WhatIP Blog

Guides to IP addresses, DNS and online privacy

Plain-language explainers on the network data behind every connection -- written to help you understand your results on WhatIP, not just to rank.

IP Guides

Quick answer: Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) is the company that assigns your connection its public IP address, which is why an…

September 16, 2026 1 min read

IP Guides

Quick answer: IPv4 only allows about 4.3 billion unique addresses, and that supply was effectively used up years ago as the number…

September 16, 2026 1 min read

Network

Quick answer: Run your address through Blacklist Check to see whether reputation lists currently flag it, then review the listed reason before…

September 16, 2026 1 min read

IP Guides

Quick answer: A static IP address stays the same every time you connect; a dynamic IP address is reassigned periodically by your…

September 16, 2026 1 min read

DNS

Quick answer: DNS (Domain Name System) is the internet's directory service -- it translates a name you type, like example.com, into the…

September 16, 2026 1 min read

Privacy

Quick answer: A VPN usually routes your traffic through a VPN server, a proxy commonly relays traffic for a particular application or…

September 16, 2026 1 min read

Network

Quick answer: A blacklist listing means a reputation service has associated an IP or range with traffic it considers abusive, suspicious or…

September 16, 2026 1 min read

Network

Quick answer: An ASN identifies an autonomous system, a network under one administrative routing policy. ASNs are a key part of how…

September 16, 2026 1 min read

DNS

Quick answer: Reverse DNS uses a PTR record to map an IP address to a hostname, if one has been published.Forward vs…

September 16, 2026 1 min read

DNS

Quick answer: A records map a hostname to an IPv4 address, AAAA records map it to IPv6, and CNAME records create an…

September 16, 2026 1 min read

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