Shared and Dedicated IP-Addresses: Let's Take a Closer Look at This Issue

An IP-address is a unique identifier for any device connected to the Internet. It is used to establish communication between the user, the server, and the target site, as well as to transfer information and interact with the network as a whole. Depending on the initial network settings you choose for yourself, you may have either a shared IP-address or a dedicated one. And this issue requires a more detailed examination, since the option of such an address has a direct impact on the security indicators of work on the Internet, the ability to access certain online services, including those regionally belonging to different countries of the world.

If you are thinking about the issue of ensuring the most stable, functional and flexible work on the network, if you want to avoid or at least minimize the risks of various blockings, access restrictions, then the choice of an IP-address option must be approached comprehensively and professionally. This means that you need to be very well versed in the specifics of each solution, know its strengths and weaknesses, areas of use, clearly distinguish the differences and more.

We will dedicate today's review to what a shared and dedicated IP-address is. Let's consider a number of basic and additional questions that will help you to get your bearings in this matter and determine the address option that will be the most convenient and reliable in your practice.

Main types of IP-addresses

Before moving on to a more detailed acquaintance with this issue, you need to understand what an IP address is in principle. And here you can draw a fairly clear analogy with a regular address. Only it indicates the location of the house, while IP identifies the location of a personal computer. In addition, it was created not for people, but, let's say, for machines, be it servers, personal computers, laptops, routers, smartphones, as well as all those programs on the basis of which they conduct their work. So, if a regular address will contain the name of the locality, street, house number, then the IP-address displays the network itself and its type, as well as the personal number of the device. By the way, such addresses are assigned not only to physical machines, but also to virtual ones.

Further, if we continue to follow this analogy, it is also important to note that several people can live at the same address. Alternatively, there can be a large number of apartments in one house, and different companies in an office center. It is exactly the same with IP addresses. A provider can connect a large number of Internet users to the same address or provide one server to support a large number of sites. These are the IP-addresses that we call common. Their distinctive feature will be that several people or companies will work at the same address. Just like with neighbors in an apartment building or office, here some users can be respectable, clean, quiet, while others, on the contrary, are noisy, annoying, such that they will conduct not entirely legal actions. But in the case of shared IP addresses, they will all be forced to somehow get along together, although in some cases this will still be extremely inconvenient, and sometimes even dangerous.

Continuing with the topic of regular addresses, we can compare dedicated IPs with a certain villa that stands far from others, in which only one person lives. Around him there is complete cleanliness, silence, privacy. Alternatively, this can also be a separate company. And everyone who comes to this address will definitely find the appropriate organization, will not wander around the floors from one office to another. That is, a dedicated IP-address is assigned to one server, one site, one individual user.

This is how we briefly showed by analogies what types of IP-addresses exist today and what their fundamental difference is. But now we will get acquainted with this issue in as much detail as possible.

Full information about the shared IP-address

Currently, shared IP-addresses are quite actively used in practice. Let us repeat that they are a product that is shared by several services or people. Such a solution helps hosting providers and other services to distribute a limited set of addresses among a large number of clients. In this case, the IP-address will be dynamic. Providers will change it at their own discretion. In most cases, this happens with each new connection. That is, you go online and you are assigned the first address from the shared pool.

If we talk directly about the advantages of this solution, one of the most significant advantages will still be the cost-effectiveness of this type. And here everything is quite justified and reasonable: all costs are evenly distributed between each user, providing in practice a fairly significant reduction in cost.

Most providers allocate such shared IP addresses to their users by default, because such a solution allows them to significantly simplify work with the network as a whole. Basically, this occurs when working with individuals. That is, if we talk directly about the advantages of shared IP addresses from the user's point of view, there will be only 2 of them:

1. Material benefit. Let us repeat that shared IPs will be much cheaper than dedicated ones, which is due to the lower cost of their maintenance. This means that not only the provider benefits, but also the user.
2. Really high rates of confidentiality and anonymity. This is due to the fact that a shared IP address is practically untraceable. The fact is that even if the system sees a particular violation coming from a specific address, it will most likely not block it, since it will not be able to identify the user who is committing such actions. Let us repeat that the provider provides the same IP to a huge number of people. This means that you can use such solutions where confidentiality is one of the key factors. But she will most likely add it to the blacklist.

However, along with these advantages, there are also a number of disadvantages.

Disadvantages of shared IP-addresses: what is important to know

Yes, such advantages as low price and guaranteed privacy are quite significant and for many users, in principle, can be decisive in terms of choice. But the main thing here is not to jump to conclusions. Initially, it is also important to get acquainted with the disadvantages, and then weigh all the "pros" and "cons". So, from the weaknesses of shared IP-addresses, it is worth highlighting:

• The so-called "bad neighbors" effect. The fact is that none of you will know with whom you share your IP-address, you will not find out what activity other people will enter on the network. What if their actions are fraudulent, illegal? We have already said that the system is quite loyal to this decision, since it is not set up to harm a large number of people. That is, you will most likely be able to avoid direct blocking, but additional control will still remain, and quite strict. This means that there is a risk that you will constantly have to confirm your account in different services, including Google, because your actions may look like spam to the system.
• Potential problems with search engine optimization. You should understand that not very legitimate actions of other people who use the same IP-address in their work can have an extremely negative impact on the ranking indicators of sites operating on this address, thereby worsening their position in search results.
• Negative impact on email reputation. If certain users working on a shared IP address send complaints and spam to email, this will worsen the overall reputation of this address. As a result, the risk that all letters sent from it will be trivially sent by the system straight to spam increases significantly, which will significantly reduce their views by the target audience.
• Negative impact on overall work speed. If a shared IP-address is used quite intensively by one person, this will negatively affect the comfort of work of other people. As a result, there may be delays in data transfer, slowdowns, freezing and other issues that have a negative impact on overall work comfort.
• Problems with setting up remote access, related servers. Practice shows that shared IP-addresses quite often cause problems when setting up access to a home Internet network or additional devices. Difficulties may also arise when working with server hosting, additional services, especially those that require stable external access from you.

As you can see, shared IP-addresses have many more disadvantages than advantages. This means that it is still worth considering their use. But, in parallel with this, there are a number of areas where it is worth betting on such addresses.

Areas where the use of shared IP-addresses is quite justified

We will not say that a shared IP-address is an ideal solution for absolutely every user, because this statement is far from the truth. But there are still a number of areas for their application. In particular, we are talking about:

1. Organizing and conducting online broadcasts.
2. Unblocking content that has fallen under regional restrictions for a particular GEO;
3. Downloading torrents.

In other cases, using shared IP addresses should raise doubts and additional thoughts in you.

Full information about a dedicated IP-address

A dedicated IP address is also often called private. This means that it will belong to only one device or user. That is, it will not be shared between other people. In addition, it is not subject to rotation and remains unchanged throughout the entire period of time. In practice, they have found greatest application in the field of cybersecurity, when working with various specialized services that require the most stable connection, as well as in many areas of business. Among the main advantages of dedicated IP-addresses, it is worth noting:

1. Ensuring full control over the reputation of the address itself. It will be used only by one owner, that is, its inclusion in blacklists and blocking due to the fault of third parties is completely excluded.
2. To protect the transfer of user data, to ensure high levels of trust from Internet sites, you will have the opportunity to install an individual SSL-certificate.
3. Higher security indicators. This is ensured by access settings to systems or databases directly from the same IP address. This is what reduces the likelihood of unauthorized access.
4. Absence of any restrictions on connecting to certain Internet sites. Practice shows that the system, as well as individual sites, very rarely block dedicated IP addresses.
5. Ensuring a functional and stable connection to the network. This is largely due to the minimization and likelihood of the occurrence of certain problems at the level of corporate networks, remote desktops.

As you can see, this solution has more advantages than shared IP-addresses. But, unfortunately, it is not without its disadvantages. And it is important to understand what exactly we are talking about.

Disadvantages of dedicated IP-addresses

Dedicated IP addresses are less common today in practice than shared ones. In many ways, the reason for this is hidden in the following points:

• Higher cost. Compared to shared IP-addresses, it can be an order of magnitude higher. This means that ordinary users cannot always afford them.
• Low privacy rates. Due to the fact that the same address is securely assigned to you for the entire period of its use, this opens up a number of loopholes and opportunities for Internet intruders. They can easily track such IP and take appropriate measures if they deem it necessary.
• Guaranteed blocking upon detection of prohibited, unauthorized actions. Yes, dedicated addresses are not blocked as often as shared ones. But still, if the system sees that illegal work is being carried out from a specific IP, it will be blocked, and often even without the right to restore it.

Are these points acceptable to you? If yes, then in principle you can consider the option of using dedicated IP addresses.

Niches where it is worth using dedicated IP-addresses

As in the case of shared ones, there are also a number of areas where dedicated IP addresses will be an ideal solution for work. In particular, we are talking about the following areas:

• online games, streaming platforms;
• organization of secure remote access;
• online banking, services such as eBay, PayPal.

In order for you to make the most informed and appropriate decisions about the practical use of shared or dedicated IP addresses, you need to clearly understand their common features and differences.

The main differences between shared and dedicated IP-addresses

When choosing between a shared and dedicated IP address, you should first of all proceed from the niche in which and for what tasks you plan to use this solution. But it is also very important to focus on a number of key nuances and differences. In particular, we will pay special attention to the following points:

1. Connection speed, performance. We have already mentioned that shared IP-addresses are used by a large number of people. This means that the load on the server will increase, the throughput will decrease. All this will negatively affect the stability of the connection and may lead to delays in the data transfer process. All these negative consequences will not be relevant for dedicated IP addresses, since they are individual and no third party will use them. This will be especially relevant in case of increased loads. That is, when using dedicated IPs, your convenience of working with different sites, platforms, and along with this, productivity will be higher.
2. The probability of an IP-address getting into blacklists. IP reputation is another key difference between shared and dedicated addresses. Despite the fact that it is extremely difficult for the system to identify the end user behind a particular address, they quite often end up in the so-called blacklists of search engines. We have already mentioned that in this case, other users are often forced to enter a captcha, pass other checks to prove that a real person is doing the work, not a bot. That is, ordinary users in this case may find themselves in the role of hostages of other people's illegal actions. When using dedicated IP-addresses, this does not threaten you, but on the condition that you yourself do not conduct prohibited work on the network. In the latter case, your addresses will be blocked quickly and without a chance of recovery.
3. Use scenario. When considering the specifics of dedicated and shared IP-addresses, we already talked about the types of work that would require one or another IP address option. Generally speaking, a shared IP will be sufficient for regular surfing the web, which involves viewing certain pages, files, and movies. But if security is not an empty word for you, and you need to make every effort to ensure it, then you should still think about using dedicated addresses. Here we are talking about working with servers, running a business online, using corporate VPN, the need to set up an SSL certificate, etc.

That is, in any case, you initially need to determine the requirements for the level of security, assess how strict the control should be when working with your online projects, understand what sites and services you will be working with in the foreseeable future, and then, based on this, choose the IP address option that will best suit your upcoming work and personal interests. We would also like to draw your attention to the fact that today, shared IPs are still the most widely used in practice, while private ones are still less common. This is largely due to their higher cost, ease of setup and use. Let us repeat that when working with dedicated addresses, you will have to connect an SSL certificate and set up remote access. But the reputation and performance indicators here will be higher, which will definitely be appreciated by a business that cares about its own name.

How to understand what address you are currently using: shared or dedicated

It is in the interests of each of you to understand what IP-address you are using in your work: shared or dedicated. The fact is that the specifics of the connection, potential limitations, and opportunities in work largely depend on this. Each of you can check your address quite easily. One of the simplest solutions here is to use specialized services. Such that, along with general information about the number, will also show its specific type. Moreover, you can understand what address you are using in your work even with the help of the most common services that allow you to find out your IP-address. Thus, you will only need to use such tools 2 times within different sessions. If you see that your IP has changed when you reconnect, then you are working on a shared address.

There are also other ways, such as using the terminal or the command line. Here, your actions will directly depend on which operating system you use in your work. That is, each option has its own command that allows you to get data on network connections. In particular, we are talking about the following options:

1. For devices running the Windows operating system, the command to get data on network connections will look like this: «nslookup myip.opendns.com resolver1.opendns.com».
2. For laptops, personal computers and other devices based on macOS or Linux operating systems: «curl ifconfig.me dig +short myip.opendns.com @resolver1.opendns.com».

If you use VPN or hosting in your work, you can find the relevant information in your personal account or in your account settings. Most providers indicate here what type of IP addresses they provide to users as part of their tariff plan. In any case, you can contact your provider's technical support service to clarify the relevant information. Moreover, you can find out if it is possible to connect a dedicated IP-address for an additional fee.

To get the most accurate information and a comprehensive picture here, you can use a combination of different check options. This is what will allow you to ultimately get a truly reliable result.

Additional recommendations for choosing a suitable IP-address

Usage scenarios are key factors that determine your choice of IP address. That is, you must understand what tasks you will face in the work process and, based on this, bet on a shared or dedicated IP. But here it is also important to pay additional attention to a number of other points:

• The optimal budget for you. Let us repeat that dedicated IPs will cost significantly more than shared ones. Most of them are provided by Internet providers as an accompanying service.
• The required level of stability. If you are an ordinary user who connects to the Internet only to watch interesting content, then with a high degree of probability a shared IP address will be quite sufficient for you. It is a completely different matter if we are talking about people working online, about business representatives. In their daily work, dedicated IPs will be much more convenient, as they will provide the most functional and stable connection to the Internet.
• Do you plan to use proxy servers in your work. If so, then when using shared IPs, which will change from time to time, you will need to select only those intermediary servers that require login and password authorization. In the case of dedicated addresses, you can remove authorization, expanding the scope of proxy use.
• Security requirements. Today, this issue is extremely relevant, and not only for business representatives, but also for ordinary users who want to ensure protection from unauthorized access. Here, a private IP-address will be much more reliable.

That is, we can say with confidence that a shared IP is suitable for the most ordinary users, for small businesses, for projects where the budget is quite tightly limited. If we are talking about business representatives, sites that attract a huge audience every day, then the choice should still be made on dedicated addresses.

Questions about shared and private IP-addresses that may interest many

To finally understand the issue of shared and dedicated IP-addresses, we will now consider 5 questions that are most often of interest to the audience, we will provide detailed answers to each of them.

What effect does a shared IP-address have on the site loading speed

Above, we have already said that the performance of work from a specific IP address will largely depend on how many people use it at the same time, what load is going on the server. Here, dedicated IPs will have more advantages. But still, the immediate site loading speed will remain unchanged regardless of which addresses you use. That is, if you place your site on a dedicated IP, then no matter how much you want it, it will not load faster. But its stability will still be higher.

What effect does a dedicated IP-address have on website promotion in search engines?

Website promotion in search results is a question that is relevant today for absolutely everyone who has their own online presence. And here, at the stage of choosing the optimal promotion strategy, the question naturally arises of whether there is a connection between the type of IP-address and the direct movement of the site to the top of the search results. Unfortunately, it is not possible to give an unambiguous answer to this question. The fact is that, in principle, the SEO issue is quite extraordinary and largely depends on the requirements of the search engine in which the promotion is carried out.

If we talk directly about Google and the recommendations that the search engine gives to site managers and SEOs, there is no clear indication of the need to connect dedicated IP addresses. If you analyze the work of well-known brands, you can see that they use shared addresses to host several domains. This is despite the fact that the benefit of using private IPs for hosted sites will still be quite significant.

But in any case, you should not expect that transferring your site to a dedicated address will immediately improve the site loading speed, server performance, or lead to your site immediately starting to move to the top of the search results. But you will still be able to ensure a good reputation for yourself, protection from all the risks associated with the dishonest behavior of your server neighbors. That is, a private IP-address is what will allow you to get a unique address for your site and avoid all the problems associated with the use of shared server addresses. And this in itself will be more than an impressive advantage, including in the process of serving your audience, increasing the level of its satisfaction. This is something that will indirectly affect the effectiveness of SEO as a whole.

Another argument in favor of using dedicated IP-addresses is that this way you can ensure the highest possible availability of your site for the target audience. The fact is that if one of the other users of the address commits illegal actions, the system may well block it completely. This means that your site will be inaccessible to the audience. And what difference does it make what position in the search results it will be in principle.

That is, it is impossible to say unequivocally that the type of IP-address has a direct impact on its SEO indicators, because here everything is far from being as clear-cut as it might seem at first glance. But the indirect effect in this case will be quite impressive. This is what can provide your site with the most stable operation, and, as a result, a good reputation on the network. This is something that will be appreciated by both regular users and the search engine as a whole.

Surely there will be those who will say that there is also an alternative solution here, such as using the same virtual dedicated server, which a priori will have a unique IP-address. But in practice, everything is more complicated here, especially in terms of settings. You get an option that will be difficult to manage literally from the very beginning, that is, not everyone will be able to pull off its implementation.

Is it necessary to use a dedicated IP-address to get an SSL-certificate?

The first thing I would like to draw your attention to in this matter is that the situation with dedicated IPs in terms of installing an SSL certificate has undergone dramatic changes over the past few years. At the very beginning of its creation, this certificate had to be installed to prove the security of the site directly through dedicated IP-addresses. That is, the owners of the sites necessarily bought them. But relatively recently, a new technology aimed at identifying the server name - SNI - was launched. This is the solution that has significantly simplified the process of connecting SSL. In particular, users can now configure a large number of certificates for the same address.

This feature is currently used in practice by various hosting companies. Moreover, today SNI technology is widely supported by browsers, which eliminates the need to purchase a dedicated IP-address to connect an SSL certificate. That is, today it has already become a self-sufficient element in ensuring the security of the data transfer process.

Is it worth using a dedicated IP-address when working with e-mail on hosting?

Let's say that ensuring stable and correct operation of e-mail depends quite seriously on the reliability of the IP-address itself. And this means that it is in your interests to use a dedicated IP here when organizing the sending of e-mail from your site. The fact is that absolutely every address on the network will have its own reputation. The higher it turns out to be in practice, the faster emails can be delivered, and the better their accessibility by the user audience will be.

When working on a shared hosting, users are automatically linked to the addresses that are configured for outgoing email. And this is done directly from the hosting side. If any problems arise on the server, such as another person using the same address starting to send spam en masse, the risk of adding such an IP-address to the blacklist of the Internet provider increases significantly. This means that any attempt to connect from it will be immediately blocked by the system, which will literally nullify your work on the Internet as a whole. And this means that your site will fall under restrictions, subscribers will not receive messages from you.

To prevent this, it is recommended to use special services, third-party sites for a long time, which will help to bypass such blocking and guarantee that your letter will reach the recipient. But still, it is important to worry about his own reputation. This can only be done if you prevent it by using clean IP-addresses, that is, dedicated ones. Here you can ensure complete independence from the actions of third parties, including when sending out emails.

If you change the IP-address for the site, will this have a negative impact on its subsequent promotion?

We would like to say right away that this is a myth that has nothing to do with reality. Even if you decide to change your hosting provider, if you connect additional services to work, including cloud ones, the search engine will simply identify your new address, attached to the domain, and will continue to rely on it. That is, you should not expect any negative consequences in this case.

The only thing you should worry about here is that the received IP-address does not end up on the blacklists of search engines, because then there is a sharp risk of blocking, limiting the availability of the site for the target audience.

Let's sum it up

All the information that we presented in today's review reveals in detail the specifics of shared and dedicated IP addresses, reveals their advantages, and features of application. And this means that you will be able to make the most balanced and appropriate decision about the need to use one or another option in practice. But, today in practice there is another truly unique solution that will help ensure maximum flexibility and convenience of working on the Internet even when using shared IP-addresses.

In this case, we are talking about mobile proxies from the MobileProxy.Space service. Thanks to this, you will transfer your work to the technical capabilities of cellular network operators. As a result, you get dynamically changing IP-addresses, access to a huge number of geolocations belonging to different countries, regions of the world, as well as simultaneous work on the HTTP(S) and Socks5 protocols, which guarantees unrivaled security, functionality, stability, anonymity. You can study more information about mobile proxies here. In the future, you will have access to a technical support service that works around the clock.

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