Yes, my understanding is the following:
AOL USER =>CLIENT IP=> AOL => PROXY IP=> Website
My connection to AOL is on one IP - when I go to the internet - it uses another.
If you do winipcfg - I get a 172.xxx.xxx.xxx IP. This is no different than a 192 IP address in that it is internal to AOL.
If I go out on the web - to
www.whatismyip.com it shows:
64.12.96.143
If I go to grc or some other sites - it actually shows my cable modem IP - I don't understand that. And if I do a traceroute from
http://megawx.aws.com/support/faq/software/ip.asp
it shows my ip as:
cache-rc01.proxy.aol.com (152.163.188.65)
I am a little different in that I use a cable modem to access the net, but I know that almost all my aol hits say proxy in them somewhere.