There are many resons why you need to know your IP address. If you're behind a router, your network may have several of them. If you're using programs like NetMeeting, you'll need to know the external IP addresses. Confusing? Sure is.

The Internal IP addresses are often supplied to computers by a router via DHCP. This means each time your PC boots, it asks the router for an IP and the router looks to see if the computer's current IP address has expired. If it has, it issues another IP address. These IPs often resemble 192.168.1.2 with the last number changing with each PC.

The External IP address is supplied by your ISP. This is what the rest of the Internet sees when you visit their websites or use programs that require they know your IP. You can learn your external IP address by visiting a site like http://www.whatismyip.com/

Talk about IP Addresses in our forum

What's this mean? Get tech definitions at NerdyWords.com

Get More Tech Snippets!

Visit our tech blog

Site Directory

Tech Terms Dictionary