An IP address is a unique ID assigned to a device on a computer network so that 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 opening ipaadress.ee in a browser — 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 in the real world. Search engines may try to guess where a computer is and offer more local results on that basis.
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
You can see your current address on the IPaadress.ee home page.