I thought Leo Laporte said....

Not sure which is the proper forum for this question.

I've heard Leo Laporte say numerous times on TechTV that if you use a router, like a linksys, etc. your IP is not seen by the sites you visit.

However, when i go to the Bluetack Internet security website http://www.bluetack.co.uk/index.php

it shows my IP address on the left side of the page.

Can someone please explain or clarify what he meant?

Thanks, stevo

 

It may show your public IP address (the one assigned by your ISP), but not the LAN IP address of any individual machine on your LAN, behind your router.

 

Not quite sure i understand. I get it, i think, that the router generates an 'external' ip address for the web, and then i have a different address for behind the router.

But what does that do ? Its still seeing one of my ip addresses. And it knows that im on windows xp and my current browser info-and who knows what else.

If it knows all that then how am i invisibile?

thanks again.
steve

 

Bluetack Internet security website http://www.bluetack.co.uk/index.php is showing the IP(Internet Protocol) address that your ISP (Internet Service Provider- the company you pay each month for internet service) gives you so that your Internet traffic can be routed to your computer. A router can't hide that, it can only hide a computer that is behind it's firewall.

 

And i use Norton Internet Security 2004.

So i guess i don't understand how the router is supposed to protect/hide me?

Sorry for being so dim about this subject.

stevo

 

Hardware-Based Protection – Firewalls and Routers

The point at which the Internet and a computer network meet form the perimeter, the key point of network defence. Even if there is only one computer in a SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) environment, that constitutes a network. In the military, sentries secure a perimeter by making sure anyone who wants to enter the area is supposed to be there. Networks require a sentry at their perimeter as well.

That's where a combination router-firewall comes in. Just as a firewall in a car protects the driver from any flames in the engine area, a firewall on a network protects the internal network from any unsolicited attempts to get inside. It's the sentry on the perimeter that won't let allow unauthorized traffic to pass. (For a more in-depth look at firewalls, please see the SecurityFocus article Firewalls for Beginners: http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1182 .)

A router is more difficult to explain. Let's say there are three separate computer users on a network. Each, working from his own computer, requests a different Web page. All three requests go out through the router at the same time and, a few seconds later, replies pour back in. Since information must be broken down into individual packets of data to travel over the Internet, and since those individual packets - hundreds or even thousands of them - can each take different paths, the packets from the three Web pages are all jumbled together as they stream back into your network. (For a more in-depth look at the way e-mail and Web pages work, please see the SecurityFocus article A Beginner’s Guide to the Internet: http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1180 .). In the case of a network, a device called a router is responsible for guiding the packets to their destination: as it receives the flood of packets that the three users requested, it sends each packet to the appropriate computer.

Router-firewalls protect the privacy of small network users because they help to secure the network using a protocol called NAT (Network Address Translation). Basically, NAT hides the computers from the rest of the Internet and uses the router-firewall as a mediator for all communication to and from the Internet. If a cracker can't break into a the network, he can't rifle through the personal documents, financial records, or other vital information that resides on that network. Thus the confidentiality of the data stored on the computers on that network is secured.

The nice thing about router-firewalls is that they are operating system-independent. It doesn't matter if the network consists of Windows, Mac OS, & Linux computers - all will be protected by an efficiently guarded perimeter. Best of all, most SOHO devices can be bought for less than $100. Better yet, users can build their own router-firewall using an old computer, two Ethernet cards, and some software. There are a number of commercial solutions available for Windows users. Linux users, however, have a wealth of free options available to them. Check out the Linux Router Project, a version of Linux designed to fit on a floppy and turn an old computer into a fast, efficient router-firewall.

 

That was very well put. Thank you. I will try and make time to read the links you provided.

So to make sure i understand, what you are saying is:

Websites and other hackers, etc. can still see my IP address, they just can't get beyond the router to get into my computer.

Can you also explain the difference between the 'External' IP address and the 'internal' address? I occasionally, (ok, frequently) play Ghost Recon or Rainbow six with a few friends online, and we use Teamspeak to communicate. If i want to be the server for Teamspeak, It shows me 2 different IP addresses. A 192.xxx.x.x type of address and an 4.46.xx.xxx type of address. I know one of them is what everyone else uses to connect to me. I just don't understand what is happening at this point.

Thanks, Steve

 

You send websites your external IP address so they know which computer asked for data and where to send it. Hackers won't be able to see your network if your router is set up properly(Your router manufacturers manual website will give you more help than I can. Wilder's security associates http://www.wilders.org/ and the Home PC firewall guide http://www.firewallguide.com/ might be useful to you, too.) A router is just a mini version of the Internet. The internal IP address is given to each computer connected to the router so that the data that each computer request is sent to the right computer, and will be invisible to anyone outside of the network.