How to Check Your IP

So you need to check your IP address, for whatever reason. Maybe you're playing an online game with a friend, or you need to access your PC remotely. Whatever the reason, there are a number of different ways you can check your IP address.

One of the easiest ways is to run an "ipconfig" command in dos prompt. You can access a DOS prompt from windows by hitting start, then run, and typing cmd in the run box. A MS-DOS dialog box will appear. Try typing "ipconfig" in this window.

This will come back with the IP of your computer. However, if you are running a home network or an office network, this will only give you your local IP. This is the IP that has been assigned to you by your router or hub. If you want to check your external IP (which is the one used to connect to your computer or local network) then you need to access your router settings, usually accessed by typing 192.168.1.1 into your browser (or whatever local IP your router has been assigned. Usually, 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.0 will be your default gateway IP. "Default gateway IP" meaning your router, as your router is used as your gateway for accessing the Internet).

After you've brought up your router information page (and logged in, which is sometimes required), look for a status page, and your "WAN IP." This IP is the IP assigned to your router as your external IP for your incoming traffic.

Now, should you need to check your external IP and you can't access your router, you could use an IP checker on the Internet. A simple Google or Yahoo search for "IP checker" will give you a list of sites that use an easy script to tell you your IP. There is also certain programs in Windows that will give you this result. Try looking around.

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