Hacked computer? Someone's on my Wi-Fi?

I'm currently connected to my home Wi-Fi. However, when I check IPStack, it displays an IP address and a location that isn't even remotely where I actually am. I suppose you might wonder if this is somehow normal?

On top of that... when I attempted to edit an article on Wikipedia, a message popped up stating that editing is temporarily blocked for my IP address. The strange thing is, the address listed there isn't mine at all, and the number doesn't match what I see on IPStack. On Wikipedia, it shows this odd format that looks like xxx.xxx.xx.x/xx. What kind of IP address ends with /xx, and why would I be blocked when I haven't even edited anything on Wikipedia yet—not to mention my current IP isn't even the one they're mentioning?? 😕

You really think you got hacked?

Those IP lookup tools aren't always 100% spot on anyway... might be right once in a blue moon, but don't bet on it.
Plus, IPs flip around all the time, so you could end up seeing an address that used to belong to someone else halfway across the country.

And look, if that tracker says you're suddenly in Switzerland or Canada or something, you probably just have some app running a VPN in the background...

With a VPN, you're jumping onto a server in a totally different country or continent, so the IP stack thinks that's where you're sitting.

As for why your IP is blocked... just try rebooting your router. You might snag a fresh IP and then give it another shot.

If you're still worried someone's piggybacking on your WiFi, just swap out the password. Log into the router, see who's lurking on your network, kick off anything that isn't yours, and change the password like I said... simple as that.

I mean, even if someone else happened to jump on his Wi-Fi, they’d just be sharing the exact same IP address; it wouldn't change anything or affect the IP at all, I suppose.

And besides, most IPs tend to rotate every 24 hours anyway, don't they?

>>IPStack tools are notoriously unreliable here in the States, too—for me, it constantly bounces between three different states while I'm actually sitting in a fourth one. It probably just points to some local network hub or a central switching station or something like that, I guess.

😁
So you wanted to edit the wiki despite saying you've never done it before. I guess you can't actually edit anything unless you're logged in anyway. 😁
Maybe just ask Wikipedia why you were banned. 🙂

None of those points actually serve as an indicator.

1. IP location data isn't reliable anyway; at most, you might see if the ISP matches your

2. An IP ending in /xx means the entire subnet is blocked on Wikipedia.

Some providers try to "save" on IP addresses by using CGN, so a ton of users end up sharing the same one. I guess you're with a provider that does that?

Kenneth Cruz67 said:I mean, even if someone else happened to jump on his Wi-Fi, they’d just be sharing the exact same IP address; it wouldn't change anything or affect the IP at all, I suppose.

And besides, most IPs tend to rotate every 24 hours anyway, don't they?

>>IPStack tools are notoriously unreliable here in the States, too—for me, it constantly bounces between three different states while I'm actually sitting in a fourth one. It probably just points to some local network hub or a central switching station or something like that, I guess.

That’s not even about getting an IP banned. Like I said, if you think someone's piggybacking on your signal, just check the router and swap the password. And honestly, a lot of IPs get blacklisted all the time just because too many people are hitting the same site through a VPN...

feralcrane5 said:I'm currently connected to my home Wi-Fi. However, when I check IPStack, it displays an IP address and a location that isn't even remotely where I actually am. I suppose you might wonder if this is somehow normal?

On top of that... when I attempted to edit an article on Wikipedia, a message popped up stating that editing is temporarily blocked for my IP address. The strange thing is, the address listed there isn't mine at all, and the number doesn't match what I see on IPStack. On Wikipedia, it shows this odd format that looks like xxx.xxx.xx.x/xx. What kind of IP address ends with /xx, and why would I be blocked when I haven't even edited anything on Wikipedia yet—not to mention my current IP isn't even the one they're mentioning?? 😕

For those of you who aren't exactly tech geniuses, yeah, that’s totally normal. 😁

feralcrane5 said:I'm currently connected to my home Wi-Fi. However, when I check IPStack, it displays an IP address and a location that isn't even remotely where I actually am. I suppose you might wonder if this is somehow normal?

On top of that... when I attempted to edit an article on Wikipedia, a message popped up stating that editing is temporarily blocked for my IP address. The strange thing is, the address listed there isn't mine at all, and the number doesn't match what I see on IPStack. On Wikipedia, it shows this odd format that looks like xxx.xxx.xx.x/xx. What kind of IP address ends with /xx, and why would I be blocked when I haven't even edited anything on Wikipedia yet—not to mention my current IP isn't even the one they're mentioning?? 😕

Yep. Basically, the physical spot where a user is sitting compared to what their ISP reports has zero correlation most of the time.

Just because you're sitting in a small town in Kansas doesn't mean you can act like a tough guy thinking you're untraceable just because the IP says you're in some random part of Chicago. You think the local sheriff won't find you in an hour? Oh, they will. Public data doesn't care about how things work behind the scenes.

Also... when I tried to edit a Wikipedia article, it told me editing is temporarily blocked for my IP address, but the address shown isn't mine at all, and the number is totally different from what IPStack shows.

You basically inherited someone else's IP because your provider rotated it through their pool.

Honestly, you got lucky. You could've had SWAT knocking on your door at 4 AM.

On Wikipedia, there's this weird string that looks like xxx.xxx.xx.x/xx. What kind of IP ends in /xx? And why am I blocked when I haven't even edited anything, and my current IP isn't even that one?? 😕

It's called classless routing—been the industry standard for like 30 years. If you want to be anonymous online, you actually have to try.

Jacob Cook65 said:😁
So you wanted to edit the wiki despite saying you've never done it before. I guess you can't actually edit anything unless you're logged in anyway. 😁
Maybe just ask Wikipedia why you were banned. 🙂

Actually, editing without logging in is possible.
I would ask them myself, but I guess my system won't let me send the same thing twice.

fadedorca66 said:Some providers try to "save" on IP addresses by using CGN, so a ton of users end up sharing the same one. I guess you're with a provider that does that?

iscon Quote

William Palmer7 said:None of those points actually serve as an indicator.

1. IP location data isn't reliable anyway; at most, you might see if the ISP matches your

2. An IP ending in /xx means the entire subnet is blocked on Wikipedia.

In plain English for those of us who aren't tech-savvy, what does that actually mean?

Suppose your IP address is 37.187.238.236, and the blocked range is
37.187.238.0/24 (which covers 37.187.238.0 through 37.187.238.255)
In that case, your IP is blocked too.

fadedorca66 said:Some providers try to "save" on IP addresses by using CGN, so a ton of users end up sharing the same one. I guess you're with a provider that does that?

Look, CGN isn't just about cutting corners—it's actually a necessity. It's basically advanced NAT. Think of it as a later version of a proxy, but an earlier step before we get to algae.

The evolution goes like this: proxy -> NAT -> CGN -> algae. (And don't forget the IPv4-to-IPv6 encapsulation part!)

There are a million reasons why things are set up this way, but one major headache is that people running small home setups without their own leased IP ranges run into massive issues.

But hey, who actually owns even half of the available IPv4 space anyway?