What Is a LAN IP Address and How Does It Work?
If you've ever connected to the internet through a router, you're probably familiar with the concept of IP addresses. Every device on a network needs an IP address to communicate with other devices. But did you know there are actually two types of IP addresses? One is your public IP address, which identifies your router on the internet, and the other is a local IP address, which identifies devices within your local network.
A local IP address, also known as a LAN IP address, is a private address that is only visible within your local network. It's used to identify devices such as your computer or smartphone on the network, so they can communicate with each other and access shared resources like printers or storage devices.
One key feature of a LAN IP address is that it's assigned by your router using a protocol called DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). When a device connects to your network, it requests an IP address from the router. The router then assigns an available address from a pool of addresses reserved for the local network.
Typically, LAN IP addresses are assigned from a specific range reserved for private networks. There are three commonly used ranges: 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, and 192.168.0.0/16. These ranges are not routable on the internet, which means devices on your local network cannot be accessed directly from the internet using their LAN IP address.
Overall, a LAN IP address is crucial to the functioning of a local network. Without it, devices on the network wouldn't be able to communicate with each other or access shared resources. DHCP makes it easy for routers to manage IP addresses for multiple devices, and the use of private address ranges ensures that local networks remain secure by preventing direct access from the internet.