Private IP Address

Private LAN and Wireless Networks are often configured to use Private IP Address Space. These are ranges of IP addresses that cannot be routed across the Internet. Computers using this Address Space can only access the Internet through a Gateway Router configured with a routable IP address on its WAN port. Any number of internal networks can use Private IP Address Space as long as those addresses are isolated from any other network using them. These ranges are commonly used in networks spanning from small home networks to large business networks. A process called NAT or Network Address Translation allows the private addresses to be converted to the public address of the Gateway Router. Without this process, all internal computers would each have to have a public, routable IP Address. Routable IP Addresses must be purchased and configuring hundreds or thousands of PCs and laptops with public addresses would be prohibitively expensive. The three Private IP Address ranges specified by RFC 1918 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

The LAN port of the IT-100 is set with a default IP address of 10.9.8.7. This address is part of a network of addresses ranging from 10.9.8.0 to 10.9.8.255, which is part of the Private IP Address Space. The Wireless port on the device is set with a default IP address of 10.9.9.1 which is part of the address range 10.9.9.0 to 10.9.9.255; also part of the Private IP Address Space. See the terms Gateway, NAT, and Router in this Glossary for more information.