An IP address is the number which makes a device identifiable on a network. Compters, network printers, smartphones, tablets, media streamers and all other devices on your home network have an address in the format 192.168.1.10. The first two numbers should always be the same for home networks, but the third may be different depending on your router. Some use 1, some use 2, and some use 0. The final number is the unique number of the connected device, ranging from 0 to 255.
Typically, your computer will have an IP address only if it's connected to a router. Otherwise you won't see much information when you follow the instructions below. Only computers which have been assigned a static (fixed) IP address will report an address when they're not actually connected to a network.
How to find your IP address in Windows (and how to find your router's IP address)
In the Start menu (or start screen in Windows 8) type cmd.exe and press Enter.
This will launch Command Prompt - a black window like the one below. We're using Windows 8 here, but it's basically the same in previous versions of Windows.
Make sure you click on this new Window and then type ipconfig and press Enter as below
What you'll see is a load of information about your computer's network adapters. In the screen below you can see the IPv4 address is 192.168.3.40. This is the computer's IP address. The Default Gateway is the router to which the computer is connected, and its address is 192.168.3.1.
If you need extra details such as the network adapter's physical address (also known as the MAC address), then type 'ipconfig /all' (without the quotes) at the prompt and press Enter. The physical address of our laptop's Ethernet adaptor is F0-4D-A2-DE-41-B5:
