Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2022 May 22

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May 22

Communicating with an IP

This might be appropriate for WP:VPT. Someone posted on my talk page and was reverted. I posted on the IP's talk page but I have been keeping a record of what my IP is based on what talk page I go to if I am signed out and click on "talk" at the top of the page. I used to have one IP address but several months ago I discovered I have a different one. So far I have had at least three different IP addresses based on that, all starting with the same 16 digits. Now I'm starting to wonder if any of the many talk page messages I have posted for an IP have been seen.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 18:02, 22 May 2022 (UTC)

You may be interested in WP:64 and WP:IPHOPPER, which sort of summarise the issues. IP addresses do frequently change and there's no convenient way to address an IP range (which is what you have seen in your own addresses), so in this case I would either rely on the message you wrote to the IP, or restore the message to your talk page and hope they return. Some IP addresses remain static long enough for the IP user to notice messages on their talk page, others may be clued up enough to find the message after they've been given another IP address, but in many cases the message will not be noticed by the intended recipient. Either they will change address or someone else will get there first. However in general IP talk messages are usually worth a try, since not everyone changes address very often. If you post a message within an hour of them being active, I would (anecdotally) estimate the chances of being read around 50%. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 19:51, 22 May 2022 (UTC)

I didn't see this earlier. No, I don't post right after they do. I wait until their question on the Help Desk was archived.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 21:46, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

I have changed IP addresses since yesterday and I don't know how that happened. I selected "sleep" when I turned off the computer, which you would think wouldn't change anything, but it did.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 20:45, 22 May 2022 (UTC)

As I said, IP addresses do frequently change, often daily. It's all done automatically, and the frequency varies by network and type of system. Your change is more likely a function of time, rather than sleeping. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 21:55, 22 May 2022 (UTC)

Don't be misled by what you see on TV. (I'm not saying you have been misled, but there's a point to be made here.) On TV, people are always saying things like "Let's check the victim's IP address", as if an IP address is somehow tied to a person, like a phone number or a street address. And sometimes it is. But in other situations, a better analogy is that an IP address is like that ticket you take at the bakery or deli, where they say "Now serving #117". It's a temporary number, valid only for some relatively short and poorly-specified amount of time. —scs (talk) 12:42, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

Usually the IP address will not change while the connection is active. But, unless your provider gave you a so-called static IP address, your address is dynamic, which means it will be reassigned each time your computer rejoins the network, like after sleeping, or after the connection unexpectedly dropped.  --Lambiam 20:37, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

I had a static address for a long time. I don't know where the information about it is.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 21:44, 24 May 2022 (UTC)