How to hide my IP so as not to be tracked while browsing the Internet? step by step guide

In order to maintain our privacy when we browse the Internet, it is necessary to take certain precautions to be completely safe that our data will not be in the wrong hands.

One of the ways we have to strengthen our computer security is to use tools that can hide the IP address with which we access the Internet. In this way we will avoid that different search engines can track us and turn us into hacking targets.

We will introduce you in this post, all the necessary information so you can browse the web safely. We will also show what are the methods that exist to hide an IP and what are the best tools to get a stronghold on our WiFi.

Why is it important to keep my IP hidden on the Internet?

The IP address is made up of eight binary numbers which is divided into sections, one for the network and the other part is addressed to the host, each one contains 8 bits in their subdivisions. As we will see later, this address public is granted by our Internet service operator.

This class addressing scheme is used to identify a device browsing the Internet. That is, every time we enter a website, the server of that page immediately knows our IP number.

It is necessary to keep our IP secure when we browse the Internet mainly for the following reasons:

When entering a page, we can immediately be tracked online through different search engines and they may give that information to third parties so that they offer us intrusive advertisements. Also, our ISP knows in detail what our activities arecausing our privacy to be violated.

When they know our IP, they can also know where we have accessed the Internet from, so it is also dangerous for our physical security and not just cyber.

If we enter from places that have restricted IPsuch as our workplace or educational establishment, we can hide our address and in this way we would avoid all filters presented by these organizations.

A good advantage of hiding our IP is when we access open WiFi wireless networks where members know our IP. This way they would also have access to all our information.

if we need avoid the geolocation of our computer, we can hide the IP address and in this way we will be able to access different sites that are restricted by our geographical location.

A no less important point is when there are political-governmental restrictions in certain countries where certain Internet sites cannot be accessed, so that if we manage to hide the IP we can access them without any problems.

What methods exist to hide my Internet Protocol addresses?

There are different methods to hide IP addresses, which are divided into public IP and private IP. Those of the first group are granted by our operator Internet and periodically change their number, so we call a “Dynamic Public IP”.

While Internet Protocol addresses private are those granted directly by our router being also dynamic. Fixed IPs can be obtained for both classifications, but for the moment we will not talk about this division.

The methods that exist for each of them are:

For private IP

When a device belongs to a private network, through a router, a private IP is assigned to it, as well as to the rest of the participants of this network. Each identification number is made up of 8 digits that change as we connect.

These addresses serve to identify the team and grant them specific benefits with respect to the others. This is very common in companies where not all members can access the Internet.

To get a fixed IP instead of a dynamic one, we simply have to access the router configuration and make the necessary changes so that one or more devices always have the same IP number assigned, obtaining important advantages.

If we want to hide our private IP, we will have to use a VPN network tunnel.

For public IP

The public IP, as we said in previous paragraphs, is granted directly by our ISP. Which is changing the number every time we enter the Internet.

If we needed to have a fixed numberit will depend on the Internet service provider to grant us this advantage, generally we will have to pay around 20 € monthly for this service.

To hide this IP we can do it through:

• proxy server: Which will serve as an intermediary between the router and the Internet servers. Every time we browse, we will connect to this server and in turn it will connect to the Internet. In this way the Internet services will not know our IP.
• VPN network: When we create this class of tools, we connect virtually through a tunnel with VPN servers, so every time we access the Internet we do it from the VPNs as if we were geographically in the area. This way we also hide our address.
• We could name a derivation of a VPN network: The extensions that we can add to the browser, these work in a very simple way and with a few steps we can add them, but in reality they are strictly virtual private networks.
• Use Tor Browser: With this tool we will also hide the IP address, since it has different encryption layers that will make our data safe.

Steps to change your private IP for a fixed one that you can constantly change

The steps we will need to change a dynamic private IP into a fixed one are the following:

• We click on Windows.
• We wrote “Control Panel”.
• We choose the first application that appears.
• We select “Network and Internet”which is the second alternative on the list.
• We headed to the first option called “Center network and sharing”.
• A report will appear with all the active networks, we click on the name of our WiFi network located on the right side of this option.
• A window will open for us and we will go to “Properties”.
• We select the option “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)”.
• in the tab “General” we select “Use the following IP address”.
• We write the IP address, also the subnet mask and the default gateway.
• We click on “To accept”.
• Again we select “To accept”.
• We choose the option “To close”.

To verify that we have correctly used the steps for the configuration we can use the command “cmd” to enter the command line and type “ipconfig”.

How to change your public IP and browse with greater online privacy?

To change our public IP we can carry out the instructions that we will tell you below according to each of the tools:

with VPN

In order to change the public IP with a private virtual network we will need to download “ExpressVPN” and follow this guide for each OS.

For a Windows operating system, using the L2TP protocol:

• We go to the website of the service provider and enter our data.
• We select “Set Up ExpressVPN”.
• Next, we write the verification code with which we have purchased the membership.
• We’re going to “manual configuration”.
• We select “PPTP & L2TPUPsec”.
• We retype our username and password.
• We turn at this time to the Windows taskbar.
• We select if we are connected by Ethernet cable or WiFi.
• We click on “Network settings”.
• We select “VPN”.
• Next, we click on “Add a VPN connection”.
• We add the VPN provider, which in this case will be Windows.
• We write the name of the connection “ExpressVPN”.
• We choose the username and password if we want to connect automatically.
• We click on “Save”.

To connect, we go to the taskbar and select the Internet connection icon, a window will immediately appear with the server’s VPN and in this way we will already be inside the virtual network.

If we want to exit the VPN, we will simply have to follow the opposite steps, click on the icon and select “Disconnect”.

Download ExpressVPN Windows

If our computer has MacOS, the steps are similar.

For a mobile device with Android OS we follow these instructions:

• We go to the official site of this virtual network and select “Set Up ExpressVPN”.
• We enter the Google Play Store and select “Discharge”.
• Once we have downloaded the application and we will have written our username and password, we grant the necessary permissions so that the application can work.
• We click on “Okay” and in this way we will already be connected.
• To leave the virtual private network we only select “OFF”.
• If our mobile has a iOS operating system the steps are similar for those we have mentioned in the Android operating system, we will only change the download store.

Download ExpressVPN macOS

With Proxies

We will follow these instructions to change the public IP and navigate with privacy:

• We open the configuration panel in Windows.
• we click “proxies”.
• In the window that will appear, activate the option “Use proxy server”.
• We write the address and the port.
• We can filter and write those addresses that start with a certain entry, for this we will write in the box the URL’s separated from “;”.
• We click on “To accept”.
• Again we select “To accept”.

When our operating system is MacOS we will do these instructions:

• We’re going to “System Preference”.
• We select “Net”.
• We click on “Advanced”.
• We look for the tab “proxies”.
• Click on the alternative “Web proxy (HTTP)”.
• We write the address we want to configure and the port.
• We click on “To accept”.
• We select “Apply”.

For our mobile with Android operating system we will have to configure in this way:

• We select “Settings”.
• We choose the option “Wifi”.
• We look for the WiFi network to which we connect.
• We keep pressed on the name of the network and click on “Modify networks configuration”.
• We click on “Advanced configuration options”.
• We look for the option “proxies”.
• We click on “Manual”.
• We write the proxy host and also the port.
• click on “Save”.

With Tor Browser

We follow these instructions:

• We enter the Tor browser
• We visited “HideMy.name”.
• We can directly choose the country and the speed, but it is recommended to go to the right side of this page where we will put the types of Proxy, we recommend enabling HTTP and HTTPS. In this way we will obtain more data.
• We click on “To show”.
• If at this time we choose the level of anonymity, we recommend using “Tall”.
• At this moment a list will appear with the IP addresses, the port number, the country and the speed it has. For this occasion we will choose the ones that are green and have higher speed.
• We select the IP address.
• We headed to the “Onion”.
• We click on “Tor Network settings”.
• We activate the alternative “I use a proxy to connect to the Internet”.
• We select in “Proxy type HTTP/HTTPS”.
• We paste the IP address and write a username and password.
• We select “Okay”.

List of the best tools to hide your Internet Protocol address

We will show you below the best tools we can find to hide our public IP address. They are:

CyberGhostVPN.com

This VPN is available for Android, Windows, iOS and also for Mac computers. It has 45 days to return the money if it did not meet our expectations, its servers are in different countries and it has more than 6000 IP addresses.

Its speed and stability is one of the best out there and it has strong encryption standards. The practicality with which it is used is a point in favor that is highly highlighted by users.

Hotspot Shield

Like the previous VPN network, it also has the possibility of being installed on the same operating systems mentioned. Their servers are located in more than 70 countries and it has a good ability to unlock restricted content.

Thanks to this tool we can avoid the geolocation of our devices so we can access different websites such as Netflix and KODI, among others.

Download Hotspot Shield Windows

Overplay

With this SmartDNS proxy server we can use it to access different sites that are restricted for political reasons or geographical location. Its installation is very simple and thanks to it we can visit platforms like Hulu or RTVE.

It gives us a very broad protection of our security, offering us quite important stability as well as ease of use. It is available for operating systems Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.

ZenMateVPN

With this extension available for our Chrome browser we can have our security completely strengthened, since with very few steps we can browse any website incognito.

When we activate this extension, we will be able to avoid the tracking of different search engines as well as our ISP. It is ideal for accessing WiFi networks where we will prevent third parties from knowing our identity.

SetupVPN – Lifetime Free VPN

Another good browser extension is this tool with which we will be able to navigate without having geographical or governmental restrictions. In addition, online privacy will be taken care of so our data will not be delivered to third parties for advertising purposes.

Its use is very simple and the number of encryption standards is very good and strong. Its availability also allows installation on Android operating systems.

It is completely free and its installation can be done in just a few steps.