I've heard internet companies using this as a selling point. I'm looking at getting a new ISP for my business and don't know what advantage there is in having a static IP. I think that I know what a static IP is - can anyone tell me why I should want a static one? Thanks.
I thought all broadband IP's were "static", that's why you need firewalls and stuff. They don't change each time you get online, unlike dial-up which is a new IP every time you get dial up. That must not be what they mean by static, because I would think every broadband IP is static.
I talked about static IPs in the politics forum about a week ago. Basically you are right that companies use it as a selling point. You basically don't need one unless you are going to host your own website on a server. Servers need static IPs, but that's pretty much the main reason for needing one. Otherwise, just stick with the cheap dynamic IPs and you won't notice any difference.
Dynamic IPs are generated once every few hours typically, sometimes days. The reason for them is because there are more internet devices (modems) than there are IP addresses using the current format. So if everyone had a static IP, there wouldn't be enough of them to go around. Therefore dynamic IPs were created and are assigned to computers when they access the internet. They typically last for a little while, and when it expires, your modem requests a new IP and is granted a different one.
On the other hand, static IPs are permanently assigned numbers that are useful for servers because you can assign DNS names (names like, yahoo.com or espn.com) on static IPs only. Yahoo actually has a static IP you can access their site through: http://216.109.117.109
So if you're not hosting a server, stick with the dynamic IPs, because they are usually a LOT less expensive.
OK, I guess I really don't have a clue what I'm talking about. So is my IP not really the same everytime I get online with broadband? I thought the IP they gave me during setup was the IP for my computer? Or is that just their static IP that I'm accessing everytime? Because I the one listed in my connection properties doesn't change, or at least I don't think it does.
SaintsOfTheDiamond wrote:OK, I guess I really don't have a clue what I'm talking about. So is my IP not really the same everytime I get online with broadband? I thought the IP they gave me during setup was the IP for my computer? Or is that just their static IP that I'm accessing everytime? Because I the one listed in my connection properties doesn't change, or at least I don't think it does.
A few companies ISPs use static IPs....but not very many unless you want to pay an extra $50 per month. If you set up your connection properties to always use the same IP address, then chances are you are either behind a router (either wireless or ethernet) or you actually have a static IP. Like I said though, they really don't have an advantage unless you want to host a server...not that I know of anyways.
I am not an absolute computer expert, so if there's something I'm missing then I would love to hear it. I'm sure there are people who know more than me about computers around here.
I'm not paying enough to have a static IP I don't think, but I don't have a network at home either. I really don't know why I keep asking all these questions.
SaintsOfTheDiamond wrote:I'm not paying enough to have a static IP I don't think, but I don't have a network at home either. I really don't know why I keep asking all these questions.
Have you had the same ISP for a while? They used to give out static IPs frequently for a cheap price....but then they realized with the growing number of computer users that we would run out of them. That's when Dyanamic IPs became popular. Maybe you started your service a while ago and you still have access to a static one.
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So is my IP not really the same everytime I get online with broadband? I thought the IP they gave me during setup was the IP for my computer? Or is that just their static IP that I'm accessing everytime? 
