What's an IP address

[anto1208]

Prob a dumb question but what is it is it your modem or your computer address , Like if you had 4 or 5 comps on one network would they have different IP's or just one

[strangeirish]

Here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address)

That should handle it for you.

[paul_oshea]

it depends if they were on a network or if they were all on a different connection essentially. If you have a network setup then locally all the computers would have different IPs, but their would only be 1 IP from your ISP.

[carrickharp]

IP Address Locator (http://www.ipligence.com/geolocation/?lang=en&search) this is a handy site to find IP addresses of people who spam your Guestbook or Forum!

[GavinZac]

your computer will have 2 in-house addresses and 1 outside world address

the first is something like 192.168.1.24 - this is your network card's IP address, and it can change, and usually will do so on a 24 hour basis, within a certain range. each dot seperates a different address segment - for internal addresses, the first 3 are almost always 192.168.1, which means this network. there is an old geeky joke that goes "there is no place like 192.168.1.0".

the second is EA - 5C - FE - FD or something similar. this is a unique identifier for the network card, and never changes. because of this inflexibility, it is not usually used for locating your computer - it would be like writing someones name on a letter and expecting it to be delivered to them in australia.

on a normal home network, you will then have an "outside" IP address - the one for your router. (some incorrectly call it a modem). again, it will be like 48.120.63.1, but because it is the "gate" to your home network, to the outside world, every computer in your home network will appear to have this address. your router then identifies "who" its for once its recieved it.

[paul_oshea]

on a normal home network, you will then have an "outside" IP address - the one for your router. (some incorrectly call it a modem). again, it will be like 48.120.63.1, but because it is the "gate" to your home network, to the outside world, every computer in your home network will appear to have this address. your router then identifies "who" its for once its recieved it.


ya....just like i said it :D

[anto1208]

Cheers guys but i dont think im ever going to understand it :D

[pete]

Cheers guys but i dont think im ever going to understand it :D

All machines have an IP Address (basically a unique identifier).
Some machines may not transmit this outside their own network e.g. All machines in company A network displayed to the world as one proxy address.

Think of it like a postal address for computers. Just like people computers can move address. People in an office may all have the same address.

[kdjaC]

Simple way of sorting home network issues.

Every device needs an IP So my network setup is similiar to below

Router/gateway 192.168.1.1
Main pc 192.168.1.2
Laptop 192.1.168.3
360 192.168.1.4
wii 192.168.1.5
ps3 192.168.1.6
Ds1 192.168.1.7
Ds2 192.168.1.8
Ds3 192.168.1.9
laptop2 192.168.1.10

The router connects to the net and allows all the other devices to access the net(and each other), each device is set up to see the router and has its own IP set rather than given as games consoles dont like that and go mental.

Each device also needs a DNS use your routers ip as the DNS to avoid any ongoing issues with Live or Home.

if you get more devices write teh IP on them and keep a system going as nearly everything is bloody internet accessible nowadays and having a simple system can make it easy for them all to work together.

kdjac

[Peadar]

Cheers guys but i dont think im ever going to understand it :D


How about this for a simplistic explaination.
You want to ring the local Chinese takeaway. You know the name of the place, but don't know the number, so you get onto directory enquiries. They check their directory and resolve the name you've given them to a phone number.
They can patch you through and a call is connected between your number and that of the Chinese.
Computers work in a similar way, except, for low level computers, like your home PC, the number isn't as important & can therefore change, so long as your internet provider keeps a record of that number. (They'll probably be the ones who have issued it to you.)

When you try to connect to a website, you type in the name and a Domain Name Server resolves that name to an IP address. It all happens very quickly in the background. If it can resolve the name, it will connect you with the website.

It simply means that you only need to remember the name, not the number, which is easier for most people.
To give you an example, this number, 216.239.59.147, equates to google.com
If you paste http://216.239.59.147 into your browser, you should see what I mean.

Hope that is a little bit easier to understand.

[John83]

...there is an old geeky joke that goes "there is no place like 192.168.1.0"...
I've only ever seen "There's no place like 127.0.0.1"

[Peadar]

I've only ever seen "There's no place like 127.0.0.1"

Which makes sense...

[paul_oshea]

I've only ever seen "There's no place like 127.0.0.1"

thats a real bad geek joke.

[paul_oshea]

192.168.1.0 is the router for the incoming IP essentially. so basicly there is no place like home.

[GavinZac]

I've only ever seen "There's no place like 127.0.0.1"

thats the one. networking wasnt my forte :o

[tricky_colour]

on a normal home network, you will then have an "outside" IP address - the one for your router. (some incorrectly call it a modem). again, it will be like 48.120.63.1, but because it is the "gate" to your home network, to the outside world, every computer in your home network will appear to have this address. your router then identifies "who" its for once its recieved it.

This is impossible as each computer which can access the outside world
must have a seperate identity so yes every computer will have that as *part*
of the address but they will need a futher number to identify which computer is which, this number must also be send (by both sender and reciever, hence is *is* part of the address, and pretending it is not is rather stupid).

It would be a bit like saying every house on the a street has the the same
address, and the postman (the router or modem) magically gets the letters to the right. How does he do that you ask? Well..people write
a special code number, called the house number by the street name.
Oh, you say is that not part of the address? No he says. ( At which point you punch him!!).

Anyway I guess your computer, if it is on a network does not need to know
the final part of the address if that is done physically by another device such as a router which considers the computer plugged into plug/port 1 to be number one etc...However the outside world needs to know this otherwise there would be caos on you network.

[GavinZac]

This is impossible as each computer which can access the outside world
must have a seperate identity so yes every computer will have that as *part*
of the address but they will need a futher number to identify which computer is which, this number must also be send (by both sender and reciever, hence is *is* part of the address, and pretending it is not is rather stupid).

It would be a bit like saying every house on the a street has the the same
address, and the postman (the router or modem) magically gets the letters to the right. How does he do that you ask? Well..people write
a special code number, called the house number by the street name.
Oh, you say is that not part of the address? No he says. ( At which point you punch him!!).

Anyway I guess your computer, if it is on a network does not need to know
the final part of the address if that is done physically by another device such as a router which considers the computer plugged into plug/port 1 to be number one etc...However the outside world needs to know this otherwise there would be caos on you network.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_address_translation


In Computer Networking, the process of Network Address Translation (NAT, also known as Network Masquerading, Native Address Translation or IP Masquerading) involves re-writing the source and/or destination addresses of IP packets as they pass through a Router or firewall. Most systems using NAT do so in order to enable multiple hosts on a private network to access the Internet using a single public IP address (see gateway).
eircom/netopia routers use NAT by default.