Dedicated IP
A VPN address assigned to you alone rather than shared with other subscribers.
Glossary
NAT
Also called: Network address translation
Sharing one public address between many devices, which is how commercial VPN servers put hundreds of users behind a single IP.
Why it matters
Shared NAT is a privacy feature in itself: traffic from one address cannot be attributed to one user without records that map sessions to users.
What most explanations leave out
It is also why a dedicated IP is a trade-off rather than an upgrade. A dedicated address removes the crowd you were hiding in, in exchange for not being blocked alongside everyone else who shares it.
Related terms
Port forwarding
Allowing inbound connections to reach your device through the VPN, rather than only outbound connections.
Referenced from
Terms are defined here because they appear in our scoring rubric or in provider reviews, not to fill a glossary.