Two addresses, two answers
Your device has a private address inside the network it is on, like 192.168.1.20, and the network has one public address on the internet, which websites see. The private one is handed out by the router and can change at any reconnect. The public one belongs to your provider and is the one people mean when they ask whether their IP changes.
You can read your public address on our IP page; it changes when the public address of the connection you are on changes.
Home broadband
Most providers give homes a dynamic public address: it stays until the connection drops or the lease expires, which can be days or weeks. Restarting the router often brings a new address, but not always; some providers hand the same one back. A static address, which never changes, is usually a paid option for businesses.
Mobile data
Phones on 4G and 5G change public address often: airplane mode on and off, a new cell tower, or simply time can bring a new one. Many carriers also put thousands of phones behind one shared public address, so the address you see is not yours alone and can look like it belongs to another city.
Other Wi‑Fi networks
Join a café, hotel or office network and your public address becomes that network’s. Everyone on that Wi‑Fi shares it. That is why websites can tell you are at the hotel, and why the hotel can see every site you open unless the connection is encrypted by a VPN.
What a VPN changes
With a VPN connected, websites see the VPN server’s address, which changes when you pick another location and stays otherwise. Your provider still assigns your real address to your device; it just carries one encrypted connection to the VPN server instead of your traffic. Nothing can remove your real address from that first hop.
Teal VPN does this in one tap and shows the server you are on. The free plan gives 500 MB a day with no card.
When you might want it to change
A website or game has banned your address: a router restart may help on home broadband, a VPN location certainly gives a different one. A site shows you another city: that is the provider’s registration, not a fault; a VPN location you choose fixes what sites see. You are on an untrusted network: changing the address is not the point, encrypting the connection is.
Keep reading
References
Need help with Teal? Contact support.