Your IP address is the number websites see when you connect. It tells them roughly where you are and which network you use, and it changes what you see: prices, search results, catalogues and sometimes whether a page loads at all. You can change it in several ways, from a router restart to a residential proxy that puts you on a home connection in another city or country.
The right method depends on what you actually need. A new IP in the same place is easy and free. A new location is a different job. Below are seven methods, what each one changes and where it falls short.
First: public IP and private IP
Your devices have two kinds of address. The private IP (often 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x) is what your router gives each device at home. The public IP is the one your ISP gives your router, and it is the only one websites see.
Most “how to change your IP” advice mixes the two up. Renewing your address in Windows or macOS settings only changes the private one. If your goal is to look different to a website, you need a new public IP. If your goal is a different location, you need a public IP that belongs to that location. Our guide on how websites decide your country explains which signals besides the IP they also check.
The 7 ways at a glance
| Method | New public IP? | New location? | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restart your router | Sometimes | No | Free | A fresh IP at home |
| Switch to another network | Yes | Rarely | Free | A quick check |
| Ask your ISP | Yes | No | Free or a fee | A lasting change |
| VPN | Yes | Yes, by country | Subscription | Privacy on public Wi-Fi |
| Residential proxy | Yes | Yes, down to city | Per GB | Seeing a market as locals do |
| Web proxy | Yes, for one tab | Yes, by country | Free | One page, no setup |
| Tor | Yes | Random | Free | Strong privacy, slow |
1. Restart your router
Most home connections use a dynamic IP that the ISP can reassign. Turn the router off, wait, and turn it back on. Some ISPs hand out a new address straight away. Many give the same one back if the router returns quickly, because the old lease has not expired. Leaving it off for a longer time, or overnight, makes a change more likely.
What it does not do: change your city, region or country. The new IP comes from the same ISP pool in the same area.
2. Switch to another network
Turn off Wi-Fi on your phone and use mobile data, or connect your laptop to a phone hotspot or another Wi-Fi network. You get a different public IP at once.
Two caveats. Mobile carriers often put many customers behind the same shared address (carrier-grade NAT), so the IP you get may be shared with thousands of people and already have a mixed reputation. And it rarely changes your location in any useful way.
3. Ask your ISP
If you need a different address for good, for example because your current IP is on a blocklist, your ISP can usually assign a new one. Some ISPs also sell a static IP, which is the opposite of what most people want here: it stays the same.
4. Use a VPN
A VPN encrypts all traffic from your device and sends it through a server in a country you pick. Websites see the server’s IP. It is the most common answer for privacy on public Wi-Fi, and it covers every app on the device.
The limits are practical. Most VPN servers sit in data centers, and their IP ranges are well known, so many sites treat them as VPN traffic: more CAPTCHAs, blocked logins or a different catalogue. Location choice is usually by country, sometimes by a few big cities.
5. Use a residential proxy
A residential proxy sends your requests out through a real home connection in the place you choose. The site sees a normal household IP from a local ISP, not a data center address. That is the difference that matters when you want to see a market the way people who live there see it: local prices, local search results, local ads.
With Shifter you can target a country, a state, a city or a specific ISP. You can keep the same IP for a session or get a new one on every request. For browsing, the Shifter browser extension connects Chrome or Firefox in a few clicks, without typing proxy settings. For scripts and tools, the same plan works through the gateway.
A proxy routes only what you send through it: the browser with the extension, or the app you configured. It is not encryption for your whole device, so it is not a replacement for a VPN on public Wi-Fi. If you are unsure which fits, our page on residential proxies as a VPN alternative sets out when each one is the better choice.
6. Use a web proxy
A web proxy loads a page for you through a server and shows it inside your browser tab. There is nothing to install or configure. It is handy for opening one page from another country, and Shifter has a free web proxy for exactly that.
It is not built for logins, long sessions or apps outside the browser. Treat it as a quick look, not a new connection.
7. Use Tor
Tor Browser sends your traffic through three volunteer relays, so no single relay sees both who you are and where you are going. It gives you a new IP and strong privacy at no cost.
You pay for it in speed and access. Tor exit addresses are public, many sites block them or show CAPTCHAs, and you do not choose the location in the normal browser.
A note on IPv6
Many networks now give devices an IPv6 address as well. Operating systems usually rotate a temporary IPv6 address on their own for privacy. If you changed your IPv4 address but a site still recognises you, check whether your device is also connecting over IPv6, and whether your VPN or proxy covers it.
Which one should you pick?
- You want a fresh IP at home: restart the router, or ask your ISP.
- You want privacy on a café or hotel network: a VPN.
- You want to see prices, search results or ads in another city or country: a residential proxy.
- You want one page from another country, now: a web proxy.
- You want strong anonymity and accept slow pages: Tor.
Whatever you use, check the result. Open an IP lookup such as IP Info before and after, and confirm both the IP and the location changed. If the IP changed but the site still shows your home country, the leak is often your browser, not your connection. A WebRTC leak can still reveal your real IP behind a proxy.
The bottom line
Changing your IP is easy. Changing it to the right place is the real job. A router restart or another network gives you a new address in the same area. A VPN gives you a new country with a data center IP. A residential proxy gives you a household IP in the exact city or ISP you choose. Pick by what you need to see, then verify it before you trust it.