Advanced Wireless Services

How can three individuals with laptops have the same IP address in a room with one high speed wireless line?

We're having a problem with IP address. I go into a coffee shop. It has wireless high speed internet. I just open my lap top & I'm on the internet. Someone said I sent an email that I didn't. They threw this IP adress at me. At the coffee shop my IP adress is "123" for example, and at home its "456". But if my son goes to the coffee shop his is "123" also. I don't understand.... So AT THE COFFEE SHOP, is Everyones IP address "123" while at the coffee shop? Does this IP address follow the COMPUTER or the LOCATION?

Public Comments

1. The IP address is issued to the router. Everyone going through that router will have the same IP.
2. Everyone can't have the same IP address, but the first part of the address would be the same for example 192.168.0.xxx The IP address is a generic one and is comming from the wirless router that you are connecting to so they follow the router. A computer will get a new generic IP address from every router that you connect to
3. The ip is for the wireless router at the coffee shop which is the only one the outside world sees. Next time your there do Start> Run> type cmd click ok then type ipconfig /all You'll see what I mean
4. The people at the coffee shop share the same public IP address, that is the one seen by other internet users. They have unique IP addresses in the room but the router communicates on the internet using a single address. The same happens at your house. IP address are dependent on location to a certain extent. You can set your IP address on your computer but the router or your modem will use whatever the ISP gives it.
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