An IP address is a unique network address that is assigned to a device to access the Internet. To find out more about IP addresses and their types, read our article “What is an IP Address?” If you want to check your IP address, use our IP checker.
What can I find out by an IP address?
An IP address can tell the world about the country, city, street address, and phone number of the provider that serves this IP address. Having this information, special forces may require the provider to disclose the history of actions and personal data of users.
Why hide the IP address?
Let’s look at several reasons why users hide their IP addresses:
- To protect sensitive data from surveillance by the provider.
- For anonymity on the Internet when users do not want to disclose information about their location when surfing the web.
- To visit sites that are blocked for users from other countries.
How to hide (change) the IP address?
There are several ways to change the IP address. All of them have both advantages and disadvantages and are intended for different purposes.
- Changing the IP address using servers occurs by sending user network requests through the Proxy server. Proxies do not have their own encryption tools and provide the fastest traffic transfer compared to VPN and TOR.
- The use of the TOR network allows changing the IP address by passing user network requests through chains of servers located around the world. All traffic within the TOR network is encrypted.
- VPN is considered one of the most reliable ways to hide the IP address. The connection takes place in the form of an encrypted tunnel between the user and the intermediary server, where all user network requests on the Internet are sent on behalf of the intermediary server.
When using tools to change the IP address, it is recommended to change the DNS as well.
