Re: OT: IP address

[J R FOX jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

--- "Patricia M. Godfrey"  wrote:

> In 98 SE, if I ping my own PC, I get an IP address,
> which I assume is
> mine, no?

Not exactly. Most users have dynamic addresses
(DHCP), "loaned" to them on a "lease." The lease
terminates after, say, an hour, but can get renewed,
or you may be continuing your session on a different
IP address, doled out automatically by your provider.
I'm talking about broadband. (ALL dial-up is
transient like that, though the mechanics of it may
work out differently.) You are minus a lot of the
hacker attack risks on dialup, even without a
firewall, because it is much harder for them to find
you, vs. someone who is sitting there all the time on
the same IP.

In contrast, my broadband has always been via a
"fixed" or "static" (unchanging) IP address, because I
insisted on this early-on. Static addresses typically
cost more, and you may be told that this is because
they are a finite resource. I don't know how
literally to take that statement.

You'll have to ask someone more technical to get more
precise about all this, but I think the gist of it is correct.