Hi, I have a question about ip address that has been bugging me for a while now. I will try to explain to the best of my ability with out confusion you. Right, I have a router and it gives out an ip address to each computer that access the internet 10.0.0.x I have seen them website that display what version of windows you are using on a little notice board, I know that is a trick and only you can see it. So does this mean when people try to get your real IP address they only get the one generated by the router 10.0.0.x? If the above is true, I take it website like www.whatismyip.com that display your real IP address are only visible by your self, and not other users of the internet. Thanks for your input, Matt

Almost all web sites capture your real IP address and that is the one your ISP, Cable or DSL provider gives to you but this is why you use a firewall. I could give you my real IP address but if you attempted to ping it you would not get a responce. So if someone is running a port sniffing program and it comes across my IP the sniffer will see that nobody is home and the person running the scan will not even bother with me. If you are not running any type of hardware or software firewall and you are on DSL or Cable you are asking for trouble. Over 30% of all spam comes from avg. joe computer user who has no clue his computer is being used as a spam relay. So, use a firewall and don't worry about who captures your real IP address. KTTD

Thanks Kevin for your fast reply, I do indeed have a hardware firewall and I use Norton Personal Firewall as my software firewall. I have one more question to ask, there is this guy who I was auguring with and he was going on about hacking into my computer by using something called ‘backdoor client registry 4.02’ he was also going on about him having a 128 meg encryption ip address so I would not know where stop the attacks from. Quote from him ‘ur little crappy firewalls wont do nowt part from waste 5 mins’ Is this even possible? As he got me thinking, plus I don’t want some moron gaining access to my computer and screwing me over. Thanks, Matt

‘ur little crappy firewalls wont do nowt part from waste 5 mins’ You hit the nail on the head when you used the word moron. You just came across someone talking out of there ass and trying to be mister big. I would love to meet this person to make them feel small and very uneducated. I have been around people such as said person and I just walk away most of the time shaking my head because they are complete idiots. KTTD

I would have thought the line about his 128 meg encryption ip address was what gave this guy away as a moron ;) Matt, like Kevin says, you don't have anything to worry about. When you visit a website, the web server knows your IP address because it needs to know where to send the webpage to. The same is true for just about everything you do on the Internet. Despite what you may have heard (even from your moron hacker buddy) this isn't really a problem. Think of your IP address as being like your home address. People can get your home address just by driving by your house and reading it off the mailbox. This doesn't put you at any greater risk of being robbed. And painting over the address on your mailbox (analagous to hiding your IP address) would do little to deter someone with the desire and ability to break into your house. The best thing you can do is invest in a good lock - or firewill.

hehe thanks guys for your advice, I watch to many films. Fault it might be true. I think I have a pretty good firewall at the moment my SpeadTouch 510v4 hardware firewall, and if that fails im sure my trusty Norton’s firewall should keep me safe. Thanks lads, Matt

FIREWALL ???? my IP address changes all the time. I don't even know my real address aside from the mac address. relax--don't do wrong and you have nothing to worry about = Carmine =