[rjemery]

What is an (Internet) IP number, and how unique is it. Does each Internet user have an unique IP number?

For each message posted, why is it necessary for this site to log IP numbers, which are inaccessible even to the poster?

------------------
R. J. Emery

[TechGuy]

Oh, so many questions!

>What is an (Internet) IP number, and how unique is it.

Well, to start out, you might want to have a look at this: http://www.whatis.com/ip.htm

For people who connect to the Internet via a dial-up connection (through your phone lines), your IP address changes each time you log on. But, you're the only person who has that IP address at that moment [with a few rare exceptions].

>Does each Internet user have an unique IP number?

Yes. There are a few exception, though. There is hardware and software available that will allow computers to share a single IP address, and therefore a single connection. But, generally speaking, each computer on the Internet has it's own IP address.

>For each message posted, why is it necessary for this site to log IP numbers, which are inaccessible even to the poster?

Even though your IP address will change each time you connect, it'll usually be very similar. For example, one time it might be 205.166.61.130 and the next it might be 205.166.61.158. So, if someone abuses the board, posts nasty messages, or something else we don't like, it's possible to ban a particular IP address. We've only had to do this once in the history of this web site. But, it's handy so that we can see if someone is pretending to be someone else or to ban nasty people. For security reasons, IP addresses are only visible to the administration. If someone knows your IP address, it's possible for them to try to take advantage of any security problems in your PC (paticularlly what are known as "nukes" in which they force your computer to restart). Paranoid yet? Get some anti-virus software, to begin with (if you don't have it already. =)

[rjemery]

Interesting site, www.whatis.com.

Any similar sites that you could share for the benefit of newbies and not-so-newbies curious about the ins/outs, dos/donts and general workings of the Internet?

Regardless if I visit helponthe.net or not, how can I determine my own IP number for any given session?

The IP address may be less significant than it once was. With free ISPs proliferating, an obnoxious or malicious user can have dozens of accounts with each of them, and use different dialup cities to gain access -- measures that would obscure his or her ID.

------------------
R. J. Emery

[TechGuy]

You're very correct in your comment about free ISPs. That's the same reason a lot of web sites no longer allow users to register under any free email addresses (hotmail, yahoo, usa, etc).

Hopefully other useful pages (similar to WhatIs) will be listed in our new link directory: http://www.helponthe.net/links/The_Basics/ This just opened today, so you might want to check back in a few days. If you find anything useful, feel free to add it there.

Oh, and to find your IP address in most versions of Windows, go to Start and click Run. Then type "winipcfg" (without the quotes, of course) and click OK.

[rjemery]

Re: winipcfg. Wow, so all those numbers are me!! How romantic! And anyone else gets to see those same numbers and ID information at their end when I visit their web site?

------------------
R. J. Emery

[TechGuy]

Well, they get to see your IP address. Generally not more than that. But, an IP address is a powerful thing. For example, I can use tracert to find out what ISP you're using and what state you're in... (although I won't share that with anyone right now. =)

[Bryan]

Maybe a little off the subject but since you are talking about IP address here's one other thing to add. If you connect through a proxy, then the IP address that is sent out is an internal "Reserved" IP that can't be accessed by any external site. Or is it the servers IP address, I can't remember. Anyway, that gives you a little more security because you have a firewall protecting you.

For instance without using my ISP's proxy server then my IP will appear as 215.66.... If you know my IP address then you can attempt to get into my system. If I switch my browser to use the proxy server then the IP you get might be 172.1.1... (or the servers address) Either way you can't get to me at that IP address because when you request access to it, the 172 is reserved as an internal IP and can't be accessed from an an external system. There are a few other reserved but I can't remember what they are right now.



[This message has been edited by bhesson (edited 02-09-2000).]

[rjemery]

TechGuy, what is tracert? I see it on my system, but how is it used? Where is their documentation describing it and its use?

------------------
R. J. Emery

[TechGuy]

I suppose I should have been a little more clear, hmm? Well, go to Start > Run > MS-DOS Prompt. Then, from the command line, you can TRACE the RouTe from your computer to another computer on the Internet. For exampe: my computer is directly connected to the Internet via a cable modem. It's IP never changes. If you go to the command prompt and type TRACERT 24.137.18.216, it'll show you the steps it takes to get to my computer. This works for web sites, too. Here's my commented results on TRACERT whatis.com:

Tracing route to whatis.com [199.45.146.176]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 SERVER [192.168.1.3] - local lan server
2 24.137.18.1 - my cable provider
3 556.Hssi3-0-0.GW1.PHL1.ALTER.NET [157.130.10.189] - Philadelphia
4 161.ATM4-0.XR1.DCA1.ALTER.NET [146.188.162.106] - Washington, DC?
5 195.ATM6-0.XR1.DCA8.ALTER.NET [146.188.163.2]
6 189.ATM7-0.BR1.DCA8.ALTER.NET [146.188.162.209]
7 166.49.117.37 - unknown host
8 bordercore3.Denver.cw.net [166.48.100.1] - Denver
9 candw-ip-eng-interconnects.Denver.cw.net [166.48.101.254]
10 gw66.boulder.co.coop.net [199.45.137.129] - Boulder, CO
11 border-to-26-earthnet.boulder.co.coop.net [199.45.130.34]
12 whatis.com [199.45.146.176] - final location, must be close to Boulder, CO

Trace complete.

Not always accurate, but usually fun.

[This message has been edited by TechGuy (edited 02-09-2000).]

[frenat]

If you are worried about how vulnerable your system is on the internet you can go to grc.com and try out the "shields up" test on that site. It is very useful and not only explains what it can find out but how you protect against it.

------------------
Frenat

[This message has been edited by frenat (edited 02-10-2000).]

[rjemery]

Frenat,

Yes, www.grc.com is quite an eye-opener. Thanks for the reference.

------------------
R. J. Emery

[frankatkinson]

Several of the mailing lists have indicated that web tv and some of the cable/internet systems give each request a new ip and responses are routed through a proxy address
translation system. This gives them more control over the content that can be sent to the user..ex. some cable systems don't allow
streaming video since thay are also in the video business..