An IP address is a number that you and anyone will have that will help detect where your computer location is. For instance, say that you want to access a website and you do that with your IP address, it will detect your location and give you the access. 

You can find out about your IP address by heading to the search bar on your search engine and typing, what is my IP address? 

Your unique number will appear.

Now as stated earlier, the statement mentioned was that IP addresses get blocked, this happens because say you want to access a website but to do that you need to be in that country for example Australia. Now since you are in Germany, you will not be able to access that website as it is only applicable for Australia users.

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This will result in access being denied or your IP address getting blocked.

Apart from this, there are multiple other reasons why IP address blocking is looked at from the wrong end such as:

1 . First is that access to unauthorized websites. You are aware that the online world is free for everyone who uses it. And as a brand, you would depend on the online medium to capture vital information that can help you serve your prospects better. But what happens is due to the high increase in hackers, many have shielded their websites so even if you want to access information from a website in good faith, there are chances of your IP address getting blocked

2. Second, another reason is that hackers have grown higher. A hacker is interested in your system because they will find details that they can use to ruin your reputation or for their malicious intent. Because of this multiple websites as stated in the first pointer, put a restriction for the users who can access data. Hackers are smart and can use the IP address to enter into your system, there are multiple ways in which they do this such as via your emails, tapping into your wireless network, through an email HTML bug, web server logs and more.

This article however has also stated in the beginning that IP addresses can be useful to you if you use it under the right light.

We meant that.

Tracking your prospect’s IP address can help you understand them better.

For instance, you might be aware of how many prospects will and on your website but is that enough to cater to them?

What if you had information on their location, how they found out about your brand and their actions on your page, wouldn’t it help your brand to grow better?

These minute information can play a huge role in understanding what your prospects are and what they are seeking. For instance, say that your prospect is staying in a restricted country and almost all applications have been banned for use there.

Now you are a vendor that sells reliable proxy servers, they would be searching for a proxy server solution that can help them to conduct their activities. Imagine now that you came to know about this prospect and have understood the location it comes from and the need to find a proxy solution, wouldn’t you go cater to them better?

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By approaching them, engaging with them, and then selling your solution. You can align your proxy solution in accordance with the safety and other requirements that the prospect is looking for. 

Tracking IP addresses for the right reason like this isn’t wrong. You are using such a medium to get to know your prospect better cater to them better. This will help you align your sales strategy better and sell what the prospect is looking for and expecting in your brand.

But the real question here is how can you conduct this IP Tracking?

An IP address can be done in multiple ways, one is using an IP address tracker.

IP address trackers are software solutions that can help you identify all the devices with configured IP addresses across your networks. 

Another way to track IP addresses can be conducted with the following methods:

1 .Com- This tool can help you understand the exact location of the IP address you are catering to. You can also have a look at the Mapquest maps where the location’s coordinates, host, IP, and organization information will be retrieved easily.

2. IPtracker.org- This is another that can help you with the location of the IP address you need. With this tool, you can easily track the location as it provides a complete satellite map layout. It also shares insights on the longitude and latitude and also a Google map for the location details

Since we have discussed IP address trackers, you can take a look at another detail you can start using.

1. IP ADDRESS MANAGERS

This tracker includes multiple tools with reference to IP tracking in order to align the process of IP address management. 

2. IP ADDRESS TRACKERS

These are applications that can help to determine IP addresses that would be configured on any of your networked devices.

3. IP ADDRESS SCANNERS

This application lets you scan multiple IP addresses. It will notify each IP address that is in the range and inform on the ones that are reporting. This application can either be customizable or can be set according to the beginning and end of the IP addresses and also from complete subnets.

Now it’s time to get you started on conducting the action of tracking the IP address.

1. FOR FACEBOOK

To track IP addresses from Facebook, you first need to establish a connection with the user.  

When you click to open a new chat window with that user, ensure that they are online. Continue to keep the window open and then continue further to open the Utility Tool on Mac or Command Prompt on Windows. Type in ‘netstat -an’ and hit Enter. Since there is an active connection with the user, their IP address should be seen after a short time. But before you execute this command, ensure that any other browser sessions and windows are closed, as other active IP addresses can return and your effort to conduct this action is wasted.

2. FOR INSTAGRAM

To track IP addresses on Instagram you need to first head to the profile of the user whose IP address you require. Next to the username, there are three dots, click on that and copy their profile URL. Head to Grabify IP logger, IP logger, or any other related or similar websites. The profile link which you copied, do the same copy in the bar seen and hit the ‘Create URL’ option. Once the result page opens, you will automatically see a new link generated.

Interact with the user for quite some time and then send them the shirt link you have. You need to entice the user to click on this link by stating that they can get some value from it. When they do that, refresh the page in the logger website and the user’s IP address will appear at the bottom of the page.

Switching on the 'Hide bots’ option while interacting on social media handles can also help you get the user’s genuine IP address.

In case you want to learn more about the user or your potential prospects, you could head to IP tracker or similar websites and click on the IP tracker option. Copy-paste the IP which you received in the IP logger websites and start to trace it. Every detail including the name, location, area code, ISP, and other relevant information of the user will be displayed.

3. USING WOLFRAM ALPHA

You need to first capture the IP address you want to track. Head to Wolfram alpha website and open it in your web browser. Hit the search bar and enter the IP address which you captured. Hit enter and soon you can see the geographical details of that IP address. You can then view the remaining results such as which city the IP address is active and more. 

4. USING IP LOOKUP

You need to first capture the IP address you want to track. Head to the IP Lookup website and open it in your web browser. Hit the search bar and enter the IP address which you captured. Hit the Lookup IP option which is the blue button. You will now find all the details related to the IP address such as state, city, location pin, and also a map of it. 

5. FOR WEBSITE IP ADDRESS

A. WINDOWS 

Open the Start menu and type ‘command prompt’. Enter ‘tracert’, press space, and type in your website’s address eliminating the ‘www’. The IP address should appear in brackets next to the ‘Tracing route to [website]’ line of text. Always ensure that you type in the correct extension for the website such as .com, .org, .net, and so on and ensure that you press Enter to execute the command.

 B. MAC

Open Spotlight. Click on the magnifying glass icon in the top-right corner of the screen and open ‘Network Utility’ by double-clicking on it. After this conduct the following steps:

1 . Click the Traceroute tab which is present at the top of the Network Utility window.

2. Enter the website’s address in the text box near the top of the window. 
3. Click on Trace which is a blue button standing on the right side of the page.

Once this is completed, the website’s IP address will show next to the ‘traceroute to [website]’ line of text.

6. FOR EMAIL SENDERS

A. GMAIL

Open the email message and click on the inverted triangle next to the Reply button. Select ‘Show Original’ and the email header will be displayed. View Received: from, which will be followed by the IP address between the square brackets []. If there are more than one Received patterns, choose only the last one because that will be the actual address of the sender. Once you identify the IP address, you will be able to track it down easily.  

B.HOTMAIL

Once you have logged into your Windows Live or Hotmail account, head towards your Inbox section, and find the email you want to track. Right-click on it, and you will be able to see a drop-down menu, where the last option will be ‘View message source’. Select on it to view the email header.

After conducting this action, you will have a few options to choose from such as:

1. If you find a header with X-Originating-IP followed by the IP address, remember that would be the sender’s IP
2. If that doesn’t work, look for Received: from followed by an IP address
3. If you find multiple Received: from headers, eliminate the ones with proxy.com

C. YAHOO MAIL

Start searching for an IP address in Yahoo! Mail. You can get started by clicking on the received email message. Select the ‘View Full Header’ option and look for Received: from followed by the IP address between the square brackets []. That will most probably be the IP address of the sender. If there is more than one series of Received: from, choose only the IP address from the last pattern. In case there are no such patterns, select the first IP address in X-Originating-IP and track it. 

As stated earlier, there are tools that can help you to conduct IP address tracking. These tools are efficient in their actions and simpler to get started with. They can help conduct IP address tracking better and offer multiple features that will make this process more efficient for you.

1. SOLARWINDS

This application is best suited for enterprises and large organizations. It can conduct the management of IP addresses of almost 2 million. 

Best features:

1 . Automated IP address tracking

2. Alerting of IP address actions such as reporting, alerting and troubleshooting
3. Offers cloud DHCP and DNS support
4. Compatible with CISCO, ISC, BIND and Microsoft DHCP and DNS servers

Pros:

1 . Automatically scans or an IP address conflicts

2. Provides an intuitive dashboard with colour coded indicators
3. Offers free tools to conduct certain actions

2. ADVANCED IP SCANNER

This free application is designed for Windows operating systems. All you need to do is input the IP addresses and the application will scan it all and revert on any responses. The scanning conducted by this application gives you quality information of the IP address holder such as name, MAC address, and more.

Best features:

1 . Access to network shares can be conducted easily

2. Detects MAC addresses well
3. Provides remote control of computer devices

Pros:

1. Runs as a portable edition
2. Easy to get started with

3. ANGRY IP SCANNER

This free application is considered to be the fastest and friendliest network scanner. It is an open-source and cross-platform network scanner. It is best suited for multiple types of users such as banks, government agencies, large and small enterprises, and more.

Best features:

1 . Works on any platform such as Windows, Mac, and Linux

2. Supports port scanner capabilities
3. Offers command-line version of the application
4. Scans local networks and the Internet as well

Pros:

1 .There is no need for any installation to get started with this application

2. Allows users to export data in any format

4. SOFTPERFECT NETWORK SCANNER

This application scans IP addresses ranges and also lists the ones which would have responded. It provides relevant information about the networked devices such as hostnames and more.

Best features:

1. Detects internal and external IP addresses
2. Also launches external third-party applications
3. Identifies writable and hidden shared folders

Pros:

1 . Runs with a USB flash drive which means there is no need for any additional installation

2. Exports data into any format such as HTML, XML, JSON, CSV, and TXT

5. LIZARD SYSTEM NETWORK SCANNER

This application helps to scan large corporate computers who deal with multiple more computers in their workflow. It helps to find network computers and shared resources.

Best features:

1 . Best suited for Window users

2. Conducts multithreading activities
3. No limitations set for the number of IP addresses that can be scanned
4. No administrator privileges are required to conduct the scanning

Pros:

1 . The option to scan multiple computers or subnets is provided

2. Easy to use tool to get started

6. B-LABS BOPUP SCANNER

This is an application that is completely portable which means no installation id required to get this started. It can be run from a flash drive or can easily move between workstations. 

Best features:

1 . Let’s users change from IP range to scan

2. Saves logging results
3. Provides command line support
4. Let’s users explore HTTP servers

Pros:

1. Eliminates unresponsive IP addresses from creating a blockage

7. IP SCANNER

This application is a free IP tracking solution best suited for Windows systems and hosts. The IP scanner application exhibits its scanning information in the form of a tiered hierarchy which resembles a file explorer window. This application can monitor all devices including the ones which are hidden as well.

Best features:

1 . Helps to find all IP addresses, MAC addresses and shared folders of computers on your wired or wireless network

2. Let’s users view and access shared folders, terminate user sessions, disable shared folders, and also show netstat information as well as to detect rogue DHCP servers.
3. Supports remote shutdowns, wake-on-LAN, lock workstation, log off, sleep, hibernate, reboot and power activities

Pros:

1 . Easy to install the application

2. Easy to get started with
3. Provides a user-friendly interface