[Banby]

I just registered on this site, and I did so as a beginner. I hope my question is OK to ask. it probably is very simple, but I don't know for sure. Here goes:

On a chatboard I am on, poster #1 comes on and posts a comment. When I look at her IP number in the "View Source" page it is xx.xx. xx.xxx . When I plug that number into a "Find IP Location" program it gives a certain city in Canada with a certain host provider.

Many times she seems to post other comments that are offensive or just to cause trouble. The IP number for these posts are always the same as poster #1 and from the same city and same ISP.

When called on this, poster #1 says someone who lives close to her must have her IP number and is posting as her. I think she is trying to play us for fools and hopes we will accept this explanation. These numbers never vary. They are always the same and come from the same place. What do you think? I don't know enough to know for sure. Can you help?
Thanks.

[theriddler]

Doesnt she have a user name :S, if so the IP should match, I dont use chatboards, is it an anonymous thing where you dont have to register to use it ?

[Banby]

Yes, it is a chatboard that does not have registration. My question is does the same IP numbers even though the names on the posts are different, mean that the same poster is posting the comment while trying to make us think she is different people?

OP/ Banby

[theriddler]

then it is the same person, unless shes using a proxy which many people could be using, im not a pro on this type of thing you would have to ask somone like cookiegal or whitphil, but some people have static IPs where they chagne every time they connect to the internet.

[DarqueMist]

actually a static IP is unusual to come across, most people will have a dynamic IP that changes every time they connect online (however it will contain portions that will remain unchanged). If the same IP # appears for several users at the same time then yes it is just one user with different aliases. There is a very slim chance that different people may have been given the same Dynamic IP # within a short period of time but two people won't have the same # at the same time.

[theriddler]

dynamic !, soz lol I thought the static one was the changing one, my mistake

[WhitPhil]

Originally Posted by theriddler

but some people have static IPs where they chagne every time they connect to the internet.

FYI: It's the other way around. A static IP never changes whereas a dynamic one does.

So, if this person were on an ISP and was assigned a new IP everytime they connected, then it is possible that one day person X could have IP 1, and if they disconnected, then if person Y connected they could be assigned the same IP.

But, it is the ISP assigning IPs, not the people connecting, so if the two people with the same IP appear to be of the same demeanor, then odds are proabably good that they are one and the same.

[Banby]

I think I understand. Let me give a little more info.
This same poster when she is on under her usual handle is called let's say, Chip.
Now every single time I check Chip's IP it is the exact same number...every day, every month, every post....the poster called Chip always has the same number.

Now when these other anonymous posters come on that I suspect is Chip and I check those numbers, they are always the same also......always the same as Chip's....every time, and they all come from the same city and the same ISP,

That doesn't seem like a case of dynamic IPs does it? Wouldn't that mean that all those posts are Chips?

thanks again, OP

[WhitPhil]

If "Chip" has an "always on" cable connect, I expect that their IP would "seldom" change.

Regardless, Chip and your anonymous posters are one and the same.

Well, minimally they are one and the same COMPUTERS. Their "could" be two people using the same computer??

[mzterious]

OMG! Teachers.net, right?

[jmwills]

All true unless the perosn is using a proxy server which makes them virtually impossible to trace accurately. Persoanlly, I think the poster is doing exactly what she wants you to do, get upset over nothing.