When your ISP assigns you a public IP address, you’ll either get a static or a dynamic address.

Static public IP addresses

A static public IP address means that your IP address will always remain the same. That’s unless you switch ISP, or you relocate.

Static IP addresses make connecting remotely to your computer or other home equipment easier, because your IP address never changes.

However, static IP addresses do pose some security risks. Since the IP address never changes, it’s easier for hackers to locate the relevant DNS server. If you’re interested, you can use our other tool to check your DNS server.

For residential connections, most ISPs assign dynamic public IP addresses. This means your IP address will change over time – typically when your router reconnects to the ISP after a reboot or network outage.

Dynamic public IP addresses

Dynamic IP addresses are assigned by Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) servers and change over time. Your IP address can change a few times a year, or several times a month.

ISPs are increasingly assigning dynamic IP addresses because they cost less to maintain. They can be frequently re-used and re-assigned to devices connecting to the internet. As opposed to having each customer always using the same static IP address.

In practice, having a dynamic IP address doesn’t change the way you use the internet. However, dynamic IP addresses make remotely accessing computers, equipment or web resources more difficult.

For instance, to connect to your PC or Webcam remotely, you need to know your IP address. That can become a problem if your IP address changes regularly.

You have two options to fix remote access issues caused by frequently changing IP addresses:

Ask your internet service provider for a static IP address.
Purchase a dedicated IP address from a trusted proxy or VPN service. We recommend using CyberGhost’s dedicated IP address solution.

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