Currently the IP acronym occupy an important place in the technological world, but do you know exactly what it means?
When we talk about the IP we are referring to a set of numbers separated by points that act as identifier of a particular device in its communications within the Internet, said in a way as simple as possible.
We can understand it better with a very simple analogy; our IP would be something like “our Internet phone number”. It usually occurs in the following format XXX.XX.XX.XXX.
Different types of IP
Not all IP are equal, there are four major types differentiated by a contrast between one and which can be defined as follows:
Static IP: The number is always kept stable, it does not change. It is common in devices that need to stay connected.
Dynamic IP: The opposite of the above, the numbering of our IP is changing in certain circumstances, such as when we turn off and turn on the router. This means that our “identifier” in the network is changing.
Public IP: It is the one that our computer or device on the Internet, which is used when we surf the Internet.
Private IP: It is the one that identifies the computer or device within our own network, that is, in an internal connection.
How can I know my IP?
If you are using Windows XP or higher it is very simple, since simply entering the command prompt (open run and type CMD, or search if we use Windows 8).
Once open write ipconfig and click ok, we will get a summary of all the most important information in our network.
On the other hand if we use OS X should follow the path System Preferences-> Network. Once we are inside we choose Adapter and view our IP without a problem.