"What Is My IP" is an IP Notifier or IP Change Notifier; a service that
notifies you when your public IP address changes.
If you do not own a public IP address, then your internet provider assigns you one via DHCP, (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol).
Click this link to download What is My IP today.
Many small businesses, companies that employ fewer than 50 people, do not purchase a static IP address for a variety of reasons.
Notwithstanding the reason to not have a static IP, the company might rely on VPN (Virtual Private Network) or use SSH (Secure Shell) as a means to access the corporate network. Perhaps someone needs to work from home, or two satellite offices need to be linked to the main office. To access your network from the internet, you need to know your router’s public address.
Sometimes we need to know our public IP address if we want to access our home network from someplace that is not home.
People who set up VPN routers in the home so they can access their home network while traveling, or gamers who need to open a port on their network for interactive play would certainly need to know their public IP address.
Companies like DYNDNS, or Duck DNS, or No IP, or yDNS, zonomi, or hopper, allow you to attach a DNS host name to your public IP address.
Some routers automatically update your dynamic IP address with your dynamic DNS provider so that when your public IP address changes, your DNS is up to date.
Sometimes this does not work for various reasons.
Certain Verizon Routers have an entry in the router for Dynamic DNS, but the router never updates it, almost like the function in the router is disabled.
"What is my IP" is a solution for those who are in this situation.
For example: You are away from home, but need to access something from your home computer. You connect to your VPN router and then access your home network. While you are connected, something triggers your ISP’s (Internet Service Provider) router to restart causing your external IP address to change. Now your Dynamic DNS is no longer pointing to your external IP address.
"What Is My IP" is a Windows service that runs on one or more of your home computers or servers. It checks your external IP address once per day or as frequently as once every 30 minutes. If your IP address changes, it sends an email or SMS to you. All of this is configurable.
As of this writing, the last time this happened to me was November 2, 2014. I suppose something needed to be reset for the transition of Day Light Savings Time to Standard Time.
"What is my IP" is a solution for those who are in this situation.
So now you know what it is and why you might want it, Installing and configuring it is simple.
Download "What Is My IP" and double click the installer.
Click here to download the Installation Guide
System Requirements
- Internet Access
- Windows XP, 7, 8, 10, Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019
- Original Dot Net Framework 3.5
- New Dot Net Framework 4.5
What Is my IP determines your external IP address by querying our web service. You can click any of these links to check your external IP address.
Just to show a few.
What Is My IP must have access to the internet to perform the query.
What Is My IP also needs to be able to send an email or SMS when your external IP Address changes, therefore your Internet Service Provider SMTP credentials are required.
What Is My IP stores them in an encrypted configuration file on your computer. Your credentials are never transferred or compromised.
If you don't have an actual domain with SMTP service, you can use your Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, Comcast, Fios, Optimum Online, or other SMTP service. As of this writing
- Hotmail = smtp.live.com, port 587, SSL = True
- Gmail = smtp.gmail.com, port 587, SSL = True
- Yahoo = smtp.mail.yahoo.com, port 587, SSL = True
- Fios = outgoing.verizon.net, ports and SSL may vary
Most broadband internet providers grant users a dynamic IP address. This means that your IP address at home can and will change. For some people they're lucky enough never to have their IP change but for most, IP changes occur fairly regularly like once a month. For others it might happen only if the router is rebooted.
Not having a static address can make using some applications like Remote Desktop software difficult to use. If you need to connect to your home machine or a client's PC from a remote location, you need the IP address and if the IP address changes, you're going to be out of luck. No IP address equals no connection.
"What is my IP" helps solve this problem by monitoring your external IP address and sending you an email whenever it changes.