IP address. few simple questions.

Solodays

Senior member
Jun 26, 2003
853
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1: what exactly is an IP adress, and why it that every computer has one or maybe not?


2: where exactly does the IP address info store on the the computer, it it store on the motherboards bios, cpu..?

3: i often hear people getting track down or caught by the police on the news simply because they've found out the individual ip address. since how did ip address first obtain your personal info? so if i buy or build my own computer it will automaticly assign my phone number, address on the pc? doesnt make sense.
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
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IP means Internet Protocol. For data to get to & from you, you have to have a unique address. It's actually binary but is normally represented in decimal for human readability.

When your computer starts, it typically gets a private IP address from your router. Your router does the same thing to get a private IP address from your modem. Your modem gets your public IP address from your Internet Service Provider (they assign it to your modem, and they can tell each modem apart uniquely).

So it's not stored on your computer. Your ISP knows which IP address corresponds to you, so if they're required to identify the person who's been pirating teh warez, matey, they won't have any problem fingering you. So keep your nose clean, eh :)