Changing your IP address is not something many people even think about. However, there can be benefits to changing your IP address in some cases.
Luckily, there are a few different ways to do this; however, some of them are quite complex and technical. So, you may be wondering what is the easiest way to change your IP address and why would you want to?
In this article, we’ll be looking at what an IP address is and why you may want to change it. We’ll also cover one simple way to change your IP address: using an IPv4 proxy from a reliable provider like Smartproxy.
Keep reading to discover more about changing IPs and a sure-fire way to do this.
Read Also: Avoid Free VPNs to Stay Safe on the Internet
What Is an IP Address?
An IP address, or internet protocol address, is a range of numbers used to label a computer network that communicates with the internet. An IP address serves two main functions. The first is identifying the network interface, and the second is location addressing.
Each device that uses the internet, whether it’s your smartphone, smart television, or even your smart fridge, has an IP address that is used to identify that network. An IP address is required to send and receive information over the internet.
The most used IP addresses are IPv4, which stands for IP version 4. Although there is also IPv6, this one is used and accepted much less frequently than IPv4 at this stage. As such, whenever you’re looking to change your IP, make sure you choose IPv4.
Why Do You Want to Change Your IP Address?
There are a few different reasons people might want to change their IP address.
The first is to hide your location. ISPs often provide IP addresses, and as such, they have access to your precise location and address. While other websites might not have the same access, they can still track your IP address and discover some of your details, including your general location, often accurate up to a few metres.
Another reason users might want to change their IPs is to access geo-restricted content. Different countries restrict certain content. For example, Netflix in America might show vastly different programs than Netflix in the UK. As such, you might want to change your IP address to make it appear that you’re in another country so that you can access their content without restrictions.
Another important reason users may need to hide their IPs is to use specialised web scraping tools for market research. These tools automate the process of collecting data from many different websites quickly. However, if websites notice the same IP address scraping their data, they might ban that address, which means you have less reliable information. By changing your IP address, you can avoid getting banned.
The same above reason also applies to those managing multiple social media accounts. Since social media platforms restrict the number of accounts created by a single IP address, you may need to change it to create and manage multiple (more than four) accounts without facing an IP ban.
What Is a Proxy?
A proxy is a server that acts as the middleman between the user and the internet. Any requests the user makes will first go to the proxy and then to the internet before returning the results. Proxies are the most reliable way for users to protect their privacy online as they hide your IP address and replace it with one from their pool.
There are many different proxies, with a few specialised for certain functions. However, all of them have a common element: they hide your IP address.
The two main types of proxies are residential proxies and datacenter proxies. The most notable difference between them is that residential proxies replace your IP address with one from a real device. This means they are usually more expensive but look like real users when accessing the internet.
How Can an IPv4 Proxy Help You Change Your IP Address?
An IPv4 proxy is a specialised rotating residential proxy that provides users with a vast pool of IPv4 addresses. With this proxy, each request you make uses a different IPv4 address from the pool, and since they are also residential in nature, these IPs all look like real users as they are linked to actual devices.
An IPv4 proxy is an ideal solution if you want to hide your location and change your IP address without worrying about frequently making changes manually.
Final Thoughts
Hiding your IP address can be useful for many reasons. It can be to avoid being tracked, access geo-restricted content, or even conduct better market research using scraping tools.
Regardless of your reason, it can be difficult and technical to change your IP address manually. As such, an IPv4 proxy is a great solution to change your IP address with each new request automatically.
