Changing your IP Address

For security, or circumvention of web blockers, people often want to change their IP address. There are numerous ways of doing it, some more effective than others, but all can get the job done.

If you are using a router or modem and have it set to create a dynamic IP, then this is your easiest manner of changing it. All you need to do is unplug your modem/router for a few minutes and plug it back in. When you reconnect to the web, your computer will be given a new IP address, different than the one it previously used.

A more difficult manner is the proxy server. A proxy server is when you set up a computer and connect it to the internet, then other computers connect to the first to access the web. This protects the latter computers, because they are hiding behind the IP address of the proxy, making theirs less discoverable.

A very shady, and hard to find way of changing your IP is a proxy websites. You enter a URL into a site, and it connects to the site for you so you don't have to. Places with internet content blockers regularly have this types of sites blocked and are generally slow in nature.

SOCKS and HTTP proxies are used in the same way proxy servers, and proxy websites are, but through ones own internet connection and allowing a hole through a firewall.

VPNs, or virtual private networks, are good to use because they are easy to set up (there are many free programs) and they accomplish both goals of changing your IP address. It creates a virtual proxy server your connection runs through, and allows you to connect to whatever you need to with an open connect.