IP Addresses....Need a little help please ~ only knowledgable responses please.

If the website banned her because they said she was using two different accounts from the same IP address, it will very likely be because two people in her house (sharing an Internet connection) were logged on to the same site. It's the same thing as if there was an apartment block at one street address. The postal worker only knows that he has to deliver mail to that building: it may not be his responsibility to put it in separate mailboxes in that building. In other words, as far as the Post Office is concerned, everyone in that building lives at the same address.

I can only assume, Renita, that the site that banned you either made a mistake or you really did have a different IP address on two occasions. It is possible that you have a 'dynamic' connection through your DSL. That means that from time to time your provider will assign you a different IP address. They do this in order to save on IP addresses. Imagine a company with, say 10,000 customers. Not all of those 10,000 may log in at once so, if the company only sees 50% of their customers online, they really only need 5,000 IP addresses and each time a customer logs in they get a different IP address. This practice is becoming less common. Most ISPs will assign you a fixed IP that is the same every time you log on. Rarely this will be changed - if there is a problem or if you upgrade your speed, for example - but normally your address won't change. Clearing your cookies regularly can sometimes cause a problem with some sites because they will use BOTH your IP address and cookies to determine that you are the same person logging in to that account. You should, perhaps, NOT clear cookies for that particular site.

I'm the friend Henry was referring to, so I'm still a little confused on this! I only had one account with the site, but 2 home computers (a desktop and a laptop) which connect through the same DSL line. I clear cookies frequently (multiple times per day). I've been reading through everyone's replies and, quite frankly, I'm still not understanding how they could have banned me for showing 2 different IP addresses. I don't even use my computer anywhere but at home...??? Thanks for your input!

well, that could happen too. you might consider the dynamic ip which assigned by your isp provider. They couldn't track the single IP address with that. And the cookie can be the major factor too.