What is a DDoS attack and can they hit my public IP?
A DDoS attack floods a public IP address or website until it slows down. Checking what is my IP does not cause it. Posting that IP in a game lobby can make you a target.
A DDoS attack is a flood. Many machines send so much traffic at one public IP address or site that it slows down or falls over. Your home IP can be a target in small ways. It is more often a bystander. Checking what is my IP does not stop a flood. It tells you which address the internet already knows.
What does DDoS mean?
Distributed denial of service. Distributed means the junk comes from many places, often a botnet of infected PCs and cameras. Denial of service means the real users cannot get through. It is not stealing your files. It is crowding the door.
Can someone DDoS me if they know my IP?
They can try. A home broadband line is easier to knock over than a big CDN. Game consoles and voice chat sometimes leak a public IP to a rude player. If your connection dies only while you play, that is a classic hassle. A VPN can change the public IP the game sees. It is not magic, and some games hate VPNs.
Do not publish a what is my IP screenshot in a public lobby. You handed them the number.
Is a slow internet a DDoS?
Usually not. ISP congestion, a bad WiFi channel, and a backup eating the line are more common. If only one device is fine on cellular, the home path is the suspect. IP geolocation will not diagnose it.
What should I do?
Restart the router. Call the ISP if it lasts. Do not pay a “DDoS protection” DM. For a small server at home, hiding it behind a tunnel is saner than opening a port. For a website, that is a host and CDN problem, not a laptop problem.
Your public IP is a handle. Treat it like one. Do not paste it. A VPN is one way to move the handle. Unique passwords and a locked router still matter more than a flood you will probably never see.