What Is an IP Address?
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FRITZ!Box Fon 5124 – 7 Network Settings
IP Network
A network in which data exchange takes place on the basis
of the Internet Protocol is called an IP network.
What Is an IP Address?
The term IP address is the abbreviation for Internet Protocol
address.
The IP address corresponds to the “postal” address of a de-
vice located in the Internet or in a local IP network. So that
data packets are sure to be delivered to the right address,
each IP address may be assigned only once within the Inter-
net or a local IP network.
The IP address consists of four three-digit groups of numer-
als (e.g. 192.168.178.254). Each group of numbers can as-
sume values between 000 and 255.
Every IP address contains two components: the network ad-
dress and the host address. These two components can be
read out of an IP address only if the subnet mask is also
specified.
IP addresses can be public or private, and also fixed or as-
signed dynamically.
Public IP Address
A public IP address is an IP address valid in the Internet. Ev-
ery computer or router participating in the Internet must
have a public IP address. This address is usually negotiated
dynamically with the Internet provider when a connection to
the Internet is dialed. The Internet provider assigns the nego-
tiated IP address to the computer or router for the duration of
an Internet session.
Private IP Address
Private IP addresses are used for computers and other net-
work devices within local IP networks.
Since many local IP networks are not connected to the Inter-
net except via single computers or routers (gateway), certain
address ranges are excluded from the publicly available IP
