Public IP address
Think of a public IP address like your home address, but for your device. It’s completely unique to you and, without it, you wouldn’t be able to get important packages delivered, or sent for that matter. But with a public IP address, the “packages” come and go in the form of data and, just like a home address, it’s visible to anyone who wants to send you something. While the post office predetermines your home address—your internet service provider (ISP) assigns your public IP address. For example, when you search on the internet, you’re using a public IP address.
Private IP address
If a public IP address is like a home address, a private IP address is like a bedroom in your house. You certainly don’t need to share any info about it in order to get important “packages” or data delivered to your house. Private IP addresses are like that. They're used within a smaller network, like your private home Wi-Fi network, and they're not directly accessible from the internet or assigned by your ISP. They're internal addresses used for communication between devices within your home network. For example, connected devices like your PC, laptop, TV, smart assistant, doorbell, etc., each uses a private IP address in order to communicate.
What are static vs. dynamic IP addresses?
Simply put: a static IP address doesn’t change, while a dynamic IP address does. For example, your ISP will give you an IP address to use for a while but (unbeknownst to you most likely) it’ll probably change every now and then—because ISPs have a limited number of IP addresses to give out, so they tend to recycle them among users.
IPv4 vs. IPv6 differences
Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is the fourth (legacy) version of IP, while, you guessed it, IPv6 is being touted as the sixth “latest and greatest” version. We touched earlier on the limited number of IP addresses out there. Well, IPv6 is in the process of replacing the older version to accommodate the ever-expanding number of networks worldwide and to help solve the IP address shortage issue. They look different, too. IPv4 addresses are 32-bit numerical values (e.g., four numbers separated by periods: 123.456.78.90), IPv6 are 128-bit (e.g., eight groups of four separated by colons: 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334).
While the transition has been somewhat slow, IPv6 is making headway and, in theory, is supposed to be faster, while offering everyone more security down the road. Again, the average person probably won’t notice anything at all for some time.
T-Mobile is America’s fastest growing Home Internet provider. Find out if it's available in your area and then try it out for 15 days to see if it works for you.
Sources:
https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/ip-address-internet-protocol-address
https://www.avg.com/en/signal/public-vs-private-ip-address
https://www.scaler.in/public-and-private-ip-addresses/
https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/static-vs-dynamic-ip
https://whatismyipaddress.com/dynamic-static
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/internet-protocol-version-6-ipv6-consumers
https://www.linksys.com/in/support-article
https://www.sidn.nl/en/news-and-blogs/tipping-point-reached-transition-to-ipv6-enters-a-new-phase