How to change your IP Address

Reasons for wanting to change IP address range from simple privacy concerns, to gaining marketing intelligence, to evading marketing attempts, and so on. If you've found your way to this page, you most likely already have your own reasons. One warning and limitation however: doing anything illegal on the Internet is illegal whether you're changing your IP or not. Legal authorities have a variety of resources that render most "evasion" attempts rather futile. So the information found on this page assumes that your motives are purely legitimate, and it comes with no guarantee of untraceable anonymity.

With that said, there are variety of methods that can be used to change your IP address, both free and fee-based. These methods range from obvious to sophisticated.

Always keep in mind that your IP is just one way that websites, marketers, and others can track your online movements. Another is by use of "cookies" - so be sure to always clear your browser cookies before and after making any modifications to your IP. And if you have any suspicion that there might be adware, spyware, or any type of "malware" on your computer, make it a priority to do a complete scan ASAP. All attempts to shake off trackers will be useless if there is an "internal" tracking device already installed on your computer.

• If you're using a dialup connection, then simply redialing, or dialing up through another number, will usually change your IP address. Likewise, subscribing to a dialup service will give you access to numerous IP's. And if you have a nationwide calling plan, that makes it easy to relocate your IP anywhere in your country.
   
• Taking your laptop to an Internet cafe will also change your IP address (assuming they offer free wifi).
   
• Here in the United States, just about all public libraries offer free Internet access, including desktop computers. More anonymity may be gained by taking your laptop in, so that you don't have to show your library card to get on a computer.
   
• Many homes (and some offices) leave their wifi connections open (not password protected) for public use. Connecting will allow you to surf with their IP address.

If you're on a cable, DSL, or other broadband connection using Windows, then you may be able to "reset" your modem in a manner that will cause your ISP to issue a new IP to you. After reading the warnings below, just check out these tutorials for Windows XP and Windows Vista / Windows 7.

• WARNING: Your ISP may have a policy against frequent re-issuing of IP address. Therefore, if you use this method at all, then that use should be very limited. Otherwise, you might find your Internet service to be cut off, or your bill to contain surcharges.
   
• LIMITATIONS: While this method will change your IP address, it will not change your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or the apparent location of your IP address. Therefore, if you're trying to surf "anonymously", you've not put on much of a disguise.

A proxy is a special type of server (software) that relays Internet traffic between you and the websites that you visit. If the proxy is configured to be "anonymous", then any personally identifying information is stripped from your web requests, and the destination website only sees the IP address of the proxy. After reading the warnings and drawbacks below, you can learn how to use a proxy with Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari.

• WARNING: It's almost impossible to know who is operating free proxy servers, and what their motives might be. Although the Internet is full of "free" stuff, setting up a publicly accessible proxy server is an easy way for fraudsters to intercept your personal information, especially since many are configured to work with SSL. Therefore, using free resources is only adviseable if you're simply surfing webpages, and not entering any personal data (such as passwords, logins, or financial information).
   
• DRAWBACKS: First and foremost is the warning mentioned above -- most public (free) proxies are not going to work with ssl (https://) pages, and therefore their practicality is limited. A second major drawback is that public proxies are difficult to find and very unstable. You might have to test 10+ proxies before finding one that works, and then that one may only be accessible for a couple minutes.

There are various companies that make their proxy servers available on a fee-basis. One example is our service, iPrivacyTools. Some of these services, like ours, include software that make configuration very easy and fast. Others simply provide the server coordinates, which you would then configure as described above in the previous section.

• ADVANTAGES: Most fee-based proxy services will work with SSL, so you can be confident that your usernames/passwords, financial data, and other personal information entered on secure (https://) pages will remain secret. Also, paid services are typically going to be a lot faster and more reliable, which translates into big time savings.
   
• DRAWBACKS: Costs $$$

Connecting through a VPN (Virtual Private Network) will also change your IP address (to that of the VPN server). VPN's may be configured on just about any server, including your office server or perhaps a virtual server. For a small fee, we (iPrivacyTools) can configure a VPN for you anywhere in the world. If you don't already have a server, we can help you rent one, usually for about $10/mo. Unlike a shared VPN, this kind of setup gives you a completely private IP address and dedicated server resources (not sharing bandwidth with any other users). If you're interested, please contact us, and mention "VPN setup".

• ADVANTAGES: VPN's can be configured to encrypt the connection between your computer and the relay server. Therefore, in addition to changing your IP, they also privatize that side of all communications (e.g. wireless data if you're at an Internet cafe). Also, VPN's typically change the IP address of all applications on your computer, whereas proxies only affect the applications that are configured to use them.
   
• DRAWBACKS: Costs money, usually a little more than proxies due to higher average bandwidth consumption.

Regardless of which method you're using to change your IP, always:

1- Clear your browser cookies before AND after making the change.
2- Verify that your IP has changed by going to a page like iPrivacyTools.com/my-ip-address/

Congratulations on a successful change of IP address!

If you have any questions about the information above, feel free to contact us using the link below.