See my responses below: > So do I understand this correctly? > My IP addy is showing on the internet, but it is the addy the phone co > assigned to this house. > And.. > This IP is given to more than one household at the same time. > And.... > These IP addys are swapped around every 12-24 hours (usually)
Well, only one computer/device can have a single, unique ip address at once. So the ip address your DSL modem/router has right now, a neighbor a block away (or a county away) may have that same ip address tomorrow and you'll have a different one. Basically, ip addresses are kind of scarce over the last few years, so they are kind of rationed now. This is why the phone companies don't give everyone their own dedicated ip address, you must pay extra for this service and only need it if you host your own website at your home/office. For surfing the net, it doesn't matter what ip address you get. So these DHCP servers have 'pools' of addresses, usually a range, say 123.123.123.1 through 123.123.123.150 for example (although it can be much larger). As people connect, it grabs one of the available ips out of the pool, at random, and gives it to the next computer/device requesting one. When its lease expires, it returns to the pool and you are given another one in it's place, all happening in milliseconds, without disrupting your internet experience. > > When our DSL was hooked up, we didn't have our modem yet. > So when I got the modem in, I had to call the phone company with > the modems > id/serial number. Why did they want that to be able to set up our acct? I'm not sure why they would do this, other than to keep track of their hardware. They probably have it drop-shipped from a manufacturer or warehouse and maybe that's how they keep track of registrations, warranties, etc. The ip address won't be tied to a serial number. It may also be to help them keep historical data, for instance if many customers are having trouble, they can see if they are all running the same type of modem, or maybe a particular 'lot' of modems. Or if some security problem is discovered by the manufacturer 6 months later, they would be able to know exactly which customers needed to have theirs upgraded or replaced. > > I looked in my network set up and I am using DHCP. > > I've moved into a learning mode here. :o) > > Thanks Rad :o) No problem. I'm a mac newb, but not a computer or network newb. I was in IT for 15 years before I gave it up to persue my love of hot rods. Just sorry I waited so long to give macs a serious try. I've always known they were quality hardware and had used them briefly during my career, but never had one personally. But OS X is what did it for me, such a beautiful, elegant yet powerful and flexible OS. I'll never own another PC. ======================================= Rad Craig, Induction Concepts, High Performance Twin Turbo Systems http://www.inductionconcepts.com (918) 825-TWIN -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
