There are certainly more than just a few ways of changing your IP address, but methods for hiding your IP address on the Internet are not as plentiful. These are two different things. Changing your IP address may involve shifting around a few numbers here an there in your Internet settings, changing router settings (or using a different one), changing location, and many other things. This has it's own advantages and uses of course, but learning how to hide you IP address on the Internet can provide you with a whole different type way to do cool stuff online.

One reason that a lot of people want to hide their IP address on the Internet is to do something called P2P transfer. This stands for peer to peer and is used for transferring files. Hiding your IP address may be necessary for this kind of file transfer because of the material transferred between clients. By using a proxy or more likely a virtual private network, you will be assigned a new IP address, different from your original, and it's this IP that will be used to connect to the P2P network. This can get confused with other uses of a virtual private network which can be used to create a firewall that blocked other users out of the private network of P2P sharing based on IP address. To sum it up, a new IP address assigned by a VPN can keep unwanted users out, as well as keep your activity anonymous.

Another reason to hide your IP address on the Internet follows along this idea of anonymity. With the very fast developing need for targeted advertising on the Internet, companies have begun tracking your Internet activities with a variety of methods. You may have heard of "cookies" which are placed on your computer. These can may browsing quicker and more convenient, but it also means that other computers can see where you've been on the Internet recently. Do you really want to make this information public? By hiding your IP address on the Internet, your real IP, your real data, and your real Internet activity is all masked.

Access to blocked content is another reason to hide your IP address on the Internet. We're not talking about accessing the Pentagon's secret FBI files, we're talking about watching TV and playing on Facebook. Facebook is blocked in many places, including school, work, and countries like Vietnam and China. Most of this site blocking is done through firewalls, and changing your IP is a quick way to solve this. Depending on the type of firewall, bypassing restrictions with a secure https connection, or changing the DNS settings of your computer may be possible. For more advanced firewalls, again, the virtual private network or web based proxy will be necessary.

When you hide your non-American IP and replace it with an American IP address, you'll also get access to Hulu, Netflix,and other American entertainment sites that are restricted to US IP addresses. The same goes for those trying to access British television content on BBC iPlayer, and any other country specific sites that require a local IP to access.

So to sum it up, when you hide your IP address on the Internet, you can get access to restricted material, block people from accessing your data, and stay anonymous while you surf.