How to hide my IP Address in 2023?
Your IP Address is 44.212.96.86.
| Country | Region | City | ISP |
|---|---|---|---|
 United States | Virginia | Ashburn | Amazon Data Services NoVa |
Hiding your IP address is essentially borrowing an IP address from a third-party and using it to mask your real IP address. This helps you stay anonymous online, access blocked websites, prevent web tracking, and work around IP bans. By hiding your IP address, it prevents anyone from finding your geolocation and protects your online privacy.
In a nutshell, there are 5 ways to hide your IP address.
- VPN (Paid or Free)
- Proxy
- Tor Browser
- Mobile Network
- Public WiFi
The easiest and recommended way to hide your IP address is to use a VPN. Virtual Private Network (VPN) offers a connectivity to another network and when connected, your computer receives a new IP address from a VPN provider. Every traffic from your computer routes through the VPN network, so your real IP address is never revealed to the public.
A. Paid VPN (best option)
A paid VPN service offers you unlimited data transfers often accompanied by a no-log policy. You can also freely choose an IP Address of any country (and city) of your choice to pick your geolocation.
Here are a few paid VPN providers we recommend:
For a full comparison and company reviews, please visit VPN Comparison page. You may also refer VPN Buyer's Guide.
Using a VPN to hide your IP address has the following advantages and disadvantages.
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B. Free VPN
Alternatively, you may also utilize a Free VPN service offered by many commercial providers. Using a free VPN services have similar benefits as the paid services, but your speed may be throttled or usage may be limited to web browsing only. The VPN providers offer "crippled" (i.e limiting bandwidth) free VPN services in order to convert you into a paid user. If you're a casual Internet user and don't need a full-blown VPN service, you may get around with a free VPN service.
Here are a few free VPN providers:
- Hotspot Shield: 500MB/day, May have performance issues
- Tunnel Bear: Low data limit
- Windscribe: 10GB/month, ay have performance issues
- Proton VPN: No data limit, 1 Device, 3 Locations
- Hide.me VPN: 1 Device, 3 Locations
Essentially, free VPN providers offer free services in hopes to convert you into a paid customer. Most offer limited bandwidth, and others are throttling speed or popup advertisements.
If you only need to hide your IP address while browsing the web, the easiest way to achieve this is to use a browser that supports a VPN. All major browsers support VPN as part of an extension or native application.
- Google Chrome has many browser extensions offered by VPN Providers. You may pick one and install it to pilot the VPN. Depending on the extension installed, you may be able to freely change your location by connecting to the VPN Server location of your choice.
- Firefox also has browser extensions that you can install to enable VPN connectivity. Some extensions are free while others are paid.
- Opera browser supports VPN by enabling it in Settings. However, Opera doesn't provide you an option to change your location.
There are thousands of free web proxy servers that you can use to hide your IP address and surf the web anonymously. Browsing through a proxy means that you are not accessing a website directly, but going through an intermediate "proxy" which relays the information back and forth between you and the destination website. To learn more information about proxy servers, please read What is a proxy server?
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Tor is a free software program that uses a distributed network of relays to communicate anonymously. Tor Browser is a free browser similar to Edge, Chrome and Firefox that lets you use Tor network to browse anonymously without revealing your own IP Address. You will have to download and install a version of Tor browser that is compatible with your operating system (i.e. Windows, Mac OS or Linux).
Since Tor uses a network of distributed relays, the performance of Tor Browser is much slower than the native browsers that connects directly to the Internet.
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Tor browser is available for the Windows, macOS, Linux and Android devices. On iOS devices, you may use Onion browser which is open-source Tor-powered web browser.
If you have an unlimited data plan with your smartphone, you may opt to use a mobile network to access the internet instead of your home wifi network. You may enable your "personal" hotspot on your mobile phone, and allow your devices to connect to it. By using a mobile network to access the internet, your IP address will change as you roam around the cities.
Pros and Cons:
Using your mobile network does not hide your IP address, and the IP address is tied to your smartphone until you get a new IP from your wireless provider. You're still getting your IP from your wireless provider, and it can be traced and located. However, as mobile users are diversely located it is harder to pinpoint your location than using your home wifi network.
Alternatively, you may use free Wi-Fi services offered by a coffee shop, hotel or any public places. An IP address does not travel with your computer, but they are rather assigned by the router colocated in the area you are in. To find your public IP address, try What is My IP.
Pros and Cons:
Using someone else's network does not hide your IP address. You're borrowing an IP address from your neighbor or a coffee shop. All your traffic can be traced, and vulnerable to hackers. Please read why you should avoid connecting to unsecured wifi hotspot.
How do you obtain an IP address?
When you connect to the Internet, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) assigns you an IP address. When you surf the web, view emails or download a movie from the Internet, your activity can be tracked with your IP address. An IP address can be used to locate a person (although not precisely without a warrant), and trace the Internet activity. To surf anonymously and protect your privacy, you'll need to hide your real IP address.
Why would you hide your IP address?
You may have your very own reasons for hiding your IP address, but here are a few popular reasons why people would want to hide their public IP address.
- Hide your identity from your competitors - You may be commenting on your or competitor's products on various forums, and using your IP address will reveal your identity.
- Hide your geographical location - Certain networks prevent users from a specific geographical location, and use of proxy IP address will circumbent this problem.
- Prevent Website Tracking - Every website or webpage you visited is tracked by the server hosted by the website owner. By hiding your IP address, your web visits cannot be tracked.
- Work around Internet Censorship - Some countries like China implements strict Internet Censorship for a variety of laws and regulations. By hiding your IP address and obtaining a new IP address from a different geolocation, you may bypass Internet Censorship and unblock websites such as Google, YouTube and Facebook which otherwise blocked.
Protect your identity
If you navigate on the Internet with your IP address, your privacy and sensitive information about you can be monitored. With an IP address, your location, your ISP and your privacy or security can be breached. There are full of suspicious people on the Internet, and you need to protect your identity by hiding your IP address and use someone else's instead. There are many tools available to mask your IP address (free and paid), and use 3rd-party IP addresses offered by public companies.
If you have any questions about hiding IP address, please post your question on Hide and Change IP Address Forum.
Related Articles
- What is a VPN?
- What is a Personal VPN?
- Why you should consider Using VPN to hide your Identity
- Are Free VPNs Worth Considering?
- VPN Buyer's Guide
- What is Internet Censorship?
Disclaimer: We receive compensation when a purchase is made from the referred link on this webpage. Our recommendation is based on our research and positive feedback we received from the users who've used the services.
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Author
Scott Seong is the President of Brand Media, Inc., bringing over three decades of expertise in IT. His specialized skills span web development, SEO, cybersecurity, and telecommunications. With extensive experience in software development, Linux server administration, and database management, Scott is a seasoned professional in the tech industry. He also actively contributes to the online community by sharing his knowledge through insightful blog articles on these topics.
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