Changes in IPv4 address

jmt356
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Changes in IPv4 address

Post by jmt356 »

Does an IPv4 address change based on my location? It seems it is always changing on me, depending on whether I am at home, office, etc.

Also, shouldn't an IPv4 address change when I connect to my VPN? It doesn't change for me, which seems to be an indication that my VPN is not actually working.
Regards,

JMT

JoeP
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Re: Changes in IPv4 address

Post by JoeP »

Most private IP addresses are assigned dynamically when you connect to the network. So, yes it will most likely change based on location.

Your VPN hides your real IP address it does not change it.
Joe

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StuartR
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Re: Changes in IPv4 address

Post by StuartR »

Whenever you connect your PC to a network it has to get a valid IP address for that network. This is usually managed using DHCP whenever your computer restarts.

Every network interface has its own IP address, so in this diagram you can see that the computer has an address of 192.168.1.24, and it connects to the router in your house which has an address of 192.168.1.255. The router also has a separate IP address for connecting to your internet service provider. And this is the IP address that is seen by anything outside your house. The 192.168.1.24 address is never visible outside your house.

The ISP routes the data on to the VPN server, but this time it doesn't hide the IP address, so the VPN server sees that you have an IP address of 184.22.5.34

The VPN server routes the data to the web server you want to visit, but this time it DOES hide the IP address, so the web server sees that the packet comes from 219.22.34.45, and it has no information that could identify your ISP or your router.
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jmt356
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Re: Changes in IPv4 address

Post by jmt356 »

Stuart: What is 184.22.5.34 in your diagram? Isn’t that number visible to both the ISP and VPN? If I connect to a web site without connecting to a VPN, does the web site see 184.22.5.34 or 114.220.14.3?

How can I confirm that I am actually connected to a VPN? When I connect to my VPN, it shows that I am connected, but I suspect I am not because when I run a search in Google, a message appears on the bottom of the search that states my actually city and location. In the past, when I connected to a VPN, the city and location were based on the VPN’s location, not mine.

When I go into the Command Prompt and type out ipconfig, I get a string of data, some of which I have copied below. Which of the following is my IP address:

Ethernet adapter Ethernet 2:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : xxxx7%12
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : xxxx1%12
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : xxxx
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : xxxx
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : xxxx
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : xxxx1%15
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : xxxx
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : xxxx
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : xxxx

Is my IP address my Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi IPv4 Address?
Regards,

JMT

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StuartR
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Re: Changes in IPv4 address

Post by StuartR »

The IP addresses that I highlighted in Yellow are the ones that the data appears to come from to things further along the chain
The IP addresses in white are just used to route the packet from one host to another, but don't appear as the originators address.

The two IPV4 addresses are both "Your IP address". Both of them are able to send data to your router. Usually the ethernet one is used in preference to the WiFi one, but if you want to be sure then type "Route Print" to a command prompt and this will show you a complex table of what interface is used to send packets to which IP addresses.
StuartR


jmt356
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Re: Changes in IPv4 address

Post by jmt356 »

I believe that if I am connected to the Internet via an Ethernet cable, my IP address is the Ethernet adapter Ethernet 2 IPv4 Address, but if I am connected via Wi-Fi, my IP address is the Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi IPv4 Address. Is that not how it works?

Is there a way to confirm that I am actually connected to a VPN? When I connect to my VPN, it shows that I am connected, but web browsers show that I am in the same geographical location that they show when I am not on the VPN, even though I am connecting to a VPN in a different city. Does this mean the VPN is not working properly?
Regards,

JMT

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StuartR
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Re: Changes in IPv4 address

Post by StuartR »

jmt356 wrote:I believe that if I am connected to the Internet via an Ethernet cable, my IP address is the Ethernet adapter Ethernet 2 IPv4 Address, but if I am connected via Wi-Fi, my IP address is the Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi IPv4 Address. Is that not how it works?
If you have both a WiFi connection AND an Ethernet connection then you have two IPv4 addresses. The local routing table determines which connection is used. By default the wired connection will be preferred to the wireless one, but this can be changed.
jmt356 wrote: Is there a way to confirm that I am actually connected to a VPN? When I connect to my VPN, it shows that I am connected, but web browsers show that I am in the same geographical location that they show when I am not on the VPN, even though I am connecting to a VPN in a different city. Does this mean the VPN is not working properly?
If you want to know what IP address other computers see you as, then visit a site like https://www.whatismyip.com/ or https://whatismyipaddress.com/

You can do this when you are not connected to your VPN, and again when the VPN is connected, to see what changes.
StuartR


jmt356
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Re: Changes in IPv4 address

Post by jmt356 »

If my public IP address does not change when I am connected to the VPN, does this mean the VPN is not working?
Regards,

JMT

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StuartR
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Re: Changes in IPv4 address

Post by StuartR »

Almost certainly it does mean that the VPN is not masking your IP address, so it is not working.
StuartR