghostsurf also prevents adware and spyware with its own company-designed anti-spyware program, SpyCatcher. The software will also provide you with feedback regarding these utilities, such as the number of blocked cookies and pop-up ads, and blocked in-page ads. The software will also provide feed back on sent invisible requests via the Internet and sent secure requests as well.
The Drawbacks of Ghostsurf

Ghostsurf is an ideal software program that not only allows for anonymous surfing, but protects your computer as well. However, it does not offer a few items that anonymous surfers prefer. Ghostsurf lacks built-in anti-virus protection or spam tools. And for all of its additionally privacy protection and feedback tools, it does not offer reporting tools or any sort of log generation regarding the protection measures. Yet this is not surprising if considering how affordable the software really is. In this sense, it is an overall affordable program for anonymous surfing.

Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing Review

Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing is a computer software program that provides a method for privately browsing internet websites. Simply put, it means that you are able to use the Internet without being identified; or, in other words, it allows you to maintain internet anonymity. Internet anonymity means that you are not giving anyone the opportunity to trace or link your web activity, or personal information, back to you. Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing gives web users a sense of comfort. This is because Anonymous Surfing offers two distinct methods of privacy protection: 1) protection from the web site you are browsing, and 2) protection from someone watching or piggybacking your network connection.
Why Surf Anonymously

There are a number of reasons why Internet users prefer to anonymously surf the web. Most people do not understand how vulnerable using the Internet can be. Every time you visit a website, you are exposed to targeting and data collection by a number of agencies: federal authorities, search engines, online marketing groups. You may be watched, or your movements can be tracked throughout the internet. Web savvy persons and online advertisers can identify your operating system and determine what internet browser you use. They can uncover what websites you have visited, inspect your web history, and identify your IP address (which gives them your location as well as other personal computer information).
How the Software Works

Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing works by virtue of a proxy server established between the user and the web site intended for use. Under normal conditions (without the software), when a website is accessed by a user's computer, that computer is identified by the website. The process is a sort of dialogue between the two: it represents a "request to access the site" by your computer's web browser and a "granting of permission to use" by the website's server. Part of this initial request, then, is that the computer be identified as the user-agent.

This dialogue changes, however, when Anonymous Surfing's own proxy-style service is used to surf the website. It is the proxy server that requests to access the site, not your computer. Your computer's web browser will talk to the proxy server first, but it is the proxy server that then talks to the web site you want to view. As a result, the web site does not identify your computer as the user-agent; it instead identifies the anonymous proxy server.
The Good

Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing is extremely user friendly. The software can be enabled at the click of a button and instantly hides your IP address without having to modify any default settings. It works with all Internet browsers, even protecting the data you send over wireless networks, automatically. By routing your internet traffic through the Anonymizer proxy servers, Anonymous Surfing protects your computer against Host file and DNS cache poisoning. The software similarly protects your computer from phishing websites by notification when you attempt to visit one. It also protects you from spyware websites as well. The software's Digital Shredder Lite program will clean your browser history and cache files as well. All of this protection is packaged together with the Anonymous Surfing software in conjunction with a relatively low-cost yearly subscription service.
The Bad

Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing does have a few downfalls. The software's Digital Shredder Lite program that cleans your browser history and cache files can not handle international file names. It assumes that all file names should have roman characters. Therefore, the program is ineffective for multi-lingual applications. Fortunately the software's subscription service includes free customer support. However, even this has had its problems. Many customers have complained that it takes several attempts to reach a live person for assistance. And on some reported occasions, a customer service request email has been returned as "undeliverable".

How do I hide my IP address?

The most common method to hide your IP address is to use a proxy server in one form or another. A proxy server is a computer that offers a computer network service to allow clients to make indirect network connections to other network services. A client connects to the proxy server and then requests a connection, file, or other resource available on a different server. The proxy provides the resource either by connecting to the specified server or by serving it from a cache. In some cases, the proxy may alter the client's request or the server's response for various purposes.

There are several implementations of proxy servers that you can use to hide your IP address (in an attempt to remain anonymous on the internet):
Website Based Proxy Servers

A Website based proxy server is a website that provides a form for you to enter the URL of a website that you wish to anonymously visit. When you submit the form the website proxy server makes a request for the page that you want to visit. The machine usually does not identify itself as a proxy server and does not pass along your IP address in the request for the page. The features of these sites vary (ad blocking, javascript blocking, etc) as does their price. Some are free and some charge. Examples of website proxy services are:
Proxify.com
Browser Configured Proxy Servers

There are also stand alone proxy servers that allow for you to configure your browser to route your browser traffic through that machine, which then makes a request for a page on your behalf, and then sends you the results. These are usually used at no cost to the user. Since they are accessible to the public these are often quite slow. Please see instructions for using a proxy server.

There are a variety of types of these proxy servers:
Transparent Proxy
This type of proxy server identifies itself as a proxy server and also makes the original IP address available through the http headers. These are generally used for their ability to cache websites and do not effectively provide any anonymity to those who use them. However, the use of a transparent proxy will get you around simple IP bans. They are transparent in the terms that your IP address is exposed, not transparent in the terms that you do not know that you are using it (your system is not specifically configured to use it.) This type of proxy server does not hide your IP address.
Anonymous Proxy
This type of proxy server identifies itself as a proxy server, but does not make the original IP address available. This type of proxy server is detectable, but provides reasonable anonymity for most users. This type of proxy server will hide your IP address.
Distorting Proxy
This type of proxy server identifies itself as a proxy server, but make an incorrect original IP address available through the http headers. This type of proxy server will hide your IP address.
High Anonymity Proxy
This type of proxy server does not identify itself as a proxy server and does not make available the original IP address. This type of proxy server will hide your IP address.
Installed Software Proxy Servers

There are a variety of companies and software packages available at either a onetime cost or at an annual subscription. These are usually faster and more reliable than the above proxy servers. Some of these services would include:

How do I change my IP address?

"How do I change my IP address?" and "Can I change my IP address?" are probably the most commonly asked questions. Please attempt the following then, if that does not work, visit the Change IP Address forum.

Before trying any other methods to change your IP address, try turning off (or unplugging the power of) your Cable/DSL modem for five minutes. In many cases this will change your IP address. However, if that does not change your IP address, repeat the process for 8 hours (overnight works well) instead of 5 minutes. Hopefully this will result in an IP change.

If the above does not result in your IP address changing, please look through the below for the situation that best matches yours and attempt to change your IP address that way. Unfortunately you are not able to get your IP address to change in all cases, as it is ultimately determined by your ISP's DHCP configuration (when you've got a dynamically assigned IP address, that is.)
Windows
- Computer connected directly to the modem
Get to a command prompt. (START, run, cmd).


Type "ipconfig /release" (without the quotes, on the command line by itself).
Type "ipconfig /renew" (without the quotes, on the command line by itself).
Windows (second option)
- Computer connected directly to the modem
Get to a command prompt. (START, run, cmd).
Type "ipconfig /release" (without the quotes).
Shut down computer.
Turn off computer.
Turn off all ethernet hubs/switches.
Turn off cable/DSL modem.
Leave off overnight.
Turn everything back on.
Network with Router
Log into the router's admin console. (Often http://192.168.1.1/)
Release the IP address. (Method varies by router manufacturer)
Turn off router, ethernet hubs/switches, and the cable/DSL modem.
Leave off overnight.
Turn everything back on.

If you are using a cable/DSL modem and a router, you may wish to connect your computer directly to the cable/DSL modem. Please note that this could significantly impact your system security. This allows your ISP's DHCP to issue you a new (hopefully changed) IP address based of the (hardware) MAC address of your computer's ethernet card.

If all the above has not worked to change your IP address and you have a router, check and see if there is a "Clone MAC Address" option. Using it should change your IP address; however, you'll only be able to do it once (in most cases).

These will not work in all cases. If all else fails contact your internet service provider (ISP) and ask them if they are able to change your IP address or how long your connection needs to be off for your IP address to change.

If you trying to change your IP address because you are just trying to access web based forums you may wish to attempt to configure your internet browser to use a proxy server.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Dedicated IP hosting and search engines

There has been debate in the SEO industry for awhile regarding whether or not using a dedicated IP address is better than having a shared IP for your website...
Some SEOs suppose that there really is no good reason to obtain static IP Web hosting. Your site will not perform any better by having its own static IP.
Some others theorize that your choice of dedicated IP hosting vs. shared hosting might slightly affect your rankings (i.e. it's a factor considered by search engines).
Yet others suppose that sharing an IP address with known spam or adult sites raises a warning flag with search engines, so some of them may respond by banning the entire IP address from their index.

Most probably, these fears are greatly exaggerated. Since the majority of sites on the Web are hosted via shared IP, it would be unprofitable to search engines to penalize a site based on IP. Search engines are able to ban anything on a domain name instead of an entire IP neighborhood. So it is search engine safe to use a shared IP hosting. Moreover, almost all hosting will eventually be shared in order to preserve IP addresses.
Conclusion

Don't worry if your site is on a shared IP address. In most cases, this doesn't affect you. Dedicated IP hosting may be required if you need to have some sort of special access to your website, like SSL or Anonymous FTP. If you have no special requirements, then a shared IP will work fine under most conditions.

I've managed to find an inexpensive host that offers dedicated IP addresses for no extra fee. IXWebHosting provides unlimited disk space and bandwidth, Site Studio website builder, free domain names, and a dedicated IP address with each domain.

Who needs a dedicated IP address?

Generally, having a website on a shared IP address will not cause you any harm. However, there are a few cases when a static IP is required...
Having your own Private SSL Certificate. Secure e-commerce websites need SSL certificates for accepting credit cards online. Web hosts usually offer a shared SSL certificate where clients can share the Web host's SSL. If you are using your Web hosting provider's shared SSL you don't need a static IP.
Anonymous FTP. It means that anyone using the FTP software can access files in a special directory of your site. It's called Anonymous FTP because the user name used to access is "anonymous." Many Web hosting providers require a static IP for the anonymous FTP function to work properly.
You want to access your website by FTP or Web browser even when the domain name is inaccessible, such as domain name propagation periods.

The difference between shared and dedicated IP addresses

Each computer connected to the Internet is assigned a unique IP address for the purposes of communication. An IP address is a 32-bit numeric address usually expressed as 4 numbers from 0-255 separated by dots, for example 192.168.0.123. There are billions of addresses possible, however, the number is finite.

In the Web hosting industry there are two types of IP address...
Dedicated IP address (also called static IP) means that a website has its own IP address. Whether you type in your URL or the numeric form of its IP address, both will bring you to the same domain.
Shared IP address means that multiple websites share the same address. Web servers can determine by the domain entered in a user's browser which website is being requested. Typing in the IP address will bring you to some kind of generic page instead of the specific site you want.

Due to the rapid increase of the number of registered domain names and the finite number of IP addresses, Web hosting providers are forced to use shared IP's when possible. In fact, hundreds of websites often share the same address. Static IP hosting is no longer the norm and usually costs more.

Find IP Address

There are numerous internet users who are scared of getting their IP addresses disclosed to online hackers and criminals while working online. Though its not seem to be that dangerous if anyone just get to know about your residential area using your IP address but it is dangerous if any criminal or robber gets the address. Therefore, working online means you are allowing others to see your IP address and that means they are getting your address that can be used in negative means as well. Hence, your IP address is equally important and confidential as your residential address and phone number is.

No one want to disclose publicly their residential address, contact number, or any personal details, same is in the case of IP address as well as it is also something confidential. No doubt there is a majority of good humans around the world but this there are some bad people too that can cause you any harm. Though there are not many people that can b interested in hacking your personal data for their cruel reasons and usage, but still there are chances of trouble due to such people while working online.

Worldwide people are using effectively proxy servers for browsing to hide their IP addresses. A proxy server is one of the most effective ways that can be used to hide your IP address while working online. Due to the increase in demand of proxy servers globally by people desire to have secure online working, today there are numerous proxy sites are available online. By using these proxy servers you can easily hide your IP address while browsing. For more secure online working it is also very important to have an antivirus and firewall program installed in your system.

It’s not difficult anymore to get a security while using internet of hiding your IP address. Other then above mentioned ways there could be other ways too but proxy servers and antivirus software are the most reliable and secure ways. As with the advancement in technology, there are more ways for online hackers as well to get access to your system, therefore it is suggested to be aware of new technologies and developments in the field to safeguard your system from such hackers and hide your IP address.

How to hide IP address

Your IP address can be easily tracked by anyone. It is a fact that many websites keeps the record of IP addresses visited there page for eighteen or more months. In 2008, Google attempt to reduce the time period of keeping safe the records of visited IP addresses to nine months so that users get maximum privacy. Though the time period was reduced to half but still for some time period still records are been kept. Therefore, everyone wanted to get a privacy while browsing online being unknown to others.

There are numerous online websites available that provides you the facility to use proxy server while hiding your IP address and showing the IP address of the proxy server to others. You can hide your IP while working online if you want and if you don’t want to hide IP for some reliable site then you can’t by using these proxy servers. Hiding your IP is not difficult anymore you just need to choose a proxy site for yourself and comply with the term and services of these sites. These proxy sites are reliable and offer complete security to the users and do not misuse the user’s data or trust. There are various organizations that uses IP addresses of the people visited their website in order to gain data from them. They can get details like which operating system is been used by the visitor, most visited websites of the person, and also which browser have been used by the visitor of the company webpage. Therefore, by hiding your IP address you will be safe from sharing your details with others online.

Different software programs and VPN services can also be used to hide IP address. The software programs holding license are more reliable to hide IP address and not even affects the speed of your system. VPN can also be a good option t hide IP address as it tunnels and encrypts the website connection completely. There are VPN providers that provide the server locations worldwide and also let you change your country name.

It is not wrong to hide your IP address, whereas it is just to keep yourself safe and secure while working online from online criminals. By hiding your IP address you can also safe your details to be used by marketing agencies. You can also get access to blocked websites by using these proxy sites by hiding your IP address. Hiding IP address is considered to be a precautionary attempt that can be beneficial for any internet user.

Proxy IP Address

Everyone wants to keep their IP address hidden from others but it’s been disclosed sometime then that’s not something surprising. Most of the internet users go get worried for the security of their system if their IP address is been disclosed to others. There is nothing to worry about if anyone get to know your IP address as it’s just to know the location but not a surety that he can exist in your residence. Therefore, if you keep the security measures no one can exist into your private area. If one intended to enter anyone’s system or get access to someone’s private data he need to make some extra efforts and even if they succeeded to break in, they can be stopped by security software installed in the systems normally.

Now there might be a question to how to know if your IP can harm you. By installing security software and firewall settings in your system you can free yourself from worry related to IP address security. There are users who visit different social WebPages and post there that disclose their IP addressees but once they have proper security system for their computer, therefore they are safe from online criminals and hackers. Hence, if you have also equipped your PC with all the security tools then there is no point to worry regarding your IP address. If ever anyone try to make an attempt to enter your system you will be informed by the security software and it will also stop any such insecure entrance in the system.

With experience and advanced technology some online criminals have found ways to break the system security but again its just a waste of time and efforts to get access to anyone’s system as it is not that easy. Most of these online hackers are interested in tracking educational institutes, entrepreneurs and federal offices systems. Hence, they are less interested in hacking any common user’s system. It is not possible for a common user of internet to get access to anyone’s PC and leave without leaving any footprints. Similarly, no robber can leave your house without any evidence behind.

If you are worrying about your IP address and hacking of your system just by knowing your IP address, is just a worry without any reason. You can get a dynamic IP that can provide your safer use of internet. Dynamic IP address change after every log in into the system and make it difficult for online hackers to trace your IP address and get entrance into your system.

Is your IP address on this 'Hurt Locker' hit list?

Producers of "The Hurt Locker" have asked a federal court to order Internet service providers to reveal the names of customers who they accuse of illegally sharing copies of the film via the Web.

Voltage Pictures, the company that produced the Oscar-winning movie, filed a 23-page document on Monday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Included in the filing were the Internet protocol addresses belonging to some of the people accused of pirating the movie. The production company said that it will file more IP addresses with the court in the future. (A complete list of addresses filed with the court Monday can be found at the bottom of the story.)

IP Address Overview: The Basics on IP Addresses

You may see the term IP Address mentioned a lot in relation to web site hosting and be wondering what it means and if it's important for you understand it, or even know anything about it at all!.

In general if you just own one web site it probably is not necessary to learn about this subject but if you are a serious affiliate or internet marketer you need to understand the basics, especially if you own several web sites, for reasons I'll explain later.

IP address is short for internet protocol address. The IP address is effectively the address of a computer that is connected to the internet. It is in many ways similar to your house street address, if you want mail delivered you need an address and you need to give that address out to people who might want to send you mail.

In the same way if you want people to find your web site they need to your web site address, other wise no traffic!

When the internet was invented it was never envisioned that there would be hundreds of millions of computers connected, so the address system is limited. The present system uses a 32-bit number that is divided into four octets (8-bit sections), each octet being in the range 0...255.

You could think of each octet as a byte on a modern computer. Each octet is separated by a decimal point and this type of format is commonly called 'dotted decimal notation' ( e.g. 201.103.61.121 ).

So the lowest number is 0.0.0.0 and the highest is 255.255.255.255

It is important to remember that dotted decimal notation described above only exists to aid human beings to understand IP Addresses, computers just use a long series of 1's and 0's.
So how does all this effect me?

It should become clear shortly, because of the numbering scheme outlined above, and because of the way blocks of address's were assigned in the early days of the internet, there is a shortage of unique IP address's.

This means that when you buy your $10/month hosting package (which is really a great deal when you consider what you get for it these days) you do not usually get your own unique IP address for your web site, you share it with others.

IP address are classified into 3 class's (groups) depending on the decimal equivalent of the 1st octet in the address as below:

0-255.xxx.xxx.xxx = all address's
Class A

Intended for a small number of networks that had a large number of computers (hosts) attached. Class A IP Address have a value in the range 1...126 as the first octet. The values 0 and 127 are not available because they have special uses. Class A addresses use the first octet to identify the network which means that 126 addresses are usable, each of which can support 16,777,216 computers (hosts).
Class B

Intended for some networks that had an intermediate number of computers (hosts) attached. Class B IP Addresses have a value in the range 128...191 as the first octet. Class B addresses use the first two octets to identify the network which means that 16,320 addresses are usable, each of which can support 65,536 computers (hosts).
Class C

Intended for a large number of networks that would have a small (relatively) number of computers (hosts) attached. Class C IP Addresses have a value in the range 192...223 as the first octet. Class C addresses use the first three octets to identify the network which means that 2,080,800 addresses (networks) are possible, each of which can support 254 computers (hosts).

In summary what this means is that it is more than likely that your web site will be sharing it's IP address with other web sites, there are a few possible serious problems that could arise that you should be aware of:
If you use either free or very cheap low cost hosting companies you could be sharing with some nasty or undesirable web sites. If these web sites end getting banned or black legged by the search engines for taking part in "illegal" search engine optimization techniques they may blacklist or down grade the IP address which will effect you as well, even though your site is fine.
If you use the same hosting company for many sites and then start linking these together to try and improve the page rank you may get into trouble. It is not that difficult for the search engines to work out the IP address of the sites linking to you. If it finds that they are all on the same IP address this may be considered as link spamming. After all what are the chances that a group of genuine links from a number of different web sites are all going to be hosted on the same computer - not likely!.

So the bottom line is that if you own several sites and want to link these sites together, for whatever reasons, it is safer to spread out the hosting amongst several reputable hosting companies on different IP address's. This will reduce the possibility of your sites getting either banned or downgraded by the search engines.

Editor's note: If you use the services of an unethical Search Engine Optimization company, they may try to artificially build your site's page rank by placing numerous links to you from bogus sites set up specifically for that purpose; most likely, these sites will all be hosted in the same IP Address block. Although you may see an improvement in your search engine rankings in the short term, the search engines will quickly catch up to the trick, and your site (together with all the other ones) will be penalized and possibly banned. For this reason, when chosing an SEO firm, make sure that you are dealing with an honest company that won't get you in trouble.

Geolocation by IP Address

The Internet has become a collection of resources meant to appeal to a large general audience. Although this multitude of information has been a great boon, it also has diluted the importance of geographically localized information. Offering the ability for Internet users to garner information based on geographic location can decrease search times and increase visibility of local establishments. Similarly, user communities and chat-rooms can be enhanced through knowing the locations (and therefore, local times, weather conditions and news events) of their members as they roam the globe. It is possible to provide user services in applications and Web sites without the need for users to carry GPS receivers or even to know where they themselves are.

Geolocation by IP address is the technique of determining a user's geographic latitude, longitude and, by inference, city, region and nation by comparing the user's public Internet IP address with known locations of other electronically neighboring servers and routers. This article presents some of the reasons for and benefits of using geolocation through IP address, as well as several techniques for applying this technology to an application, Web site or user community.
Why Geolocation?

The benefits of geolocation may sound complex, but a simple example may help illustrate the possibilities. Consider a traveling businessman currently on the road to San Francisco. After checking into his hotel, he pulls out his laptop and hops onto the wireless Internet access point provided by the hotel. He opens his chat program as well as a Web browser. His friends and family see from his chat profile that he currently is near Golden Gate Park. Consequently, they can determine his local time. By pulling up a Web browser, furthermore, the businessman can do a localized search to find nearby restaurants and theaters.

Without having to know the address of the hotel he's staying in, the chat program and Web pages can determine his location based on the Internet address through which he is connecting. The following week, when he has returned to his home in Florida, he uses his laptop to log into a chat program, and his chat profile correctly places him in his home city. There is no need to change computer configurations, remember addresses or even be aware, as the user, that you are benefitting from geolocation services.

Possible applications for geolocation by IP address exist for Weblogs, chat programs, user communities, forums, distributed computing environments, security, urban mapping and network robustness. We encourage you to find out what applications and Web sites currently employ geolocation or could be enhanced by adding support.

Although several methods of geographically locating an individual currently exist, each system has cost and other detriments that make them technology prohibitive in computing environments. GPS is limited by line-of-sight to the constellation of satellites in Earth's orbit, which severely limits locating systems in cities, due to high buildings, and indoors, due to complete overhead blockage. Several projects have been started to install sensors or to use broadcast television signals (see Resources) to provide for urban and indoor geolocation. Unfortunately, these solutions require much money to cover installation of new infrastructure and devices, and these services are not supported widely yet.

By contrast, these environments already are witnessing a growing trend of installing wireless access points (AP). Airports, cafes, offices and city neighborhoods all have begun installing wireless APs to provide Internet access to wireless devices. Using this available and symbiotic infrastructure, geolocation by IP address can be implemented immediately.
Geolocation Standards and Services

As discussed below, several RFC proposals have been made by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that aim to provide geolocation resources and infrastructure. However, these standards have met with little support from users and administrators. To date, there has not been much interest in providing user location tracking and automatic localization services. Several companies now offer pay-per-use services for determining location by IP. These services can be expensive, however, and don't necessarily offer the kind of functionality a programmer may want when designing his or her Web site or application.

Several years ago, CAIDA, the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis, began a geolocation by IP address effort called NetGeo. This system was a publicly accessible database of geographically located IP addresses. Through the use of many complex rules, the NetGeo database slowly filled and was corrected for the location of IP addresses. The project has been stopped, however, and the technology was licensed to new partners. However, the database still is available, although several years old, and provides a good resource for determining rough locations.

To query the NetGeo database, an HTTP request is made with the query IP address, like this:

--
$ http://netgeo.caida.org/perl/netgeo.cgi?target=192.168.0.1
VERSION=1.0
TARGET: 192.168.0.1
NAME: IANA-CBLK1
NUMBER: 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255
CITY: MARINA DEL REY
STATE: CALIFORNIA
COUNTRY: US
LAT: 33.98
LONG: -118.45
LAT_LONG_GRAN: City
LAST_UPDATED: 16-May-2001
NIC: ARIN
LOOKUP_TYPE: Block Allocation
RATING:
DOMAIN_GUESS: iana.org
STATUS: OK
--


As you can see, the NetGeo response includes the city, state, country, latitude and longitude of the IP address in question. Furthermore, the granularity (LAT_LONG_GRAN) also is estimated to give some idea about the accuracy of the location. This accuracy also can be deduced from the LAST_UPDATED field. Obviously, the older the update, the more likely it is that the location has changed. This is true especially for IP addresses assigned to residential customers, as companies holding these addresses are in constant flux.

In order to make this database useful to an application or Web site, we need to be able to make the request through some programming interface. Several existing packages assist in retrieving information from the NetGeo database. The PEAR system has a PHP package (see Resources), and a PERL module, CAIDA::NetGeo::Client, is available. However, it is a relatively straightforward task to make a request in whatever language you are using for your application or service. For example, a function in PHP for getting and parsing the NetGeo response looks like this:

Router Support

A lot of users in the What Is My IP Forum will ask us for help with their router. Unless it's one we specifically own, our help will be limited. The links below are to provide users a way to find their users manual on their Routers Manufacturer's site. If you've still got questions, you can ask them in the Router Configuration Forum.

What Is MAC Cloning?

MAC cloning can only be done at your router providing it has those capabilities. Most ISPs assign their IPs based on the MAC address in your equipment. If the MAC address of your router is 00-11-22-33-44-55 and you connect to your ISP, the DHCP server records your MAC and assigns an IP. If you disconnect from the ISP, you lose your IP address. The next time you connect, the DHCP server sees your MAC, looks to see if it has assigned an IP address to you before. If it has and the lease time has not expired, it will most likely give you the same IP address you had before disconnecting. Why clone a MAC address? New MAC address most likely equals new IP. How to clone your MAC and if your router has this feature is dependent on the router itself. You’ll need to find the instructions on the manufacturer’s website. Check out our Router Support page to get started.

What is a MAC address?

A MAC address is a physical hardware address assigned to each device that has the capability of connecting to a network. The internet is nothing more than a large network. The MAC address is something that is assigned in the chip on the device and is not something the user can change.

What's The Difference Between A Static IP Address And A Dynamic IP Address?

A static IP is one that will never change. A dynamic IP is exactly that, dynamic. It could change frequently, or not change for more than 1 year. It really depends on how the DHCP server that’s assigns the IPs is set up.

How To Determine If Your Computer Is Being Assigned The External IP Address

For Windows 2000, XP, and 2003
1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type in cmd and hit ok
4. Type ipconfig and hit enter

For Vista
1. Click Start
2. Click All Programs expand the Accessories menu
3. In the Accessories menu, Right Click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator
4. Type ipconfig hit enter

Results
If you see an IP that resembles 192.168.n.n then this is an internal IP address assigned by a router. So your router is getting your external IP address. If the IP displayed in the command prompt window matches the one shown on What Is My IP then your computer is being assigned your external IP.

Why does WIMI show a different IP address than ipconfig?

The IP address shown on the What Is My IP home page is your public IP also referred to as your external IP. If your internet connection connects straight in to your computer, then your computer is assigned the external IP address. However, if your computer connects to a router then the computer will most likely get an internal IP address like 192.168.1.100 and your router will get the external IP address. So, from your computer, if you follow the steps in our How to determine if your computer is being assigned the external IP article, you’ll be able to quickly determine your computers IP.

UNIX IP Commands

Display Current Config for all NIC's: ifconfig

Display Current Config for dc0: ifconfig dc0

Assign multiple IP's: ifconfig dc0:0 192.168.1.2

Assign second IP: ifconfig dc0:1 192.168.1.3

Disable network card: ifconfig dc0 down

Enable network card: ifconfig dc0 up

Assign IP/Subnet: ifconfig dc0 inet 192.168.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0

Assign Gateway: route delete default && route add default 192.168.1.1

*You MUST be at the ROOT user to make/save any changes. You will need to save your changes in the /etc/rc.conf file. Network cards are referred to as dc0, dc1, dc2, etc based on their position on the PCI bus.
*Special thanks to Romanov Sergey Vladimirovich from Moscow for the UNIX commands!

Linux IP Commands

Display Current Config for all NIC's: ifconfig

Display Current Config for eth0: ifconfig eth0

Assign IP: ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.2

Ping: ping -c 3 192.168.1.1

Assign multiple IP's: ifconfig eth0:0 192.168.1.2

Assign second IP: ifconfig eth0:1 192.168.1.3

Disable network card: ifconfig eth0 down

Enable network card: ifconfig eth0 up

View current routing table: route "or" route -n

View arp cache: arp "or" arp -n

Assign IP/Subnet: ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0

Assign Default Gateway: route add default gw 192.168.1.1

Trace Route: traceroute www.whatismyip.com

Trace Path: tracepath www.whatismyip.com

DNS Test: host www.whatismyip.com

Advanced DNS Test: dig www.whatismyip.com

Reverse Lookup: host 66.11.119.69

Advanced Reverse Lookup: dig -x 66.11.119.69

*You MUST be at the ROOT user to make/save any changes. Linux users, your distribution will determine the location of your network config file which will need to be updated and saved in order for the changes to remain in effect after rebooting. Network cards are referred to as eth0, eth1, eth2, etc based on their position on the PCI bus.
*Special thanks to Gergely for the Linux commands!

DOS / Windows IP Commands

Below, you'll find a list of the most common IP commands for Windows and DOS. These include ipconfig, trace route, netstat, arp, route, hostname, control netconnections, and other popular DOS and Windows IP commands.
Display Connection Configuration: ipconfig /all

Display DNS Cache Info: ipconfig /displaydns

Clear DNS Cache: ipconfig /flushdns

Release All IP Address Connections: ipconfig /release

Renew All IP Address Connections: ipconfig /renew

Re-Register the DNS connections: ipconfig /registerdns

Change/Modify DHCP Class ID: ipconfig /setclassid

Network Connections: control netconnections

Network Setup Wizard: netsetup.cpl

Test Connectivity: ping whatismyip.com

Trace Route: tracert

Displays the TCP/IP protocol sessions: netstat

Display Local Route: route

Display Resolved MAC Addresses: arp

Display Name of Computer Currently on: hostname

Display DHCP Class Information: ipconfig /showclassid

NameServer Lookup: nslookup whatismyip.com

What Is DHCP?

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

In simple terms, DHCP determines if your IP is static or dynamic and the length of time an IP address is assigned.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is controlled by a DHCP server. Your router can be a DHCP server...and if you're on a home network, it most likely serves this purpose.

I know this might be confusing because the word dynamic is in the term, but just because you have DHCP enabled on your computer doesn't mean you can't be assigned a static IP. DHCP enabled on your computer simply means you're letting a DHCP server assign its IP. Having it enabled DOES NOT mean it's a DHCP server.

A true DHCP server (not your Linksys router) gives the LAN Admin a ton of control with IP assigning.

Ever print to a network printer? Ever wonder how that printer keeps its network assignment? Each network device has a MAC address. You can assign a static IP at the server to a specific MAC address. This allows the network printer to always get the same IP even after it reboots and without assigning the IP at the printer. If you print the network configuration at the printer, it will probably tell you that DHCP is enabled and no static IP is assigned. That's because the IP assignment is handled at the server.

Your ISP has a DHCP server. They can assign IPs by modem MAC addresses. When your modem comes online, it communicates to the network indicating it is looking for an IP address. The DHCP server listens to this communication and starts talking to the modem. The modem then transmits its MAC address to the DHCP server. At that point, either an IP has been reserved for the modem or one is assigned at that time. Hence cloning your MAC address to get a new IP from your ISP.

Routers and DHCP - Under the General Setup or LAN Setup tab in your router, you'll see a settings option for DHCP. You can control how many IPs are assigned or to enable/disable the DHCP server portion of the router. If you disable it, you'll have to statically assign IPs to each computer, or have a DHCP server or your network. This goes for wired and wireless. Any connection on your network has an IP address.

There's a lot more to DHCP than this, but this is a basic explanation.

IP Address Management

What is IP Address Management or IPAM?

By breaking down and assigning your internal IP block into segments allows faster troubleshooting when monitoring the network and seeing an erratic IP. Because you’ve segmented the IPs out, you’ll know exactly which segment it’s coming from and can narrow down finding it faster.
Why manage IPs?

Easily track when network monitor software shows errors. If you’re logged on locally to a User’s computer and you’re mapping batch file didn’t run and you need to get a file from one of your servers you don’t have to know the server name, you can simply type \\192.168.1.x to get access to the server you’re needing the file from.
In the scenario I explain below, we’ll have 1 External IP, 5 servers ((Static) 1 handles DHCP (2k3)), 10 printers (Static), 200 wired PCs/users (DHCP).

There are several different ways to set up exact scenarios. This scenario will explain IP Address Management (IPAM) for a small network using my experience and knowledge.

For ease of use, we’re going to say that this is in a brand new facility where no IPs have been assigned and you, as the LAN Admin, have just been told your internet connection is in place and ready to use (this is where the single external IP comes from).

You already know how many devices will be connected to your network in the beginning so it’s now time to lay out a plan. Since most everyone is familiar with the 192.168.1.x IPs, I’ll stick with those. Technically, your first IP is 192.168.1.0 and your last is 192.168.1.255 which gives you 256 IPs. I don’t know of anyone that uses 192.168.1.0. Since we’re human, the first number to us is 1. To a computer, the first number is 0. I don’t think .255 is useable so really, you have 254 IPs available. Your 5 servers should get your first 5 IP addresses and assign them statically even though you can control static assignment in DHCP. You don’t want there to be any chance of these servers losing their IP addresses so you don’t want them to depend on DHCP for IP assignment.

Server_1 also happens to be your DHCP server: 192.168.1.1
Server_2: 192.168.1.2
Server_3: 192.168.1.3
Server_4: 192.168.1.4
Server_5: 192.168.1.5

You have to account for growth so leave .6 through .9 open for future servers whether they’re physical or virtual, you’ll need an IP.

You have 10 printers that will be used by multiple users. IPs in the next segment of the block can be statically assigned at the printer or via the DHCP server…your choice. Every office has a “main” printer/copier/fax. Give it 192.168.1.10. If you think far enough in advance and know that Group 1 will use printer_1 then assign printer_1 192.168.10.11, printer_2 for Group 2 would get 192.168.10.12, etc. all the way through .19. In my experience, if there’s any one piece of equipment you’ll add to your network more than any other, it’ll be a printer. Somebody in one of those groups will get tired of walking 15 feet to the printer and suck up to the boss to get their own printer. Then, people within 5 feet of that person will want to share with them so they don’t have to walk 15 feet to get their stuff either. So that printer will need to be on the network vs. just connected directly to the complainers PC and shared. Lucky you. By the way, remember at the beginning I said this was a brand new facility….hopefully, the people that ran the network drops put in 2 cables at each requested location. Otherwise, you’ll either need to run a cable or take the easy way out and install a 5 port switch. Trust me when I say leave plenty of IPs open for future printers. I would assign .10 through .29 for printers. This gives you 20 IPs for printers so you’ll have 10 IPs free after installing the initial 10 printers.

Finally, we have 200 PCs that will all be hardwired to the LAN and will each need an IP. Starting at .30 going through and including .254 gives you 225 IPs. I’d start my scope in DHCP at .40 through .254. That gives you 215 IPs for users (15 extra) and that also leaves 10 IPs open at the lower range (.30 through .39) for device growth. One thing I didn’t mention yet was managed switches. They’re going to need IP addresses. You can do those at the high end of the spectrum so they’re “out of the way”. Maybe assign them .254, .253, .252, etc. depending on how many you have.

IPAM can get pretty deep especially if you’re dealing with 100’s of PCs and devices. This is where subnetting comes in. I’ll go into further detail in another article, but just for gee whiz this is the tip of the iceberg on subnetting:

For example, 192.168.1.1 with a subnet of 255.255.255.0 is not on the same network as 192.168.2.1/255.255.255.0 even though they both might be in the same building. However, if you change the third octet in the subnet to 0 like this 255.255.0.0 now 192.168.1.1/255.255.0.0 and 192.168.2.1/255.255.0.0 are on the same network. The 255 is sort of a true/false in simple terms, but can get pretty complex if you’re trying to keep networks separate. I’m not a subnet guru by any means, but if you Google subnet calculator you can get a pretty good appreciation for its complexity.

What Is An IP Address

IP Address (Internet Protocol Address):

This number is an exclusive number all information technology devices (printers, routers, modems, et al) use which identifies and allows them the ability to communicate with each other on a computer network. There is a standard of communication which is called an Internet Protocol standard (IP). In laymans terms it is the same as your home address. In order for you to receive snail mail at home the sending party must have your correct mailing address (IP address) in your town (network) or you do not receive bills, pizza coupons or your tax refund. The same is true for all equipment on the internet. Without this specific address, information cannot be received. IP addresses may either be assigned permanently for an Email server/Business server or a permanent home resident or temporarily, from a pool of available addresses (first come first serve) from your Internet Service Provider. A permanent number may not be available in all areas and may cost extra so be sure to ask your ISP.

Domain Name System (DNS): This allows the IP address to be translated to words. It is much easier for us to remember a word than a series of numbers. The same is true for email addresses.


For example, it is much easier for you to remember a web address name such as whatismyip.com than it is to remember 192.168.1.1 or in the case of email it is much easier to remember email@somedomain.com than email@192.168.1.1

Dynamic IP Address: An IP address that is not static and could change at any time. This IP address is issued to you from a pool of IP addresses allocated by your ISP or DHCP Server. This is for a large number of customers that do not require the same IP Address all the time for a variety of reasons. Your computer will automatically get this number as it logs on to the network and saves you the trouble of having to know details regarding the specific network configurations. This number can be assigned to anyone using a dial-up connection, Wireless and High Speed Internet connections. If you need to run your own email server or web server, it would be best to have a static IP.

Static IP Address: An IP address that is fixed and never changes. This is in contrast to a dynamic IP address which may change at any time. Most ISP's a single static IP or a block of static IP's for a few extra bucks a month.

IP version 4: Currently used by most network devices. However, with more and more computers accessing the internet, IPv4 addresses are running out quickly. Just like in a city, addresses have to be created for new neighborhoods but, if your neighborhood gets too large, you will have to come up with an entire new pool of addresses. IPv4 is limited to 4,294,967,296 addresses.

IP version 5: This is an experimental protocol for UNIX based systems. In keeping with standard UNIX (a computer Operating System) release conventions, all odd-numbered versions are considered experimental. It was never intended to be used by the general public.

IP version 6: The replacement for the aging IPv4. The estimated number of unique addresses for IPv6 is 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 or 2^128.

The old and current standard of addresses was this: 192.168.100.100 the new way can be written different ways but means the same and are all valid:

* 1080:0000:0000:0000:0000:0034:0000:417A

* 1080:0:0:0:0:34:0:417A

* 1080::34:0:417A

How To Trace An Email Address

Learn how to trace an email address

Trace an email address in the most popular programs like Microsoft Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, by finding the header
What is an email header?

Each email you receive comes with headers. The headers contain information about the routing of the message and the originating Internet Protocol address of the message. Not all electronic messeges you receive will allow you to track them back to the originating point and depending on how you send messages determines whether or not they can trace an email address back to you. The headers don't contain any personal information. At most, the results of the trace with show you the origination IP and the computer name that sent the email. After viewing the trace information, the initiating IP can be looked up to determine from where the message was sent. IP address location information DOES NOT contain your street name, house number, or phone number. The trace will most likely determine the city and the ISP the sender used.
How do I get the header to start the trace email process?

Each electronic messaging program will vary as to how you get to the message options. I'll cover the basics to start the trace...the rest is up to you.
Outlook - Right click the message while it's in the inbox and choose Message Options. A window will open with the headers in the bottom of the window.
Windows Live - Right click the correspondence while it's in the inbox, choose Properties, then click the Details tab.
GMail - Open the correspondence. In the upper right corner of the email you'll see the word Reply with a little down arrow to the right. Click the down arrow and choose Show Original.
Hotmail - Right click the memo and choose View Message Source.
Yahoo! - Right click the note and choose View Full Headers.
AOL - Click Action and then View Message Source.

You can see that no matter the program, the headers are usually just a right click away.
I've got the header, now how do I start the trace?

The next step to trace an email address is to find the first IP listed in the header. This is most likely the IP initiating point. However, there are exceptions to this. You'll have to look at the information logically to deduce the originating IP.
Can you trace any email address?

Yes and No. For example, someone who sends a message to your hotmail account shows in the X-Originating IP section of the headers. However, someone who sends you a message from GMail will ONLY trace back to Google IP addresses.

We've got more information in our Trace An Email forum.

How To Change Your IP Address

How do I change my IP Address?

There are MANY methods to change your IP address. Some methods will work for you but may not work for someone else and vice versa. We're going to cover how to change your IP address in Windows 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista using command prompt.
What if I have a static IP address?

If your IP is static, then you CAN’T change it without contacting your ISP. Although not impossible, it is very rare that an ISP would assign you a static IP without some sort of increased level of service like a business account. However, an ISP can set a lengthy lease time for your IP address and make it look like you've assigned a static IP. If you have a long lease time (explained in this article) on your IP then you may not be able to change your IP address without leaving your modem or router unplugged for a long period of time (more than 8 hours), or without cloning your MAC address, which I’ll explain later in this article.

It definitely helps if you know how the IP is being assigned to you.

You can read our DHCP definition to get a better understanding.
What is an IP address lease time?

An IP lease time is the amount of time your ISP determines you’ll be assigned a particular IP. Some IP lease times could be just a couple of hours, where some are set to a few days, and other IP lease times could be set for as long as a year or more. This setting is completely up to your ISP.

One of the easier methods to change your IP address is to turn off your modem/router/computer overnight. Then turn it back on the following morning. This method WILL NOT work if your ISP has a long lease time set for your IP.

The following method will ONLY work if your computer is being assigned your external IP and not a router.

How to determine if your computer is being assigned the external IP

If your connection is direct to your computer and your computer gets the public IP and not a router, you can try this:
For Windows 2000, XP, and 2003
1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type in cmd and hit ok (this opens a Command Prompt)
4. Type ipconfig /release and hit enter
5. Click Start, Control Panel, and open Network Connections
6. Find and Right click on the active Local Area Connection and choose Properties
7. Double-click on the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
8. Click on Use the following IP address
9. Enter a false IP like 123.123.123.123
10. Press Tab and the Subnet Mask section will populate with default numbers
11. Hit OK twice
12. Right click the active Local Area Connection again and choose Properties
13. Double-click on the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
14. Choose Obtain an IP address automatically
15. Hit OK twice
16. Go to What Is My IP to see if you have a new IP address

For Vista (Windows 7 is very similar)
1. Click Start
2. Click All Programs expand the Accessories menu
3. In the Accessories menu, Right Click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator
4. Type ipconfig /release and hit enter
5. Click Start, Control Panel, and open Network and Sharing Center. Depending on your view, you may have to click Network and Internet before you see the Network and Sharing Center icon
6. From the Tasks menu on the left, choose Manage Network Connections
7. Find and Right click on the active Local Area Connection and choose Properties (If you’re hit with a UAC prompt, choose Continue)
8. Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
9. Click on Use the following IP address
10. Enter a false IP like 123.123.123.123
11. Press Tab and the Subnet Mask section will populate with default numbers
12. Hit OK twice
13. Right click the active Local Area Connection again and choose Properties
14. Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
15. Choose Obtain an IP address automatically
16. Hit OK twice
17. Go to What Is My IP to see if you have a new IP address

Some people have inquired about manually assigning their IP address. This IS possible, but you run a very high risk of your ISP banning you from connecting to the internet. To manually change your IP, follow the steps above for your Operating System. In step 9 or 10, depending on your O/S, enter an IP similar to the one displayed in the command prompt window. For example, if the IP displayed in the command prompt window is 75.1.2.3, change yours to 75.1.2.4. You’ll also need to manually enter the Subnet, Gateway and DNS Server IP addresses. If the new IP you give your computer doesn’t work, chances are someone else on the ISP network has already been assigned that IP. You’ll need to move on to the next one and keep trying until you find an open one. Keep in mind that some ISPs match up your MAC or modem data to the address that’s been assigned. If those 2 things don’t match up, you won’t be able to connect no matter what. If your router gets the IP and not your computer, you’ll need to http in to your routers interface and manually assign the IP there. It’s pretty much the same method as assigning the IP to your computer. The method that varies is in how you reach your routers interface. You can get the instructions from your manufacturer’s website.

MAC Cloning. What is a MAC address? A MAC address is a physical hardware address assigned to each device that has the capability of connecting to a network. The internet is nothing more than a large network. The MAC address is something that is assigned in the chip on the device and is not something the user can change. MAC cloning can only be done at your router providing it has those capabilities. Most ISPs assign their IPs based on the MAC address in your equipment. If the MAC address of your router is 00-11-22-33-44-55 and you connect to your ISP, the DHCP server records your MAC and assigns an IP. If you disconnect from the ISP, you lose your IP address. The next time you connect, the DHCP server sees your MAC, looks to see if it has assigned an IP address to you before. If it has and the lease time has not expired, it will most likely give you the same IP address you had before disconnecting and will not change your IP.
Why clone a MAC address?

Getting a new MAC address most likely equals a new IP. How to clone your MAC and if your router has this feature is dependent on the router itself. You’ll need to find the instructions on the manufacturer’s website. We offer a Quick Reference List on our Router Support page.

Please post any questions or comments in the Change My IP Address thread.

How To Change Your IP Address

How do I change my IP Address?

There are MANY methods to change your IP address. Some methods will work for you but may not work for someone else and vice versa. We're going to cover how to change your IP address in Windows 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista using command prompt.
What if I have a static IP address?

If your IP is static, then you CAN’T change it without contacting your ISP. Although not impossible, it is very rare that an ISP would assign you a static IP without some sort of increased level of service like a business account. However, an ISP can set a lengthy lease time for your IP address and make it look like you've assigned a static IP. If you have a long lease time (explained in this article) on your IP then you may not be able to change your IP address without leaving your modem or router unplugged for a long period of time (more than 8 hours), or without cloning your MAC address, which I’ll explain later in this article.

It definitely helps if you know how the IP is being assigned to you.

You can read our DHCP definition to get a better understanding.
What is an IP address lease time?

An IP lease time is the amount of time your ISP determines you’ll be assigned a particular IP. Some IP lease times could be just a couple of hours, where some are set to a few days, and other IP lease times could be set for as long as a year or more. This setting is completely up to your ISP.

One of the easier methods to change your IP address is to turn off your modem/router/computer overnight. Then turn it back on the following morning. This method WILL NOT work if your ISP has a long lease time set for your IP.

The following method will ONLY work if your computer is being assigned your external IP and not a router.

How to determine if your computer is being assigned the external IP

If your connection is direct to your computer and your computer gets the public IP and not a router, you can try this:
For Windows 2000, XP, and 2003
1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type in cmd and hit ok (this opens a Command Prompt)
4. Type ipconfig /release and hit enter
5. Click Start, Control Panel, and open Network Connections
6. Find and Right click on the active Local Area Connection and choose Properties
7. Double-click on the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
8. Click on Use the following IP address
9. Enter a false IP like 123.123.123.123
10. Press Tab and the Subnet Mask section will populate with default numbers
11. Hit OK twice
12. Right click the active Local Area Connection again and choose Properties
13. Double-click on the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
14. Choose Obtain an IP address automatically
15. Hit OK twice
16. Go to What Is My IP to see if you have a new IP address

For Vista (Windows 7 is very similar)
1. Click Start
2. Click All Programs expand the Accessories menu
3. In the Accessories menu, Right Click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator
4. Type ipconfig /release and hit enter
5. Click Start, Control Panel, and open Network and Sharing Center. Depending on your view, you may have to click Network and Internet before you see the Network and Sharing Center icon
6. From the Tasks menu on the left, choose Manage Network Connections
7. Find and Right click on the active Local Area Connection and choose Properties (If you’re hit with a UAC prompt, choose Continue)
8. Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
9. Click on Use the following IP address
10. Enter a false IP like 123.123.123.123
11. Press Tab and the Subnet Mask section will populate with default numbers
12. Hit OK twice
13. Right click the active Local Area Connection again and choose Properties
14. Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
15. Choose Obtain an IP address automatically
16. Hit OK twice
17. Go to What Is My IP to see if you have a new IP address

Some people have inquired about manually assigning their IP address. This IS possible, but you run a very high risk of your ISP banning you from connecting to the internet. To manually change your IP, follow the steps above for your Operating System. In step 9 or 10, depending on your O/S, enter an IP similar to the one displayed in the command prompt window. For example, if the IP displayed in the command prompt window is 75.1.2.3, change yours to 75.1.2.4. You’ll also need to manually enter the Subnet, Gateway and DNS Server IP addresses. If the new IP you give your computer doesn’t work, chances are someone else on the ISP network has already been assigned that IP. You’ll need to move on to the next one and keep trying until you find an open one. Keep in mind that some ISPs match up your MAC or modem data to the address that’s been assigned. If those 2 things don’t match up, you won’t be able to connect no matter what. If your router gets the IP and not your computer, you’ll need to http in to your routers interface and manually assign the IP there. It’s pretty much the same method as assigning the IP to your computer. The method that varies is in how you reach your routers interface. You can get the instructions from your manufacturer’s website.

MAC Cloning. What is a MAC address? A MAC address is a physical hardware address assigned to each device that has the capability of connecting to a network. The internet is nothing more than a large network. The MAC address is something that is assigned in the chip on the device and is not something the user can change. MAC cloning can only be done at your router providing it has those capabilities. Most ISPs assign their IPs based on the MAC address in your equipment. If the MAC address of your router is 00-11-22-33-44-55 and you connect to your ISP, the DHCP server records your MAC and assigns an IP. If you disconnect from the ISP, you lose your IP address. The next time you connect, the DHCP server sees your MAC, looks to see if it has assigned an IP address to you before. If it has and the lease time has not expired, it will most likely give you the same IP address you had before disconnecting and will not change your IP.
Why clone a MAC address?

Getting a new MAC address most likely equals a new IP. How to clone your MAC and if your router has this feature is dependent on the router itself. You’ll need to find the instructions on the manufacturer’s website. We offer a Quick Reference List on our Router Support page.

Please post any questions or comments in the Change My IP Address thread.

Server Headers Check

The server headers check tool commonly referred to as a server header checker is used to return a number of important results. None of these results are more important than the other really, it just depends on the information you are seeking. After entering a URL you'll see the server headers check utility results displayed include CharacterSet, Content-Type, Last-Modified, Server, StatusCode, Set-Cookie, and X-Powered-By.

Each of the returned results is pretty self explanatory and will definitely help you in your information gathering. Each visitor might have a different reason for determining the server headers of a particular URL. They might want to know what kind of server the site is hosted on or if the page is being served up via a cached file. If you have your own website, this tool will help you determine if your status code is returning the correct response.

What is my ip returns a status code of 200 and a status description of OK. However, WIMI returns a status code of 302 and a status description of Found because we use that URL to detect mobile users and redirec them accordingly

User Agent String

This page displays your User Agent String and Screen Resolution. This is a very basic output of the User Agent also referred to as simply UA. Your User Agent tells every site your visit what browser you're using. Sites are able to detect your UA and redirect to a more fitting page for your browser if desired. In other words, if you go to a site with this detection in place from a mobile phone the site might detect you are a mobile user via the UA and redirect you to their mobile site if available. This doesn't work on all sites becuase not all sites have UA detection in place. We have it built in to WIMI.com. We detect MOST mobile phones and redirect them to our mobile page however, if you go to WIMI.com from a desktop computer, you'll get redirected to the What Is My IP homepage.

UAs also tell the sites you're visiting some browser related software which you may have installed. For example, this UA (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/4.0; GTB6; Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1) ; SLCC1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; Media Center PC 5.0; InfoPath.2; .NET CLR 3.5.21022; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; OfficeLiveConnector.1.3; OfficeLivePatch.0.0;) tells us that the visitor is using Internet Explorer 8, Windows Vista, has Media Center PC 5.0 installed, Office Live Connector, etc. So if we had a special section for Vista users, we could redirect this person based on the Windows NT 6.0 string to a sub section in our site related strictly to Vista. This User Agent on the other hand, Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.1.3) Gecko/20090824 Firefox/3.5.3 tells us the visitor is using FireFox 3.5.3 and Windows Vista. Not much else.

Having the knowledge from above, User Agent Spoofing is used by many programmers that don't want people to know how they're getting to the site(s). Some programmers will find legitimate UAs and program their script to use such UAs. UAs can be blank, or contain custom information like a URL to a site that might promote a particular browser or script.

Screen Resolution is just for gee whiz info. This is the size of your desktop and not your browser window.

IP Address Host Name Lookup

This Host Name Lookup tool often referred to as hostname lookup does exactly what it says....it looks up the Host Name of the IP Address you enter. A simple, yet very effective tool for getting the host name information you need.

IP Address WHOIS Lookup

The IP WHOIS Lookup tool will provide you with the IP Address owners information. The IP Whois information contains data such as who allocates the IP (ie. ARIN, APNIC, RIPE, etc.), if the IP Address is allocated, IP Address contact information, and more. The results will also show other important information like how many IP Addresses are in the block or blocks assigned to the owner of the IP you're referencing.

If you have any questions about the IP Address WHOIS Lookup tool or the results, please check out the IP Address WHOIS Lookup Forum.

IP Address Lookup

The IP Address Lookup tool also referred to as IP Lookup, Lookup IP, Lookup IP Address, IP Address Location, IP Location, and IP Locator is designed to give you an idea of where your IP Address or the IP Address you lookup is located. This tool is not 100% accurate due to many different factors. Some of those factors include where the owner of the IP has it registered, where the agency that controls the IP is located, proxies, cellular IPs, etc. If you are in the US and the controlling agency of the IP is located in Canada, chances are the IP address lookup results will show as Canada. Showing a Canadian IP while in the US is very common among Blackberry users on the Verizon network.

The results of this IP Address Lookup utility include the IP Address, City, Host Name, Region / State, Postal / Zip Code, Country Name, Country Code, Time Zone, Longitude, Latitude, ISP, Domain Name, Net Speed, and IP Decimal.

Often, people think if they perform and IP address lookup, that they are going to find the physical mailing address of the user assigned the IP in question. This is simply not true. At this time, we are not aware of any IP address database that will give you the exact physical postal address of the IP address you lookup. At best, you'll get the exact city in which the user of the IP is located. For an exact physical address you would need to contact the ISP (Internet Service Provider) of the IP address in question. However, without a police warrant, or some sort of legal document forcing the ISP to turn over the information, don't expect them to give you the mailing address of the user that was assigned the IP at the time you received the offensive email, or other means of offensive / questionable communication from said IP. The best you can do in this case is to file a complaint with the ISP and forward them all of the information from the questionable / offensive communication regarding the complaint. If you have any questions about the IP Address Lookup tool or the results, please check out our IP Address Lookup Forum.

For a more thorough definition of IP Address Lookup, please refer to the definition article at Wikipedia.

Internet Speed Test

This internet speed test will show you the results of the fastest upload and download burst rates during your internet speed test from your location to the location of the test server you choose. TCP/IP degrades over distance so choose the server closest to you when performing the internet speed test. Your test results may vary at different times of the day due to network congestion, etc. To get a good understanding of your bandwidth burst averages, run the test at different times of the day. The internet speed test can also be used as a tool to help determine if there is something wrong with your broadband link. If you're favorite web site is loading slow, you can come here and do an internet speed test and know if it's your link or the server where the web site resides. If your test results are comparable to past results, then you know it's not your line having a problem.
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