IP Address question

[Mlsmith]

Hello and thank you in advance for any help. If I'm using my laptop at home and use my homes Internet wirelessly (time Warner) to browse the Internet and then switch to a tethering app like pdanet will that same computer now have a different IP address or because its the same computer will it have the same ip?

[mrsir2009]

I may be wrong, but I think it will have the same IP - Several computers in my house all have different IP addresses, and they're all connected to the same internet connection, so I assume the IP is tied to each device.

[Mlsmith]

Originally Posted by mrsir2009

I may be wrong, but I think it will have the same IP - Several computers in my house all have different IP addresses, and they're all connected to the same internet connection, so I assume the IP is tied to each device.

So my IP address is the same for a particular computer no matter how I connect to the Internet?

[mrsir2009]

Originally Posted by Mlsmith

So my IP address is the same for a particular computer no matter how I connect to the Internet?

I'm pretty sure, yes - My computers and devices have diff IP's even tho they share the same connection, so it'd be the computer, and not the connection.

Oh, and if you want to change your IP for whatever reason, you could use a VPN.

[drambuie]

If you want to be able to use either Airport wi-fi, or wired ethernet on the same computer, each should have their own IP address. If your router is set as a DHCP server, it will give wi-fi and ethernet their own IP addresses, as the controllers for each will have individual MAC addresses.

[hallux]

Each ISP is assigned a set of IP addresses they can assign. The IP address is assigned by the network through which you connect.

On the Time Warner connection, the router actually gets the address from TWC, your computer gets the address from the router. All devices connecting through that router will have the same publicly-visible IP address.

When you switch to PDANet, your phone is acting as (at the very least) the equivalent to your cable modem, if not the router. Your IP address will come from your mobile carrier's IP pool.

Based on that, your computer will NOT have the same public address on both connections. However, if PDANet acts like a home router does, the computer itself may actually have the same address (most home routers use a 192.168.1.x IP scheme though some people change that).

[Mlsmith]

Originally Posted by drambuie

If you want to be able to use either Airport wi-fi, or wired ethernet on the same computer, each should have their own IP address. If your router is set as a DHCP server, it will give wi-fi and ethernet their own IP addresses, as the controllers for each will have individual MAC addresses.

So what you're saying is each device will always have the same IP address no matter it's location or Internet service provider? I'm located now in New York so if I move to Indiana and get a new and different Internet service my IP address will be the same? I'm so confused.

[hallux]

Originally Posted by Mlsmith

So what you're saying is each device will always have the same IP address no matter it's location or Internet service provider? I'm located now in New York so if I move to Indiana and get a new and different Internet service my IP address will be the same? I'm so confused.

Read my post above.

I also suggest reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address though I've summed it up in the post above. I've taken classes and exams on networking basics and work in the PC support industry, I have a good grasp of how these things work.

[sammich]

Yikes.

IP addresses are handed out depending on your ISP. Some ISPs (like mine) give you a static IP for fixed line connections, which means your IP will not change. I've had my current IP for several years now.

That's a completely different matter if you're at home on a router. It depends on it's configuration, but those IPs are internal to your home network, and typically begin with 192./10. Those will vary if you haven't set them to be so.

So, switching ISPs will, definitely, change your IP address at the gateway point (that being your modem). Whatever happens inside your home network, as long as the configuration is the same, will be indifferent to the ISP (in reality, it's slightly more complicated the difference is immaterial to this thread).

Now, if you use a tethering app, or Personal Hotspot, that makes your tethering device the modem. So that constitutes a change in ISP, giving your gateway device (the modem) a new IP address. And seeing as your modem would have a different configuration, you will have a different 'local' IP address.

Finally, your gateway IP address is your 'world facing' IP. It's what other computers on the internet see you as. It's unique.

And another note, mobile internet IPs are generally not fixed. You fall out of reception and back in, new IP.

[hallux]

Originally Posted by sammich

Pretty much what I said 3 posts up from yours.

[Mlsmith]

Thank you all for taking the time for the help.

You definitely answered my question that it is possible for one specific computer to have different ip address'. Thanks again.

[joeycool]

This Might Also Help with questions about IP_address http://ipaddresshq.com/faqs/ whats your IP address etc etc Also mrsir2009 is right about VPN's and hiding your IP address http://ipaddresshq.com/how-do-i-hide-my-ip-address/