What is IPv4 Address? Detailed Guide for You
What is IPv4 address? How to check my IPv4 address? Detailed guide about IPv4 address and how IPv4 works in the network.
What is IPv4 address? To understand IPv4 address, we first need to understand what is IP? The IP protocol is one of the most important communication protocols in the Internet Protocol Group (IPS), which is mainly used for the addressing and routing of packets of network devices such as computers, individual networks, or a series of interconnected networks, and is responsible for forwarding them from one network to another.
IP address are Internet protocols that are used to scale the Internet and make it possible for heterogeneous networks to connect. In layman's terms, IP is similar to a personal address in the real world, every time we surf the Internet, our device will be assigned an IP address, in the network world, everyone can identify and connect with each other through IP address. When browsing the web, we often see IPv4 address and IPv6 address, what are these two IP addresses, and what is the difference? Read on for an article on what is IPv4 address is and how to check and change it on your device.
What is IPv4 address?
IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4) protocol family is the core protocol family in the TCP/IP protocol family. It works at the network layer of the TCP/IP protocol stack, which corresponds to the network layer of the OSI reference model.
The network layer provides connectionless data transmission services, that is, the network does not need to establish a connection first when sending packets, and each packet (that is, IP data packets) is sent independently, regardless of the packets before and after. An IP address is a set of numbers used to uniquely identify a device in a computer network. IPv4 address consist of 32-bit binary numeric values, but for easy user identification and memory, a "dotted decimal notation" is used. IP address in this notation are represented by 4 dotted decimal integers, one byte per decimal integer.
IPv4 address format:
Network Number Field (Net-id): The Network Number field of an IP address is used to identify a network, and the first few digits of the Network Number field are used to distinguish the type of IP address.
Host number field (Host-id): The host number field is used to distinguish between different hosts within a network. Devices with the same network number are on the same network, regardless of their physical location.
Features of IPv4 address:
Huge number - IPv4 uses 32-bit (4-byte) address and can store about 4.3 billion addresses, which is better able to meet the needs of the Internet than the earlier Internet protocols.
Security - An IPv4 address is a non-hierarchical address structure, an IPv4 address does not reflect any geographic information about the location of the host, and can only determine which network the host belongs to through the network number field. When a host is connected to two networks at the same time, the host must have two corresponding IP addresses, and if the VPN product uses IPv4 address, then your real address is difficult to find.
Universal use - IPv4 does not distinguish between network end hosts and end devices, and each computer can act as a host and router. Routing protocols manage routing table records, and commonly used routing protocols include routing information protocol, open shortest path protocol, border gateway protocol, and so on.
IPv4 was the first widely deployed IP protocol, storing approximately 4.3 billion addresses, but as more users connected to the Internet, the global IPv4 address was exhausted in November 2019. So, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IEIF) proposed IPv6.
What is IPv6? IPv6 is the next generation protocol of IPv4, which not only solves the problem of lack of network address resources, but also solves the obstacles of a variety of access devices to access the Internet. However, the introduction of IPv6 address does not mean that IPv4 addresses will be eliminated, and IPv4 and IPv6 address will promote a safer and faster network world in the Internet era.
How to check my IPv4 address? (PC and Mobile)
After understanding the meaning of IPv4 address and their composition, you may be curious, what will the IPv4 address of your mobile phones and computers look like? This part will show you in detail how to check your IPv4 address on your Windows and mobile phones.
How to check my IPv4 address on Windows?
- Step1: Open Settings on your Windows and click Network & Internet on the right
- Step2: Select the Status option in the list on the left and click View your Network Properties on the Status page to view it
- Step3: Finally, in the View your Network Properties interface, you can see the IPv4 address of your device
How to check my IPV4 address on mobile?
- Step1: Open your phone Settings and select the Mobile Data option
- Step2: Click on the Mobile Data interface to enter the Access Point Name (APNs) interface
Step3: Find the APN protocol on the access point name interface, set it to IPv4 address to save and exit, then you will get an IPV4 address when mobile phone traffic is online
How to change IP address on your device?
How to change IP address to another location? Now we know how IPv4 is viewed and how it works, but how can we change IP address so that we can browse all the websites in the world without geographical restrictions? Let's take Android as an example to introduce two ways to change IP address.
Way1: Change IP address on android manually
-
- Go to your Android Settings
-
- Select Wireless & Networks
-
- Click on your Wi-Fi
-
- Click Modify Network
-
- Select Advanced Options
-
- Change the IP address
Way2: Change IP address with free VPN (Sonics VPN)
-
Step 1. Download VPN for Android from the website of Sonics
-
Step 2. Choose the server you want to connect in the server list and use it to change IP address on your Android.
Compared to the two methods, it is obviously easier and faster to change the IP address with a free VPN, you only need to download an app, you can choose any website you want to visit without worrying about geo-blocks or slow network speeds, and Sonics VPN also uses IPv4 address to provide users with faster and more secure Internet services.
Also read: How to change IP address without VPN >
Conclusion
What is an IPv4 address? How do I check my IPv4 address? With the expansion of the integration of the Internet world, IP address as an important proof of personal network identity is also developing rapidly, although the storage space of IPv4 addresses has been exhausted, IPv6 is further developing, but the two are complementary to each other, making the Internet world vaster and closely linked. If you want to keep your internet safe, you can change your IP address by using a VPN, you can try it, it's the easiest and most cost-effective method.
Access to the Internet
- Breakthrough the speed limit on network connection
- Private and safe online surfing
- Global streaming, gaming, downloading, social networks services
