Can I change my IP address?

[crashwg]

I'm pretty sure my IP address was blocked from a certain forum, obviously not this one though...

So is there any way that I can maybe hide behind a different IP address so I can at least read the forums?

BTW, in case you're wondering why I was banned:
I asked a question that had apparently already been asked a million times so I got a warning.  

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: I did use the search which gave me a crapload of results that had nothing to do with what I was looking for.

But anyway, I was a little mad so I posted again stating what jerks the mods were and that's how I got in this sittuation.

[Goz]

 Sure you can. Use a proxy

Here are a few ways to surf anonymously

http://www.space.net.au/~thomas/quickbrowse.html

and

http://www.stayinvisible.com/index.pl

-Goz

[Generic Eric]

Chances are, no.

What type of ISP do you have? Cable? DSL?  Either way, my expierence with both is that you have a dhcp address.  In short, that will change when you boot PC.

I don't know how forums block users.  It used to be that if someone in your area was banned, that they affected your access to, because whomever did the banning, blocked a whole range, just not 1 specific address.  

There is a chance that your MAC address was blocked as well.  

You could always pay your ISP for a static address, but that may not be the answer.
I haven't figured them out...but aren't there web surfing annonyimizers???  Try one of those.

[Mameotron]

I'm a little confused here.  Can someone set me straight?

I thought that most ISPs use subnetting for their customers, meaning that you probably get a different IP address everytime you log on.  Now, I don't have a cable modem, but can't you just log off and log back on to get a new IP address?

I would think that the moderators of the site know this and have a different method of banning people.  I'm just guessing here.

And isn't your MAC address used only for local segments of your network?  I thought it was non-routable.

I would try the proxy server, if you're still banned they must have some other way of doing it.

[fredster]

The ISP assigns the IP when you log on in my service too.  I think only the last 3 digits change when you log on to the ISP.  The rest are the domain and server.

[abrannan]

And the prize for the most techinically correct answer goes to:  Gozur.

For the rest of you.  Most ISP use DHCP, but the IP will only change is your lease expires and someone else has taken the IP you used to have.  How much you IP varies depends on the DHCP range.  It could be a Class C network, in which case the first three octets of your IP won't change, but it could be a larger DHCP range and you'll have more variance.   Forums can and do sometimes block IPs, usually for someone who is persistently causing problems, and creates new user IDs once their old ID has been banned.  Your MAC address will only reach as far as the current subnet you are on, (Up to the switch, in most cases) and after that routing kicks in, and your MAC is no longer used.

[SoundDoc]

Just to add to abrannan's post,
With cable and dsl providers and their DHCP assigned IP's, even when the lease expires, you will only get a new IP IF someone assumes yours. I install a lot of remote building management systems, and we use the cheaper dynamic ip dsl plans, and out of 50+ sites, over the last 3 years only maybe 3 or 4 have actually changed ip's yet!

Its also pretty hard sometimes to get a new IP if you want one. Eg. Telus DSL in Edmonton, my home mail server had a "opps" and got blacklisted by IP, I tried the standard release/renew, changed dsl modems, changed routers, changed Nics, no matter what I did I couldn't get a new IP, so I changed providers. I even tried to contact Telus to ask them to force a change if possible, no go...

sd

[bionicbadger]

I've changed my IP on my cable modem before.  You have to do an ipconfig /release, then disconnect your modem for a day or 2 and then try it again.  Chances are that someone will have taken your old IP and the DHCP will assign you a new one.  Of course this means going without internet access for a couple days.  Its easy to try if you go away for a weekend or something.

[Floyd10]

Not really... You can try, but chances are nope

[JoyMonkey]

I've changed my IP on my cable modem before.  You have to do an ipconfig /release, then disconnect your modem for a day or 2 and then try it again.  Chances are that someone will have taken your old IP and the DHCP will assign you a new one.  Of course this means going without internet access for a couple days.  Its easy to try if you go away for a weekend or something.

This works. I took note of my IP and unplugged my computer desk completely on Saturday morning and now (Sunday afternoon) I've got a new IP address. I use Verizon DSL.