In System Prefernces:Network:Advanced I am given an IP address, and when I use a third party app or website to tell me my IP address I am given a different one. Why? What is the difference?
MacBook (13-inch Late 2009), Mac OS X (10.7.4)
The IP address you find in System Preferences is the Private (LAN-side) IP address of your computer. The IP address you are getting from the third-party app or website is (most likely) the Public (WAN-side) IP address of your router.
The IP address you find in System Preferences is the Private (LAN-side) IP address of your computer. The IP address you are getting from the third-party app or website is (most likely) the Public (WAN-side) IP address of your router.
Thanks so much Tesserax! Sorry to ask more questions, can you explain the private and public IP address? The public one is the one that websites "see"? What would be the point of the private one? If it is easier you can direct me to a good information website. Thanks for your time and knowledge.
Public lP addresses are what are "seen" on the Internet. Private IP addresses are only available on your local network and are not "seen" from the Internet. Your router has a feature, called NAT, that allows more than one computer on the local network to share the Public IP address provided to you by your ISP.
Private IP addresses are in one of the following IP ranges: 1) 10.0.n.n, 2) 172.16.n.n, or 3) 192.168.n.n
For more information, I would suggest starting with this WikipediA article.
2 IP addresses?
