Knowing your IP address can help protect your home network and data from prying eyes. Here's how to find it.

What’s an IP Address? Put simply, an IP address (short for Internet Protocol address) is a unique identifier for your machine. Computers have them, but so do tablets and smartphones.

Knowing the local (or private) and external (or public) IP addresses for your devices can help you keep your network running smoothly and safely.

To find your computer’s MAC address, look for the ‘Physical Address’ entry. This line will display your adapter’s MAC address, which typically looks like a string of letters and numbers ...