What is an IP address?
An IP address is a unique ID assigned to a device on a computer network so it can be identified.
An IP address (short for Internet Protocol address) is used to distinguish computers and other devices on the Internet. It works much like the sender address on an envelope.
How do IP addresses work?
When one computer or device sends a request to another — for example typing www.ipaadress.ee into the browser address bar — that request includes the IP address of the device that made it. The other computer uses that address to know where to send the response and the page content.
How are IP addresses used in practice?
An IP address can sometimes be associated with a physical location. Search engines may try to guess where a computer is and offer more local results — for example, searching Google for "weather" often shows nearby forecasts.
What does an IP address look like?
An IP address is a sequence of numbers, or numbers and letters, depending on whether IPv4 or IPv6 is in use.
IPv4 example: 143.4.233.22
IPv6 example: 2001:1620:28:1:b6f:8bca:93:a116