There are a variety of reasons why people want to encrypt their surfing and spoof IP address location, however most fall into two distinct categories – privacy and filtering. The first, privacy refers to the fact that your IP address can be linked directly to your physical computer, it is in effect much like your home telephone number or driver's license. Each address is unique and can only be assigned to one location at a time, it is normally assigned by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). This number appears in the logs of your ISP alongside everything you do online, it also appears in the logs of the websites you visit – who record your visit for a variety of reasons. Combine this with the extensive monitoring of the web by governments, security agencies and other organisations – and perhaps you can see why people become uncomfortable with the lack of privacy of the web and seek the anonymity that changing your address gives you.
The second reason is possibly the most popular and is for the avoidance of internet blocks and filters. You see, thousands of the world's most popular web sites block access based on your IP address and it's location. Just about every big media site on the web, sites like BBC iPlayer, Hulu, NBC, HBO and YouTube to name but a few block access to anyone outside specific locations. Which is why you can't watch the BBC from outside the UK, or Hulu from anywhere but the USA. What happens is that your location is checked when you connect to a web site, your IP address cross referenced with it's country of origin. Distance is irrelevant, and you'll even find your self being blocked access from Canadian online TV a few miles over in the US and vice versa.
The distinction between your internal and external internet facing address is crucial. The internal address has no impact outside your own home network, and although the address is easier to change unfortunately it will not help you access different sites or protect your privacy online.
This site will cover all aspects of modifying your IP address on all sorts of devices and using different techniques. So if you want to learn about IP proxies, VPNS or how to modify the address of your favorite games console then please look around our site.