1.
Short for Internet Protocol, IP is an address of a
computer or other network device on a network using IP or TCP/IP. For
example, the number "166.70.10.23" is an example of such an address.
These addresses are similar to
an addresses used on a house and is what allows data to reach the
appropriate destination on a network.
There are five classes of available IP ranges: Class A, Class B,
Class C, Class D and Class E, while only A, B, and C are commonly used.
Each class allows for a range of valid IP addresses. Below is a listing
of these addresses.
| Class | Address Range | Supports |
| Class A | 1.0.0.1 to 126.255.255.254 | Supports 16 million hosts on each of 127 networks. |
| Class B | 128.1.0.1 to 191.255.255.254 | Supports 65,000 hosts on each of 16,000 networks. |
| Class C | 192.0.1.1 to 223.255.254.254 | Supports 254 hosts on each of 2 million networks. |
| Class D | 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255 | Reserved for multicast groups. |
| Class E | 240.0.0.0 to 254.255.255.254 | Reserved for future use, or Research and Development Purposes. |
Ranges 127.x.x.x are reserved for the loopback or localhost, for example, 127.0.0.1
is the common loopback address. Range 255.255.255.255
broadcasts to all hosts on the local network.
IP address breakdown
Every IP address is broke down into four sets of octets that break down into binary to represent the actual IP address. The below
table is an example of the IP 255.255.255.255.
If you are new to binary, we highly recommend reading our
binary and hexadecimal conversions section to get
a better understanding of what we're doing in the below charts.
| IP: | 255 | 255 | 255 | 255 |
| Binary value: | 11111111 | 11111111 | 11111111 | 11111111 |
| Octet value: | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
If we were to break down the IP "166.70.10.23", you would get the below value.
In the below table, the first row is the IP address, the second row is the binary values, and the
third row shows how the binary value equals the section of the
IP address.
| 166 | 70 | 10 | 23 |
| 10100110 | 01000110 | 00001010 | 00010111 |
| 128+32+4+2=166 | 64+4+2=70 | 8+2=10 | 16+4+2+1=23 |
Automatically assigned addresses
There are several IP addresses
that are automatically assigned when you setup a home network. These default
addresses are what allow your computer and other network devices to communicate
and broadcast information over your network. Below is the most commonly assigned
network addresses in a home network.
| 192.168.1.0 | 0 is the automatically assigned network address. |
| 192.168.1.1 | 1 is the commonly used address used as the gateway. |
| 192.168.1.2 | 2 is also a commonly used address used for a gateway. |
| 192.168.1.3 - 254 | Addresses beyond 3 are assigned to computers and devices on the network. |
| 192.168.1.255 | 255 is automatically assigned on most networks as the broadcast address. |
Getting an IP address
By default the
router you use will assign each of your computers their own IP address,
often using NAT to forward the data
coming from those computers to outside networks such as the Internet. If you
need to register an IP address that can be seen on the Internet, you must register through InterNIC
or use a web host that can assign you addresses.
Other IP address questions and answers
- See your IP address and other system settings.
- How to determine an IP address.
- How do I determine the IP address of another computer or website?
- Help with ping, winipcfg, and other network commands.
- How do I determine the physical location of an IP address?
- How can I hide my IP address?
- Computer networks and network card help and support.
2. A Linux and Unix command that allows the user to configure their
network settings. See the ip command page
for further information.
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