What Is a Private IP Address?

A private IP address is a unique address assigned to an individual or an organization for its internal network. These addresses are not routable on the Internet and are used for local area networks in office, home, and enterprise environments. Several private IP address ranges have been defined in the IPv4 and IPv6 specifications.

Configure your router settings by entering username/password with default IP address: 10.0.0.1

Class C private IP address allows configuring a small network with up to 254 devices

A Private Class C IP address is an IP address suitable for a small network with up to 254 devices. The first three bits of a class C IP address are reserved for network identification, leaving the remaining 21 bits free for the network’s host ID. The remaining byte is allocated at the network owner’s discretion.

In the IP address, the first byte represents the network type, and the remaining three bytes define the range of the network number. Each byte contains a decimal value between zero and 255. The last two octets are reserved for use in Internet Engineering Task Force testing. Although there are many possibilities for router’s IP addresses, there are also a few rules to be followed when choosing an address.

Class B private IP address allows configuring a medium-sized network with up to 500 devices

A Class B private IP address allows configuring dozens to hundreds of devices in a medium-sized network. Its first octet always contains the value one and the rest are used to identify the network. The remaining six bits form the network ID, while the third and fourth octets are used to identify individual hosts. The value ranges from one to ninety-two.

A Class B private IP address is used for configuring a medium-sized network with around 500 devices. This type of IP address does not need to be reserved for Internet-facing devices. However, if a device is used for private networking, it cannot connect to the Internet. Router’s IP addresses are assigned by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), an organization that records IP address assignments and works with regional bodies to make sure that each one is unique. The current IP address space, IPv4, includes five classes of IP addresses. You can choose the appropriate class for your network by considering the size of the network and your design requirements.

Class C private IP address is reserved for internal use only

A private IP address that is classed as Class C is reserved for internal use only. These addresses have a number of reserved bits that indicate which type of IP address they belong to. Those reserved bits are set according to IP Protocol specifications. The first three bits are set to “1” and the fourth bit is set to “0”. The 32-bit number is a network address. It is mainly used for multicasting applications such as audio and video streaming. It does not require a subnet mask.

The first three octets of a private IP address are used for network identification, and the remaining 21 bits are used for the host ID. This identifies only a specific network, which can have up to 254 hosts.

Class C private IP address is not routable on the Internet

Unlike public IP addresses, Class C private IP addresses are not routable on the Internet. They are typically assigned to residential customers by their ISP. Many homes have multiple Internet-connected devices, so a network address translation (NAT) device must be installed to provide connectivity to all hosts.

Private IP addresses are useful for devices without an Internet connection. They enable printers, scanners, and file servers to communicate with each other. However, because they cannot be routable on the Internet, private IP addresses cannot directly receive traffic from the Internet. Instead, they rely on Network Address Translation (NAT), which allows multiple devices to share a single public IP address.

Class C addresses are used for small to medium-sized networks. They contain about two million networks. The first two octets of the address are used for the network ID and the rest of the bits represent the host ID. Thus, a Class C network address can have approximately six thousand hosts per network.

Class D private IP address is reserved for internal use only

An IP address is a number assigned to a computer and identifies it on the Internet. There are several different classes of IP addresses. A private IP address can be either Class A, B, or C. Class A addresses are intended for small networks, while Class B addresses are for large networks.

Class D addresses are reserved for multicasting applications and are 32-bit network addresses. They are used for multicasting applications, such as real-time video streaming. Because these addresses have no subnet mask, they do not require a host address to be decoded.

A private IP address can only be used internally in a private network. It cannot be used on the public Internet. Internet routers will not forward packets with a private IP address. There are three blocks of private IP addresses, one in the Class A range, one in the Class B range, and the third block is reserved for internal use only.