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To change the IP address that websites see, turn on a VPN: the site will see the address of a server in the country you chose, not yours. Restarting your router or toggling airplane mode on your phone also gives you a new address, but from the same ISP and in the same region, so your location as seen by websites hardly changes. Changing the IP manually in Windows or Android settings only changes the address inside your home network; nobody sees it from outside.
If you want a method that works with a single tap on your phone, tablet and TV, we recommend BessyConnect: it changes your IP to the address of one of more than 100 servers and disguises the tunnel as ordinary HTTPS.
From an IP address, a website determines your ISP and approximate location: the country almost always, the city with a noticeable margin of error. An IP doesn't contain your name, phone number, street or apartment. MaxMind, a major provider of geolocation databases, says plainly in its help center that IP geolocation can't reliably identify a household, a person or an address, and prohibits its customers from trying to do so.
| What | Visible from the IP | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Country | Yes | The most reliable thing geolocation databases provide |
| City, region | Approximately | The error can be large; the city may not match |
| ISP | Yes | The network name and type: mobile, residential, hosting |
| Exact address, apartment | No | Only the ISP knows this, from your contract |
| Name, phone, email | No | The site learns these from your account and cookies, not from the IP |
| Whether you use a VPN | Sometimes | Databases like MaxMind flag addresses of hosting and VPN providers |
Hence the main takeaway: changing your IP hides your address from websites, but your ISP still knows who you are, since the address is tied to your contract.
Open any checking service, such as Yandex Internetometer or ifconfig.me: it will show your external (public) address. That's the one websites see. The address in the Wi-Fi settings on your phone or in the network adapter properties on your computer is internal; only the router needs it.
How to tell them apart by the numbers:
The last point matters: with CGNAT, restarting the router almost never changes the address websites see, because it belongs to the ISP's equipment, not to you.
There are five methods, and only a VPN, a proxy and Tor change the country. The rest give you a new address from the same ISP's pool.
| Method | New address for websites | Country changes | ISP sees the sites | Encryption |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restarting the router | Sometimes, if the address is dynamic | No | Yes | No |
| Airplane mode on the phone | Usually yes | No | Yes | No |
| A different network (Wi-Fi instead of mobile) | Yes | No | Yes, the new ISP | No |
| Proxy | Yes | Yes | Usually yes | Usually no |
| Tor | Yes, changes regularly | Yes, but choosing the country is hard | No | Yes |
| VPN | Yes | Yes, you choose | No, it only sees the tunnel | Yes |
A proxy and a VPN serve the same purpose but differ in scope: a proxy works for one app or browser, while a VPN redirects all of the device's traffic. A detailed comparison is in the article proxy or VPN.
Tor is more complicated in Russia. According to the Tor Project, from December 1, 2021, some Russian ISPs started blocking the network, and on December 8, 2021, as Interfax reported, Roskomnadzor blocked the torproject.org website. Without bridges, the browser often doesn't connect. When Tor is justified and when a VPN is enough is covered in the article Tor or VPN.
On any device the fastest way is the same: install a VPN app and connect to a server. Methods without a VPN depend on the connection type.
An Android phone or iPhone:
iPhone owners with an iCloud+ subscription have "iCloud Private Relay". It hides your IP from websites in Safari, but doesn't change the country. Apple writes in its technology overview (December 2021) that the relay's addresses always correspond to the user's original country and time zone, and it doesn't allow spoofing your location.
Computer:
Router:
A VPN only changes your IP-based location. The phone's geolocation and your account region in the app store live separately, and most "why didn't my country change" questions come down to exactly this.
Three different "locations":
So a VPN will help you open a site that doesn't work in your country, but it won't move your Google Play account or Apple ID to another region. It's a similar story with games: the account region and the match servers are often determined differently. Which country to choose for a specific task is suggested in the article which country to choose in a VPN.
The IP is just one way to recognize a user. Websites and ad networks recognize you by cookies, by your account login and by your browser fingerprint, and changing your address doesn't affect any of that.
The EFF, in its description of the Cover Your Tracks project, explains: ad networks link visits primarily using cookies and browser fingerprinting. A fingerprint is made up of browser and hardware characteristics, and together they're often unique. If you're signed in to Google or VK (VKontakte), the service knows who you are from any IP.
What to do if changing the address isn't all you care about:
More about what remains visible with the tunnel on is covered in the article does a VPN make you anonymous.
For changing your IP on a phone or TV, BessyConnect is more convenient than manual methods: an address in another country appears after a single tap, and the connection is encrypted. It runs on VLESS with Reality camouflage, so to the network the tunnel looks like ordinary HTTPS.
What matters for this particular task:
Download the app:
The app isn't in the Russian App Store; to install it on iPhone you need an Apple ID from another country. There's no Windows app either.
The honest limit: BessyConnect changes your IP, but it doesn't change your GPS location or your account region in Google Play or Apple ID, and it doesn't hide you from a service you've signed in to with your own login.
If you need to change your IP address quickly and on all your devices, start with BessyConnect's trial period: apps for iPhone, Mac, Android and TVs are on the download page.
Can I change my IP address without a VPN? Yes: restart your router, toggle airplane mode on and off, or connect to a different network. The new address will be from the same ISP and in the same country, so your location as seen by websites won't change.
Why did my IP stay the same after restarting the router? Most likely you have a static address or your ISP uses CGNAT. Check the WAN field in the router settings: an address in the 100.64–100.127 range means a shared carrier address that you can't change.
Does a VPN change the location on my phone? No, only the IP-based location. Maps, ride-hailing and delivery apps determine your location via GPS, Wi-Fi and cell towers, and a VPN doesn't touch this data.
Can someone find out where I live from my IP address? From an IP, a website learns the country, approximate city and ISP. Only the ISP knows the exact address, and according to MaxMind, IP geolocation can't reliably identify a specific household.
How do I change my IP with BessyConnect? Install the app from the App Store or Google Play, choose a server in the country you need and connect. Registration isn't required, and there's a trial period; there's no Windows app.
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