IPs - what's that all about?

[jonogulls]

I thought that everytime you connected, unless you were on a proxy server, you had a different IP address. Now people are saying they can tell who someone is just from the IP address.

How does this work?

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

zat ees a secret of ze nazi mods.

 

[jonogulls]

zat ees a secret of ze nazi mods.

Ah, I get it, especially now you've replaced the 'th' prefix with 'z'.

 

[Lammy]

An IP address is like a computer's phone number. i.e. you can tell where a call is coming from but you cannot tell who is phoning.

 

[Bozza]

If you use a standard dial-up to access the web, the chances are your IP address will be different most times, but from a certain set.

If you are a broadband user your IP address will remain constant, as it is likely to if you connect from a workplace.

Sometimes it is not possible to identify that two users are the same, although there can be an indication that is the case.

Other times, when only two users have posted from a single IP address then, along with some other information, it is possible to say with a degree of certainty that they are the same person.

 

[Wardy]

Not all broadband users keep the same IP address, having said that even though I do not have a static address, it as only changed once or twice in the last year or so.

 

[nail-Z]

Other times, when only two users have posted from a single IP address then, along with some other information, it is possible to say with a degree of certainty that they are the same person.

Does that make us one and the same during office hours?

 

[Bozza]

Does that make us one and the same during office hours?

It would do if it were not for "WfH"...