How to find your Computer Public and Private IP address?

IP (internet protocol) address is used to identify any device or computer connected to a specific network. Every computer connected through common network access information through IP address. Basically any information is exchanged to computers to their respective IP address.

Public and Private IP address

Every computer connected to a network has a public and private address. A public IP address is accessed over internet and it is just like a postal address when a mail is delivered to your home. For example every computer connected over internet has a unique IP address assigned against that particular device which access internet. There is a difference in public and private IP addresses.

Difference between public and private IP address

Public IP address can be assigned to the systems without letting interrupt the internal working between computers. Public IP address allows computers to access internet directly. Any communication over internet like accessing web server or email server can take place through those IP addresses. On the other hand, private IP address is assigned to the computers which are within your internal network without exposing them over internet. For example- if a company has various systems connected to one single network then the router will access public address to each of the devices connected to your internal network. By default router has 192.168.1.254 IP address by which one can configure the modem or router device. Each of the system connected to the router or modem will get assigned a private IP address with the help of DHCP protocol. The assignment of private IP address is done within the internet network organizations as per the allocations by Inter NIC.

Types of private address

There are basically three class of IP blocks available for private usage such as class A (range from 10.0.0.0 — 10.255.255.255), Class B (172.16.0.0 — 172.31.255.255) and class C (192.168.0.0 — 192.168.255.255). Each device connected to the personal network within the organization has a unique private IP address for example a simple printer device connected to your home network will also be assigned a local private IP address through which it can be accessed in the network. Whenever a device is assigned a particular IP address then the local computers identifies the device by the IP address which is assigned to the device. All the devices which will be residing under that local network will be communicating through the private IP address In order to allow direct access to those devices one needs to use NAT (Network Address Translator).

How to find your system Public IP address

In order to find the private IP address of your computer in Windows, you need to open Control Panel -> Go to View Network Status and tasks -> Click on the name of your internet connection -> Then check the status -> Under the details button you will get the information about IPv4 IP address (connection information).

Significance of Router / Modem

All the devices connected in a local network are connected using either a router or a modem. The assignment of local private IP addresses is done via modem which ultimately is assigned a public IP address through which it is visible over internet. In order to configure the local private IP addresses, one has to make changes in the modem or router settings. This can be done by accessing router by entering its default IP address in the browser i.e.192.168.1.254 IP address. By default all the modems and routers are having this address as the default IP address through which configuration changes or reset of modem can be done easily. Generally all the devices connected in the local network are assigned IP addresses within the private IP address range i.e.Class A, Class B or Class C depending on the number of host requirement. However the 192.168.1.254 IP address is generally not assigned to any of the device mainly because of this is the default IP address of modem or routers which access internet. It is also done to avoid any IP conflicts in the machine which may lead to network outage or disconnection.

How to assign private IP address?

There is a possibility that one can assign static IP address within the network. This can be done by following below steps.

1. Open network connections under control panel for windows OS
2. Now right click on the LAN connection or local area connection
3. Select Properties and then click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
4. Now click on Properties button
5. A check box will appear where you can enter the required IP address depending on the number of hosts; you can select to assign IP address range from Class A, Class B or Class C.

Above information will help you understand about public and private IP address, how to find information and what ways to assign a private IP address are.