You can ask yourself how to find out the IP address of your computer in different situations. Most often this is experienced by users who decide to organize a server on their computer. For example, you can start a game or FTP server, but in order for friends to connect to it, you need to know its address. So, we will look at how to find out the IP address of a computer. Everything will be described in sufficient detail. So let's get started.
What it is?
To go directly to the solution of the question of interest, you should thoroughly understand the basic concepts used. This will avoid incorrect actions. Note that an IP address refers to the address of a device on a computer network. It can be local, that is, internal, or external. The first type is usually understood as the IP assigned to the computer within the local network. Outside is usually called an address on the World Wide Web. Users on the same LAN can have different or identical external addresses.
What is it for?
Thanks to the IP address, other computers on the network can freely contact your PC. Although it is not as simple as it sometimes seems at first glance. The IP address can be static, that is, permanent, or it can change every time you connect to the Internet, that is, be dynamic. In this matter, it all depends on the provider that provides the Internet connection. Typically, for each computer, the address is set within the range of available options available to the provider with a new connection. If you yourself do not disconnect from the Internet or use a proxy server, then the IP address of the computer will not change by itself.
To determine if your address is static or dynamic, you can disconnect and connect to the Internet, and then check your IP on a special site. Or you can just call technical support to ask about it. In the event that a permanent address is required, it is worth contacting the provider. Many companies provide this service, but it is usually paid.
Protocols
Currently, the IP protocol exists in two versions: IPv4 and IPv6. It turns out that the type of the address itself depends on the installed version. IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses. A similar address is represented as four decimal numbers in the range from 0 to 255. In the IP address, each of these numbers is separated by dots. For example, 100.24.11.235 is a type of IPv4 version address.
IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses. The record in this case looks like eight groups of four digits in the hexadecimal notation. It looks something like this: 2011: 0ed3: 0000: 0000: 0000: 0000: ea2d: 12ad. If the address contains groups consisting exclusively of zeros, then it can be reduced by replacing such groups with a colon. For example, 2011: 0ed3 :: ea2d: 12ad will be completely identical to the one specified earlier.
IPv6 was being developed as a replacement for the outdated fourth version. The problem of the predecessor at the moment is that its set of addresses is very limited, and now it has almost finished. The process of transition from one standard to another is very sluggish, so for now it’s worth considering how to find out the IP address of your computer, only in the light of the protocol of the fourth version. It is important to understand that the methods indicated here are not the only ones.
How to find the external IP address of a computer
This is easy enough to do. At the moment, there are a sufficient number of specialized sites that provide information about the IP address of the computer from which you visit them. We will present several such options with which you can figure out how to find out the IP address of your computer.
How to find out the internal IP address of a computer
Sometimes such a question arises, however, this should not be a problem either. You need to open the control panel, find the item on the network and the Internet, and then enter the network control center. In the window that opens, you will be prompted to change the adapter settings. It should be agreed to do this. Next, you will see a window in which the connection of your computer to the local network will be shown. So, if you are interested in where to find the IP address of a computer, open the connection by double-clicking the mouse. You will see information of interest. Everything will be presented in a window called "Information - Local Area Connection". And in it you need to click on "Information". The next window will display information about the current network connection. Under “IPv4 Address”, the current internal address will be displayed.
These simple steps are enough to answer the question of how to find the IP address of the computer. It is worth saying that the internal address sometimes coincides with the external, and sometimes not. It all depends on how your ISP works. So, we explained in detail how to find out the IP address of your computer.