Overview
A dedicated IPv4 is an internet address that only your VPS uses. A shared IP is one address split across many customers on the same machine.
It matters most for sending email, running clean SSL, keeping a good reputation, and reliable remote access. If any of those are on your list, a dedicated IPv4 is worth having — and because IPv4 addresses are now scarce, one that’s included in the plan has real value.
“Dedicated IPv4” shows up on a lot of spec sheets, usually with no explanation of why you’d care. After years of running servers, here’s the honest take: for some workloads it’s a nice-to-have you’ll never think about, and for others it’s the difference between your email landing in the inbox or vanishing into spam. Let’s make the distinction clear.
Dedicated vs shared: what it actually means
Every server reachable on the internet has at least one IPv4 address — the numeric label, like 203.0.113.45, that the rest of the world uses to find it. The question is whether that address is yours alone.
With a dedicated IPv4, the address maps to your VPS and nothing else. With a shared IP, several customers sit behind the same address, and the provider uses ports or routing to sort the traffic. Shared is cheaper and fine for plenty of uses — until one of the things below applies to you.
The scenario that bites: the noisy neighbour
A short, real example
You set up a small app on a VPS with a shared IP and start sending order confirmation emails. For a week, all good. Then the emails stop arriving. Nothing changed on your side — but another customer on the same shared IP started sending spam, the address got onto a blocklist, and your mail got caught in the same net. You inherited a stranger’s bad reputation, and there’s little you can do except wait or move. That’s the noisy-neighbour problem, and a dedicated IPv4 avoids it entirely.
Where a dedicated IPv4 earns its keep
Here’s the quick version of who actually needs one, and who doesn’t:
| Use case | Dedicated IPv4 | Shared IP |
|---|---|---|
| Sending email | ✓ | ✗ |
| Clean SSL / HTTPS | ✓ | OK |
| IP reputation control | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reliable remote access (RDP/SSH) | ✓ | OK |
| Running your own mail/DNS server | ✓ | ✗ |
| A simple test or hobby box | OK | ✓ |
The pattern is clear: anything where your address’s reputation matters — email above all — wants a dedicated IPv4. Lighter workloads are happy on shared.
Why IPv4 is scarce now (and why “included” matters)
There’s a market reason this line item carries weight in 2026. The world ran out of fresh IPv4 addresses years ago — there are only about 4.3 billion possible IPv4 addresses, and every one is spoken for. They’re now bought and sold like a commodity, and prices have climbed steadily.
IPv6 exists and solves the shortage long-term, but a lot of the internet — and plenty of mail servers — still lean on IPv4. So when a provider includes a dedicated IPv4 in the plan rather than charging monthly for it, that’s a genuine cost they’re absorbing, not marketing fluff.
When a shared IP is genuinely fine
No need to over-buy. If you’re running a throwaway test box, learning a tool, hosting something behind a load balancer that handles the public address, or building anything that doesn’t send mail and doesn’t need a stable reputation — a shared IP is perfectly reasonable. Save the dedicated address for the workloads that actually depend on it.
How hosting662 does it
Straightforward: every VPS comes with a dedicated IPv4 included — not an add-on you pay extra for and remember to enable. Your address is yours, so your mail reputation, SSL and remote access are in your hands, not shared with a stranger who might get you blocklisted.
You can see it alongside the rest of the spec — Ceph SSD, daily backups, 1 Gbps, European datacenter — on the VPS hosting page and the technical specifications page.
Frequently asked questions
What is a dedicated IPv4 on a VPS?
It’s an internet address (like 203.0.113.45) used only by your VPS, not shared with other customers. That gives you full control over the address’s reputation, which matters for email, SSL and remote access.
Do I need a dedicated IPv4 for email?
If you send email from your server, yes — strongly recommended. On a shared IP, another customer’s spam can get the address blocklisted and your mail caught with it. A dedicated IPv4 keeps your sending reputation entirely your own.
Is a shared IP safe to use?
For browsing, testing, or apps that don’t send mail or need a stable reputation, a shared IP is fine. The risk is reputation-based: you share the address’s standing with everyone else on it, which is a problem mainly for email and public-facing services.
Isn’t IPv6 enough now?
IPv6 is the long-term fix for address scarcity, but much of the internet and many mail servers still rely on IPv4. For now, a dedicated IPv4 remains the practical choice for email and reliable reach.
Why do some providers charge extra for a dedicated IPv4?
Because IPv4 addresses are genuinely scarce and now trade as a paid commodity. A provider that includes one in the plan is absorbing a real cost, which is why “dedicated IPv4 included” is worth more than it looks.
The bottom line
A dedicated IPv4 isn’t glamorous, but it’s one of those lines that quietly decides whether your email lands and your service is reliably reachable. If you send mail or run anything reputation-sensitive, get one. If you’re running a test box, don’t bother — and spend the difference where it counts.
Either way, know which you’re getting before you buy. Ours comes included on every VPS — the full spec is on the technical specifications page.
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