Last Updated on September 4, 2024 by theadmin

Does your IP Address Change When You Move?

Every single device that’s connected to the internet has one thing in common they all need something called an IP address.  Without this address they wouldn’t be able to communicate, browse the web, send emails or anything remotely interesting!   It stands for Internet protocol address and is a requirement for using the language of the internet – TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).

The addresses actually all look remarkably similar just like this one here – 192.168.1.1, yet they are actually unique.   At this point though there is a clarification required between two different sorts of IP address – internal/private and external/public.

 

As explained every IP address has to be unique, but only on each network.  So, you could have a private network at home or in the office and you could use any IP address you like as long as you don’t use duplicates on there.  However, none of these addresses could connect to the internet, unless they had a unique address on there too.  Which is why we have this concept of private and public addresses.

Private/Internal IP Addresses 

Any address on an internal network.  They will not be accessible from the internet and only work on your local devices.  You can pick any IP address ranges that you like, as long as they’re in the same ranges as each other.  You can change and modify them when you like.

Although you can realistically use any IP address you like, there are some specified ranges that are actually reserved for private networks.  You won’t find these used in public facing devices –

• 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255
• 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255
• 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255

They’re normally assigned to network devices which you can buy. So, for example if you get a modem or router supplied by your ISP it will often have an address in this range – e.g., 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.254.

Public/External IP Addresses

These IP addresses need to be unique on the internet, there can be no duplicates or data will be lost. It would be the same as having two completely identical postal addresses in two completely different places. For home users these addresses are assigned individually to their internet connection by the Internet Service Providers.

This is address that is unique to your connection online, no-one else will have this address which is why it’s something of a concern to privacy activists.  If you hear someone talking about IP addresses online in most instances, it’s this public address they are referring to.  Some people also call it an internet IP address too.

So, does my IP Address Change When I Travel then?

It’s an interesting question, which is actually more relevant than people think. To avoid any confusion, it’s probably best to illustrate a brief timeline of an IP address through an example day.

• I turn on my digital radio which connect to the internet and brings me the news (home IP address from WIFI router)
• Use my smart watch to check out the weather (home IP address from Wifi router)
• Check my laptop to read email (home IP address from wifi router)

Phone IP Address Changes as you Travel

• Get in car and Sat Nav downloads latest updates from internet (Car gets IP address from 4G mobile Gateway)
• Travel by Train to city using mobile phone to browse web (IP addresses from 4G mobile Gateways)
  (Mobile IP addresses are assigned like this)
• Use Laptop to connect to train’s Wifi Access Point (IP address is assigned from access point)

IP Address Changes with Each Location

• Work Office – Plug laptop into company network using ethernet cable on desk (Private IP address assigned locally)
  (Laptop actually has private IP address on corporate network but uses public IP address through firm’s web gateway)
• Check email on way home through coffee shop Wifi (IP address from Coffee shops Internet connected router)
• Get Home and switch on Smart TV (home IP address from Wifi router)

Different Types of IP Addresses

As you can see my IP address changes depending on where I am, what device I’m using and how I’ve connected to the internet. Even in this simple timeline I would have switched through about ten different addresses (possibly more depending on how long I used my phone for).   I would have also used several distinct types of IP address too –

• Private IP address ranges at home, work and possibly at coffee shop)
• Mobile IP addresses from my Car GPS and mobile phone.
• Public addresses from my home Wi-Fi, Coffee shop access point and company web gateway.

So, as you can see although every internet address is unique my own connection will use different addresses throughout the day.   My webmail provider will see my account being accesses from a series of different IP addresses during the day depending on where I happen to be at the time.

This is one reason why it’s so difficult for websites to block access to individuals based on the IP address they’re accessing from.  If you’ve ever heard of this practice is actually extremely unreliable. For example, if I posted an offensive comment on a forum while I was at the coffee shop and the administrator blocked my IP address.  They would be in effect blacklisting anyone in the coffee shop accessing that forum.  Obviously, a registered account is linked to a specific user, but they can usually be recreated easily.

How to Change IP Address

From a privacy and anonymity context the main issue is the IP address you use at home.  It can be logged, monitored and tracked very easily when you’re online.  What’s more it’s registered to a specific location and individual (whoever pays the internet account). A complete record of what this IP address does online exists on the logs at the ISP, plus partial logs at each and every web server that is visited.  Obviously, this is likely to be the address you use the most unless you travel a lot, it’s also the most vulnerable.  A home computer is not quite as mobile and will generally always use the IP address assigned to your home account too.  So, anyone who is concerned about their online activities being logged or monitored should take steps here rather than when they’re travelling.

You often cannot actually change this address at all, although this is largely dependent on your ISP.  Sometimes rebooting you modem/router will get a new public IP address assigned.   For most of us though this doesn’t work, you can check by typing ‘what is my IP address‘ into Google which will show your public IP.

If you want a reliable way to hide/change your IP address at home, then you should use a proxy or VPN service like NordVPN.  You can use this to route your traffic through an independent server which hide your real location.  If you use a VPN then it will also encrypt your connection meaning that all logs in your ISP are hidden to,

So, to summarise, yes, your IP address changes all the time depending on where and what you access the internet from.  Largely speaking your home IP address which is unique and linked to your physical address doesn’t change.  So, if you want to mouth off on a forum or social media, then do it with a made-up account from a coffee shop or public wifi point!

Does IP Address Change with Location?

Yes, your IP address can change when you change locations. This is because your IP address is assigned to you by your internet service provider, and different ISPs operate in different geographical areas. So, if you move from one location to another, you’ll likely be connecting to the internet through a different ISP, which will assign you a new IP address.

Also, if you’re using a mobile device, your IP address can change as you move from one network to another. Even moving around in the same location can cause your IP address to change if your device switches from one network to another (e.g., moving out of range of your home Wi-Fi and switching to a 4G network).

However, it’s important to note that while your IP address can give a rough idea of your geographical location, it’s not a precise indicator. The IP address only shows the location of the network that the device is connected to, not the specific location of the device itself.

Why Does my IP  Address Change When I Move?

Your IP address changes when you move because it is linked to your physical location. Internet Service Providers (ISP) assign these addresses based on your geographical location. Each time you connect to the internet from a different network, whether it’s switching from your home network to a mobile network or moving to a new place, the ISP for that network assigns you a new IP address. This is because IP addresses are distributed in blocks to ISPs, which are then assigned to their customers in specific geographical areas.

Does My Phone IP Address Change ?

Yes, your phone’s IP address can change. If you’re using mobile data, your IP address will change each time you connect to the network. If you’re using Wi-Fi, your IP address will change when you switch to a different network. Even on the same network, the IP address may change due to DHCP setup by the network administrator. Also, restarting your phone might cause an IP address change.

Does My IP Address Change When I Use Different Wifi?

Yes, every wifi access point has a unique IP address and distributes a number of local addresses to any client requesting one.   Your public internet address will be determined by the access point you connect to.  Every access point will have a unique IP address if it’s connected to the internet.

Does my IP address change when I move?

Yes, your IP address can change when you move, especially if you’re switching to a different Internet service provider (ISP) or connecting to a different network. IP addresses are assigned by ISPs and are often location-specific. If you’re using mobile data, your IP can also change as you move from one cell tower range to another. However, if you use a VPN, your IP address can remain the same regardless of your location.

Does your Phone IP Address Change When you Travel?

Yes, your phone’s IP address does change when you travel. This happens because you connect to different networks (public Wi-Fi, cellular data networks, etc.) in different locations, and each of these networks assigns a unique IP address to your device. Even with your cellular data provider, your IP address can change frequently as you disconnect and reconnect to different data networks. You can control your IP address on any mobile device by using a VPN like NordVPN.

Your Default Security – a Quick Note on SSL

First of all, SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. Netscape created this system in the mid-1990s for use with the Navigator web browser, which was the first to offer reliable e-commerce capabilities. It addressed the issue of anyone being able to spy on your communications while surfing the web.

A criminal could do terrible things to you if some of those communications contained a credit card number or other personal information.  As a result, Netscape created a protocol that encrypted messages as they travelled from one computer to the other, providing two computers with a way to communicate with one another. Because no one other than those two computers could read the message, your private information was safe.  It doesn’t matter how your message is transmitted directly, through proxies or any other method it cannot be read.

A certification authority is a company that issues a digital certificate to the owner of the web server (CA). Each certificate has a link to the company that issued it, and it eventually ends at what’s known as a “root” CA.  Every browser has a list of CAs that are considered “trustworthy.” When you make a secure connection to a web server with a digital certificate, your browser follows the “chain of authority” and checks each certificate to see if the CA that issued it is in the list.

If the browser goes all the way back to the root CA without finding it in the list, you’ll get a message that this certificate isn’t trusted. When a certificate isn’t trusted, you can’t be sure that the information listed in it — company name, address, phone number, etc. — is correct. Trusted CAs verify business licences and contact information. Other CAs may not.

Even if the contact information isn’t verified, the traffic between your browser and the web server is protected from eavesdroppers. The two computers will exchange “keys” once the browser has established that you want to trust this web site’s certificate, whether because the CA is on the browser’s list or because you confirm your trust in the warning dialog.