What is IP address?

In plain English

An IP address is the unique "house number" your device is given so information can find its way to and from it on the internet. Just as the postman needs your address to deliver a letter to the right door, the internet needs an IP address to know which device to send a web page, email or video to.

Every device you own — your Windows laptop, your Android phone, your printer, even your smart TV — gets one when it joins a network. Most home addresses are handed out automatically by your router and change from time to time, so there's usually nothing for you to set up or remember. The numbers simply look something like 192.168.1.4 (inside your home) or a longer public one your broadband provider gives the whole household.

Why it matters

You'll bump into the term more often than you'd think. A website might "block your IP" if it thinks there's odd activity, a streaming service uses it to tell which country you're in, and scam emails sometimes try to frighten you by claiming they "have your IP address" (on its own, that's not something to lose sleep over). For a small business, your office may have a fixed public IP so staff can connect in securely from home, or so a supplier can let your office through their firewall — and if that ever stops working, it's usually an IP or router issue behind it.

What to do

• You don't need to memorise it. Your router hands out home IP addresses automatically — for most people there's nothing to configure.
• Ignore "we have your IP address" threats. This is a common scare tactic in scam emails. An IP address alone can't get into your accounts. If in doubt, don't click or reply — check it with someone you trust.
• If a device "can't get online," restarting it and your router usually gets it a fresh IP address and fixes the most common glitches.
• Keep your router secure. A strong Wi-Fi password and up-to-date router are what really protect the devices behind your IP address.

How 365 Techies can help

If a device won't get online or your office needs devices connecting in securely, we'll sort the router and network settings for you — patiently and in plain English, no jargon.

Related: Router · Modem · Firewall · Bandwidth — or browse the full A–Z jargon buster.