What IP adress is? How to find it out? Well this all may be easier than you think. In this article you will find out everything you are supposed to know about IP adress. At first we are going to start with the basics to help you understand all of it.
What is an IP adress?
As we mentioned before, we should start with the basics and explainng what IP adress is, the best thing to start with. You should know that an IP adress is a string of numbers that are assigned to computers, servers, routers and to be honest to anything that is connected to the internet.
IP adress in fact works the same as regular adress. It simply pinpoints the location of any device, network or a system around the world.
IP adress types
You should be aware of everything when you want to know stuff about IP adress, and types of IP addresses are part of the knowledge you should have.
When it comes to IP adress types they are divided according:
- to their versions,
- to how are they being used in a network,
- to how they are being assigned to a host.
There are also other special types of IP adresses which are:
- local host IP,
- default geteway IP,
- multicast IP,
- broadcast IP.
IP adress types according to their versions
When it comes to this type of IP adress we have two types of it, which are:
- IPv4,
- IPv6.
When it comes to IPv4 it is the original version of IP adresses and it still used very widely in computer networks like for example Internet. This IP type is represented in dotted-decimal notation as four decimal numbers and when it comes to binary notation it is represented in dotted-decimal notation as 32-bits numbers. You should also know that this IP adress can be into a network-part and host-part.
Now lets take a look at IPv6, it was created to deal with the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses. When it comes to this IP adress it has space that is much larger than the other one.
IP adress according to how are they being used in a network
When it comes to these IP adress there are Public IP adress and Private IP adress. When we will take a look at Public one you should know that they are being used on hosts that are connected to the Internet. Only these IP adresses are routable on the Interent.
Now let’s take a look at Private IP adress. To safe space there was ceated three ranges of IP adresses which only can be used in internal LAN networks. There are three type of private IP ranges, which are:
- 10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255,
- 172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255,
- 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255.
IP adress according to how they are being assigned to a host
Here goes another two types of IP adresses which are Static IP and Dynamic IP. When it comes to Static IP adress it is configured to a device by hands of an administrator and also is fixed on the device. This IP adress can be as well public as private.
Now let’s take a look at Dynamic IP, it is assigned dynamically to hosts by an external server in an automated way. The server that is using this IP is a server called DHCP. These IPs are the bets options for a management perspective.
Local host IP, default getaway IP,multicast IP and broadcast IP
Here we will speak about four other types of IP adresses, that is why you should keep reading to find out more about types of Ips.
Local host IP can be also called loopback IP. It is reserved for purposes like internal host communication.
Default geteway IP is usually a WiFi router IP tag. It helps all informations to reach your network.
Multicast IP is in fact a special range of reserved IPs which are being used for one up to many communication. That is why this IP type is being used in multimedia communication.
Broadcast IP – traffic that is sent to this IP adress is in fact recived by all hosts in this specific Layer 3 segment.
How to find your IP adress?
If you want to find public IP asdress you should simply open a web browser, then go to websites like for example whatsmyip.org, whatismyip.com or any similar type of website. Any of these webpages finds and displays the public IP address of your network.
When you will want to find a Private IP adress, how to do it may depend on this what device and system you are using. For example when you are using for example Mac, you should go for System Preferencs and then go to Network. In this window you will be able to find IP adress. When you are using Windows you should open Network & Internet then choose Properties in WiFi, then just scroll down and find IPv4 adress, that is just your local IP adress.
Conclusion
When it comes to an IP adress you should now know all that you are supposed to know. Now you know what IP is and what types there are. Understanding the network and how it works is quite important to stay safe in Net.
Always be aware of important things such as IP adress. If you had troubles in finding your IP adress now you for sure will know how to do it!
I needed to find my IP adress on my mac, tanks for helping me finding it. This is just what I needed.