If you look at the table you may notice something strange. The range of IP address from Class A to Class B skips the 127.0.0.0-127.255.255.255 range. That is because this range is reserved for the special addresses called Loopback addresses that have already been discussed above.

The rest of classes are allocated to companies and organizations based upon the amount of IP addresses that they may need. Listed below are descriptions of the IP classes and the organizations that will typically receive that type of allocation.

Default Network: The special network 0.0.0.0 is generally used for routing.

Class A: From the table above you see that there are 126 class A networks. These networks consist of 16,777,214 possible IP addresses that can be assigned to devices and computers. This type of allocation is generally given to very large networks such as multi-national companies.

Loopback: This is the special 127.0.0.0 network that is reserved as a loopback to your own computer. These addresses are used for testing and debugging of your programs or hardware.

Class B: This class consists of 16,384 individual networks, each allocation consisting of 65,534 possible IP addresses. These blocks are generally allocated to Internet Service Providers and large networks, like a college or major hospital.

Class C: There is a total of 2,097,152 Class C networks available, with each network consisting of 255 individual IP addresses. This type of class is generally given to small to mid-sized companies.

Class D: The IP addresses in this class are reserved for a service called Multicast.

Class E: The IP addresses in this class are reserved for experimental use.

Broadcast: This is the special network of 255.255.255.255, and is used for broadcasting messages to the entire network that your computer resides on.

Private Addresses

There are also blocks of IP addresses that are set aside for internal private use for computers not directly connected to the Internet. These IP addresses are not supposed to be routed through the Internet, and most service providers will block the attempt to do so. These IP addresses are used for internal use by company or home networks that need to use TCP/IP but do not want to be directly visible on the Internet. These IP ranges are:

If you are on a home/office private network and want to use TCP/IP, you should assign your computers/devices IP addresses from one of these three ranges. That way your router/firewall would be the only device with a true IP address which makes your network more secure.

Common Problems and Resolutions

The most common problem people have is by accident assigning an IP address to a device on your network that is already assigned to another device. When this happens, the other computers will not know which device should get the information, and you can experience erratic behavior. On most operating systems and devices, if there are two devices on the local network that have the same IP address, it will generally give you a "IP Conflict" warning. If you see this warning, that means that the device giving the warning, detected another device on the network using the same address.

The best solution to avoid a problem like this is to use a service called DHCP that almost all home routers provide. DHCP, or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, is a service that assigns addresses to devices and computers. You tell the DHCP server what range of IP addresses you would like it to assign, and then the DHCP server takes the responsibility of assigning those IP addresses to the various devices and keeping track so those IP addresses are assigned only once.

Conclusion

IP addresses and their function on the Internet is an important concept to understand. Hopefully with this tutorial you will have a firmer grasp on this concept, which should help you troubleshoot problems and bring a better understanding of how the Internet works.