Given how indispensable a cell phone can be for someone who spends a great deal of time online, phone being lost or stolen could a nightmare. From calling to retracing your steps, all these methods fail. That’s why you need to get support from evolving technology like IP address. Now the question is, “is it possible and how to track a cell phone with IP address?” Don’t panic, you can find the answer in the following guide.
How does IP address work?
IP address, short for Internet Protocal, works by communicating using set guidelines to pass information. All devices find, send and exchange information with other connected devices using this protocal. By speaking the same language, any computer in any location can talk to one another.
Usually, your IP address is assigned to your device by your Internet Service Provider(ISP). In the case of mobile phones on a cellular network, it is usually your phone carrier. It simplifies message routing to have similar IP addresses clustered together, so it’s often possible to tell roughly where on a network the device is based through an IP address.
When you are at home, the network will probably be your ISP. At work, it will be your company network. If you are out on business and you take your mobile phone with you, your home IP address does not come with you. It’s because you will be using another network such as WiFi at hotel, airport or coffee shop to access the internet. You will be using a different and temporary IP address.
How to track a cell phone with IP address?
Several databases are available to match an IP address to the internet provider that issued it and tell you roughly where the mobile device it’s attached to is likely located. Some companies use the information to send ads to targeted people in certain areas or serve content in the language most likely spoken in a particular country.
A number of IP address tracker databases can be found online, which provides you with information including IP address often for free. Once done, you can track a cell phone with IP address. Bear in mind that this option is only accurate to city level.
Compared to GPS tracking system, IP address mapping to physical locations is far from an exact location if you don’t have access to the internet provider’s internal database. In some cases, people used rough IP address mapping information to accuse people of crimes or other undesirable activity. However, they only find out the mapping information wasn’t accurate, and they had confronted innocent people.
In case of theft, you can file a police report and include IP address and wireless service provider who owns the IP address. If you choose to take the assistance of police and service provider, it may take weeks to months, and the chance of retrieving your phone is slim.
How to protect your IP address?
IP address can be used to find the location of a cell phone so you can stay connected with your loved ones. For instance, parents can know teens’ whereabouts and ensure they do not sneak to bars. You also can make sure your partner is stuck in a traffic jam, not going to somewhere they shouldn’t supposed to be. But it should be noted that if hackers know your IP address, they can use geolocation technology to identify your region, city and state.
If you want to protect your geographic location and personal information, it’s best to hide your IP address. A proxy server is an intermediary server through which your traffic is routed. Your IP address is invisible and the information will go to proxy server, which then router it to you. However, some of such services may spy on you or insert ads into your browser.
Alternatively, you can resort to VPN to hide your IP address. When you connect your mobile phone to a VPN, the device acts as if it’s on the same local network as the VPN. All your network traffic is sent over a secure connection to VPN.
Wrapping up
In this guide, we’ve introduced you with easy way to track a cell phone with IP address. It should be noted that it’s hard to track an IP address to an exact location without information from wireless service provider. If your phone gets lost or stolen, it’s better work with police and provide any IP address or other information you have to help trace the location.
