What is an IP address? How to see the IP address of your phone or computer

IP is certainly no longer strange to Internet users today. But few of us really know what IP is? How many types of IP are there? How to see IP address on phone or computer? This article will help you answer the above questions.

1. What is an IP address?

IP address (short for Internet Protocol) means Internet protocol. IP is a unique address that electronic devices such as phones and laptops are currently using to  identify and communicate with each other on a computer network  using the Internet protocol.

(IP address stands for Internet Protocol)

 

2. What is an IP address used for?

IP addresses  provide the identity of devices connected to the network , helping devices on the Internet distinguish and recognize each other, thereby being able to communicate with each other.

For example, if you send a package to a friend elsewhere, you need to know the exact address to send it to. At this point, you need to write down the specific address by looking up the address list you have.

The process of sending data over the network is similar to the example above. However, instead of using a list of addresses to find an address, the computer uses DNS servers that look up a hostname to find its IP address. For example, when entering a website into a browser, such as abc.com, the request to load this page is sent to DNS servers that look up the hostname (abc.com) to find its corresponding IP address. If there is no IP address attached, the computer will have no "clue" to search.

3. Advantages and disadvantages of IP addresses

Advantage

- IP is a connection and communication protocol between network devices over the Internet.

- IP makes accessing the Internet easier.

- IP addresses help users manage the network system simply and closely.

- The birth of IP is a remarkable development of the network technology industry.

Defect

- Personal information can easily be exploited if someone accidentally invades and sabotages it.

- User access activities will have their IP addresses saved.

4. Types of IP addresses

Public IP address

A public IP address (also known as Public IP) is the address that an Internet service provider uses to  forward Internet requests  to a specific home or organization. This is the address that a home or organizational network uses to  communicate with other Internet-connected devices , allowing devices on the network to access the network or communicate directly with other users' computers.

Personal IP address

Personal IP address (also known as Private IP) is  a private address used within  LAN networks such as home, school, and company networks. Unlike Public IP, Private IP  cannot connect to the Internet  , only devices on the network can communicate with each other through the router. The private IP address is assigned automatically by the router, or you can reset it manually.

Static IP address

Static IP (also known as static IP), this is  a fixed IP address reserved for a person or group of users  whose devices connected to the Internet are always assigned an IP address. Usually a static IP is given to a server with a specific purpose such as a web server, mail server, etc. so that many people can access it without interrupting those processes.

Dynamic IP address

Dynamic IP address (also known as Dynamic IP) means that  the computer's IP address can change . If you do not use special services that require a static IP, customers will usually only be assigned different IPs by the ISP after each connection or during a connection session will be changed to other IPs. ISPs' dynamic IP allocation action aims to save the currently exhausted source of IP addresses. When a computer is not connected to the Internet, the provider will use that IP to give it to another user.

5. How to view IP address on Android and iPhone phones

How to see public IP address on phone

- Method 1: Search “what is my ip”

From your Android phone, open the browser and type “ what is my ip ” in  Google search , the results will automatically show your IP address at the top. You can also do the same with your tablet to see the public IP address.

- Method 2: Check IP address through the website.

You access the website  https://checkip.io.vn/  The website interface will display the public IP address on your phone or tablet.

In addition, other reputable websites that you can use to see the IP address are:  https://www.ipchicken.com  or  https://whatismyipaddress.com

How to see personal IP address on phone

- For Android phones

Go to  Settings  > Select  About  > Select  Status . The IP address displayed is the personal IP address on the phone.

- For iPhone

Go to  Settings  > Select  WiFi  > Click on  the WiFi network name  to see the personal IP address on your phone.

6. How to view IP address on Windows and MacBook computers

How to view IP address on Windows computer

You can do one of the following options to view the IP address on a Windows computer:

- View IP using Network & Internet Settings.

- View computer IP from the Taskbar.

- View IP address using Task Manager.

- View IP address using Command Prompt.

- View IP using Powershell.

How to view IP address on MacBook computer

- View public IP address on MacBook

How to view the public IP address on MacBook is similar to how to view the public IP address on iPhone as instructed above in section 5.

- View personal IP address on MacBook

Method 1: Use System Preferences

Step 1:  First of all, click on  the Apple logo  in the upper left corner of the screen and select " System Preferences ".

Step 2:  In the tool panel, select the  Network  tool to open the network connection information panel.

Step 3:  The IP address will appear in small text below the Status line.

Method 2: Use Terminal

Step 1:  First of all, press  Cmd + Space  to open Spotlight search and enter “ Terminal ” to search and access Terminal.

Step 2:  Then you can use the command “ ifconfig | grep "inet " | grep -v 127.0.0.1 ” to display the necessary information about the personal IP address on the MacBook. The device's IP address is  the series of numbers after the word "inet" . For example, in the case of the illustration below, the machine's IP address is "192.168.1.8".

This article has shown how to check IP address on phones and computers. Hopefully through the above article you will be successful.