What Is an IP Address? A Plain-English Guide
In one sentence: an IP address is the number that tells a network which device is yours, so the information you ask for knows where to come back to. Every page you open depends on it, and once it clicks, proxies make sense too, because a proxy's whole job is to change the IP address a website sees.
See it for yourself in three steps:
- Open our free IP checker.
- Note the address it shows. That's your public IP, the one every website sees.
- Later, with a proxy switched on, check again. This time the address will be the proxy's, not yours.
The rest of this guide explains, without jargon, how IPv4 and IPv6 differ, what separates public addresses from private ones, and what a website can and can't learn from your IP. It finishes with what a proxy changes, and what it leaves exactly as it was.
Written and kept up to date by the people who run Budget Proxies. If a step no longer matches what you see on your screen, let us know through the contact page.
What this guide walks you through
- The everyday version: a return address for your device
- IPv4 and IPv6: why there are two kinds
- Public and private: the address the world sees, and the one at home
- What a website can, and can't, tell from your IP
- What a proxy changes, and what it doesn't
The everyday version: a return address for your device
Picture the return address on the back of an envelope. When your computer asks for a web page, it writes its own IP on the request, so the website knows where to send the answer. Routers, the boxes that pass internet traffic along, read those addresses and hand the data on one hop at a time until it arrives. Take the addresses away and the network couldn't tell which of billions of devices should get each reply.
At home, your phone, laptop and TV usually share one public IP, which your internet provider (ISP) gives to your router. A proxy swaps a different return address into that journey. The website replies to the proxy, and the proxy passes the answer back to you.
IPv4 and IPv6: why there are two kinds
The internet simply ran short of numbers. The older system, IPv4, uses 32-bit addresses written as four numbers, like 203.0.113.42. That allows about 4.3 billion addresses, and they've almost all been handed out. The newer IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses written in hexadecimal (digits plus the letters a to f), like 2001:0db8:85a3::8a2e:0370:7334, which gives a practically unlimited supply. Both are in use today, side by side, and the table compares them.
| What to compare | IPv4 | IPv6 |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 32-bit | 128-bit |
| Format | Four numbers, like 203.0.113.42 | Hexadecimal, like 2001:0db8::7334 |
| How many exist | About 4.3 billion | Practically unlimited |
| Today | Nearly used up, still the most common | Used more and more |
Public and private: the address the world sees, and the one at home
Your devices actually have two kinds of address. A private IP, such as 192.168.x.x, only works inside your home network. The same numbers are reused in millions of homes, so they mean nothing to the outside world. A public IP is unique across the whole internet, and it's the one websites see. Your router links the two using NAT (network address translation), which is why the address in your computer's settings rarely matches the one an IP checker shows.
A proxy always shows the website a public IP. Whether that public IP is datacenter, residential or mobile then shapes how much the website trusts it.
What a website can, and can't, tell from your IP
People often worry that an IP address gives away who they are. It reveals less than you might fear, and a little more than you might expect:
- It can show: your rough location, often down to the town or city; your internet provider or hosting company; and the type of network you're on, which comes from a label called the ASN (autonomous system number).
- It can't show: your name or your street address, at least not from the IP alone.
That network label matters for proxies. An address belonging to a hosting company looks quite different from one on home broadband, and that's why residential and mobile IPs are trusted more than datacenter ones. What is a residential IP explains the difference.
What a proxy changes, and what it doesn't
With a proxy, your request goes through a computer in between, so the website logs the proxy's address and location, not your own. That lets you appear in a country or city you choose, which helps when you want to test how a site behaves for local visitors, check that ads display properly, or research a market. For bigger data-collection jobs, it also spreads lots of requests across many IPs.
Be clear about the limits, though. A proxy doesn't make you invisible: sign in to an account and the site knows it's you, whichever IP you arrive from. If you'd like to try one, prices begin at $2.49/GB: the pricing page lists every plan, the proxy calculator estimates a job, and you can buy now whenever it suits you.
Questions beginners ask
Not sure what to buy? Start at step 1
Here are our four types, from the lowest price per GB upwards. Try a small amount of the first one that could work for your project, and only move up a step if a quick test lets you down.
Sites without bot protection, big batches of public pages, automation and SEO tools
Protected sites, ad checks, market research and seeing what one place really sees
Apps and platforms built for phones, plus testing your own mobile app
Well-guarded sites, where a better success rate is worth the higher price
Small first order? Datacenter from $2.49/GB · billed on the data you actually move · ready straight away · 30 days to use it · no traffic logs.
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Read the guide →Got a particular job in mind?
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