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What Is an IP Address?

An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is the numeric label that identifies a device or network on the internet, so data can be routed to it and back. Every request you send carries your public IP, and it is the first thing a website learns about you.

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how it works

How IP addresses work

Data on the internet travels in packets, and each packet carries a source and a destination IP address. Routers read the destination and pass the packet one hop closer, the way sorting offices read a postcode. The reply comes back to the source address.

Addresses are handed out in blocks. IANA gives large ranges to five regional internet registries (ARIN, RIPE NCC, APNIC, LACNIC and AFRINIC), which assign them to ISPs, hosting companies and other networks. Your ISP then lends one to your router, and the network that holds the range announces it to the rest of the internet under its ASN.

  • IPv4

    Looks like
    203.0.113.45
    Length
    32 bits
    Possible addresses
    About 4.3 billion
    Where you meet it
    Almost every website, API and proxy

  • IPv6

    Looks like
    2001:db8:85a3::8a2e:370:7334
    Length
    128 bits
    Possible addresses
    About 3.4 × 10^38
    Where you meet it
    A growing share of home and mobile networks
in practice

What a website learns from your IP

An IP address is not a street address, but it is enough for a site to make several decisions before your page loads. Public lookup data maps it to a network, a rough location and a history.

IP address: key points
  • Network and type: the organisation and ASN behind the IP, which separates home broadband, mobile carriers and hosting providers.
  • Approximate location: country is usually right; city-level geolocation is an estimate and is often off by tens of kilometres.
  • Reputation: whether the IP appears on blocklists, sent spam or hit the site too hard before. See IP reputation.
  • Continuity: a returning visitor with the same IP and cookies looks like the same person. A sudden jump across countries mid-session looks suspicious.
how it works

How a proxy changes the IP websites see

A proxy forwards your requests from its own address, so the website sees the proxy's exit IP instead of yours. Everything a site infers from the IP, from location to network type and reputation, now comes from the proxy. That is why the kind of IP you rent matters more than the proxy software.

Check yours with the What Is My IP tool. CleanProxies static ISP proxies give you dedicated US carrier IPs that stay the same all month, from $0.75 per IP with unlimited bandwidth.

Your IP, then the proxy'sShell
curl https://api.ipify.org
# 198.51.100.23  (your own connection)

curl -x http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT https://api.ipify.org
# 203.0.113.45   (the proxy's exit IP)

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Setup guides and best practices from the CleanProxies blog.

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Related terms

Terms that come up alongside IP address.

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IP address FAQs

Straight answers about IP address.

Not from the IP alone. Public geolocation data usually gets the country right and the city roughly right, but only your ISP can link an IP to a subscriber, and it releases that to authorities with legal process, not to websites.

Got more questions?All FAQs