Does hiding IP slow Web Surfing?!

[Guest]

Hello,


As a victim of identity theft, I am thinking now of purchasing a software to
hide my IP Address. I have cable (comcast) and am used to fast internet
browsing.

If I use a software to hide my IP (which is using a proxy server) will this
negatively impact my time on the web? Are there "gotchas" that I should know
before just downloading a software to hide my IP? Anyone have any
recommendations for software that will hide the IP and allow me to continue
to surf at broadband speed?

I have my home set up with wireless networking? If my PC is hiding its IP,
will this affect the rest of the PCs in the family network?

Thanks,

Tony

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi

It is impossible to surf without IP. The so call hiding IP software direct
your traffic through a 3rd party computer (called proxy). As a result the
sites that you go to do not see your IP but the proxy IP. This method does
not do anything against ID theft, The only thing that IP reveal is the
dynamic IP that is given to you by your Internet Service provider it does
not include any thing pertaining to you. As an example my IP right now is
71.190.33.67, the only thing it reveals is that I am a client of Verizon
Internet somewhere in the New York Tristate area.

Using a Proxy server might slow down your surfing speed if the proxy server
is slow or too busy.

Avoiding ID theft is Not a matter of simple Software Magic it is a matter of
understanding how to avoid the trepidation of the Internet.

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/finances/bidding.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusin..._phishers_4_tips_to_avoid_identity_theft.mspx

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-1009-6070906.html

Jack (MVP-Networking).

 

[Guest]

Jack,

Thanks for responding to my question. I appreciate you expressing your
opinion about identity theft.

However, I really posted a question to get information about hiding the IP
Address.

1) Will software to hide the IP address slow down my surfing? You said it
might depending on the proxy server.
2) But another question I had, are there any gotchas to using such software?
3) Does anyone have any recommendations for software that hides the IP
Address?
4) What affect does running software that hides my IP address have on the
family wireless network?

Thanks,

Tony

 

[Chuck]

:

Jack,

Thanks for responding to my question. I appreciate you expressing your
opinion about identity theft.

However, I really posted a question to get information about hiding the IP
Address.

1) Will software to hide the IP address slow down my surfing? You said it
might depending on the proxy server.
2) But another question I had, are there any gotchas to using such software?
3) Does anyone have any recommendations for software that hides the IP
Address?
4) What affect does running software that hides my IP address have on the
family wireless network?

Thanks,

Tony

Tony,

Have you ever been in a crowded public place, and heard somebody yelling out a
warning that there are pickpockets present in the crowd? Instinctively,
everybody in the crowd will check to make sure that their wallet or purse is
safe, and that is what the pickpockets love, because now they know where their
victims valuables are.

Hiding yourself by using a proxy server is just like that.
1) You are known by the proxy server. You can't hide from the proxy server.
2) Since you are using a proxy server, it's likely that you have something to
hide.
3) The bad guys will now be more interested.
4) This will indeed slow down surfing. Your browser now has to send requests to
the proxy server. The proxy server has to send requests to the website that
you're surfing to. The website sends back content to the proxy server, and you
have to receive the content from the proxy server. This doubles, or triples,
latency.
5) If the proxy server doesn't support scripting (or if you filter it
intentionally), you won't see content in the web page.
7) Any websites that depend upon scripting to interact with you plain won't
work.

I use proxy servers to examine dodgy websites. I wouldn't use them for day to
day surfing though.