Can anyone tell me if there really is a way to change your IP address and if so how you do it??

I didn't think it was possible to do it, but I googled it and found this site. Hope it helps.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2281798_change-ip-address.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

move to a different state and change companies were you get you service.

I assume you mean to change as in "to obfuscate"...

No. You could spoof it, but not change it.

You are tracked by your MAC address. That could be put on a dip switch.

But any of these is way above your level of geekness. Don't bother.

Just use a proxy. From simple and not-private at all web-proxy to a complicated Tor Network.



If you simply wanted to change your IP once, like your cell number, then just call your ISP.

Your ISP is not likely to change your IP addy simply because you ask them too. At least not around here. They tell you to simply stay offline for a good amount of time (their word was 3 days, but it didn't work for me) and when you reconnect you will be assigned a new one. At least with my experience with my cable company dynamic IP's are not so dynamic.

That's because it is more convenient to use semi-static IP.

I think repochik has some bad things coming her way, so if she presents her ISP with her reasons, I am sure they will change her IP in a jiffy.

it depends on what you are doing.
in XP you open networks from the control panel and select the network connection and right click on local area connection to open the properties window. From there you will find a smaller window. Select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and click properties. From there you can manually configure your computer's IP address. You also can configuring Outlook I believe.
If you are trying to configure a router you need to open a browser and open the router. Many can be accessed using the address typed in the browser address bar 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.10. 2Wired routers are accessed by typing http://2wired.gateway.net in the address bar of your browser. From there you can configure the network's IP manually and coordinate the IP addresses for the routers firewall so that each computer has a IP address specific to it and recognized by your router.

google "proxy servers"

http://www.vidalia-project.net/

That is only your internal IP. The world will still see your external IP and it will be the same.

NAT (Network address translation) Your internal ip is translated into an external ip that is provided by your isp.

I think for this post its more important in answering your question to understand why you think you need to change it.

as Billyclub said, it's important for us to understand why you 'think' you need to change your IP.

If your objective is to 'mask' your actual IP address, you will require the services of an anonymous proxy server.

You can find more information on these servers and their function/service at http://www.publicproxyservers.com/

Understand that you are effectively using these servers as a median between your computer and the internet, just as you would your router. They do not replace your ISP. You will need access to the internet to gain access to their server.

Here is some general information on IPs:

Your external IP is provided to you by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). There are two types of services they provide in this instance: Static IP and Dynamic IP.

Static IPs, which is an IP address that does not change, are generally for commerical usage or hosting a server/website. Because of the unchanging IP property of Static IPs, you could register a .com name, which must be associated to an IP address, and not worry about the .com name being associated to an IP address that may or will change. Once you have your Domain Name (www.repochicksbusiness.com) setup to your IP address, you can host a website from your 'configured' computer/server. If you are attempting to change your Static IP, you will need to contact your ISP and inform them that you would like to change your Static IP address.

Dynamic IPs are changing IP addresses. It's event driven, meaning.. the IP address doesn't change will it's in usage, or while you're connected to your ISP. So to change this IP address, simply turn off your modem for a period of time longer than 5 minutes. When turning off your modem for a period of time and than turning it back on, you may recieve a new IP address. I say 'may' as a disclaimer, because it really depends on the availibility of open IP addresses and the amount of time you have your modem off. Obviously, if you turn your modem off for a year, you are more than likely going to get a new IP address.
I would presume that there are network Polices that your ISP have implemented that should change your IP address in this fashion, as
people tend to turn off their modems because they are attempting to change their IP address, or are troubleshooting a connection problem.. thus it makes sense that your ISP would force the IP change. Also, I wouldn't worry about them running out of availible IP addresses, as it's just extremely unlikely.

Your ISP tracks what IP they have assigned you using your computer modem's MAC Address, which is a unique value. If you have a router, you would 'clone' the MAC address of one of the computers that connect to your router inorder to ensure that the MAC address that you are registering with your ISP is, again, registered with a unique value.


This pretty much covers all the usages of IP: privacy in browsing, reconfiguration of Static and Dynamic IP addresses, and I even touched on the role of IP in DNS (Domain Name Service.. i.e. '.com' names) registering.

If I seem to wordy, and off-topic.. it's because I don't know of which of these reasons you would want to change or manipulate your IP. Hopefully, I covered your reason for asking.

in regards to the instruction on the ehow.com site for changing your IP address.. most of those instructions assume that you are not using a home network or router and that you don't have a static IP address.

Also, it is better to use 'Repair Connection' or simply 'Repair' over the command 'ipconfig /release' and 'ipconfig /renew'.. as those commands are actually integrated with the 'Repair Connection' function as well as other commands that optimize and flush certain network cache, and account for third party services that are running on your computer.

to use Repair, simply right click your Network connection icon, located at the bottom right of your desktop, otherwise known as the Startup Tray, and left click 'Repair'.

Alternatively, Click Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Right Click the connection that says 'Connected' as a status > Left Click 'Repair'

Again, this will not work if you have a static ip assigned to you by your ISP, and/or if you're on a home network.

EDIT:

This command may come in better use than the ipconfig /release or /renew commands, and is worth mentioning.

in your command console( Click Start > Run > type 'cmd' > Press Enter).. type "ipconfig /all", for a full display of all the information of your network connection status, from all your status-'connected' network connections (meaning, if you have both your wireless and LAN network connections connected.. it will show information on both, seperately).

Also, it is important to think about plausible deniability, which in cases of requiring anonymity on the web, can be just as useful if not more so.

Correct. If you are trying to use applications such as bit torrent anonymously then I recommend peerguardian. http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/

This works for other P2p services as well, but I do not trust non BT transfers so . . .

Actually, depending upon your router or modem, it may be possible. Mine came with programming that allows me to automatically renew my IP address every 24 hours. Sometimes it changes my IP, sometimes it doesn't.
Your physical IP for your actual computer, not without creating a whole new connection profile, and then there is the possiblity that it will conflict with your existing one.