I hope this is the correct forum to post this question.

I checked my IP address recently on an internet site and wrote it down, but tonight I checked it again and noticed that it was completely different to the one I had written down earlier. Is this cause for concern? To be honest I really don't understand the significance of an IP. Maybe someone could enlighten me.

Hi Southstreet.
If you're on dial-up that is normal and is controlled by your isp. It's called a "dynamic" address.
A "Static" address is one that will never change, such as one provided by a high speed cable connection.
The first couple of paragraphs here explain what an IP Address is.

Thanx for your your reply HitSquad. I am not on dial up though. I have a broadband connection.
I'm not really that worried about it I guess, I'm just curious. I was on a different forum and a member had a pic in his signature that was of a funny little creature holding a signpost that displayed all my details including who my net server is, what version of IE I am using, what version of windows I am running and my IP addy....so I got a little anxious and PM'd him about it and he told me not to worry because I was the only one who could see it. I kinda hope that's true.

i asked on here about that sign and was assured by one of the global mods that the signs were ok i think they are made by danasoft.com and can only be seen by you.
hope that helps

Most broadband connections are dynamic as well. They lease you an ip address for a specific amount of time and then it will change. Typically a lease is 7 days long. At least that is the way it works in Canada.

My isp is cox, they also use dynamic ip addresses as well. As far as those little signs, they are not always accurate, I am always identified to the correct address provided by cox, but my main computer in my profile, always seems to be identified as windows xp -- Not.

IP leases can be as short as one hour or less. Here on my work computer I just checked and the lease is for 8 hours. On a broadband connection, it is quite common for you to get the same IP issued over and over again, but that is not always the case.

In any case, what you see is not a problem.

you get privacy if it changes so you aren't logged what you do. well you are but its safer ie. hackers. so they cant keep track of you.