The reserved ranges that live inside your network, why your router is 192.168.1.1, and how private IPs differ from the public one the world sees.
Every device on your network has two addresses. The private IP (like 192.168.1.42) identifies it inside your home or office and is reused on millions of networks. The public IP is the single address your router presents to the internet; that is the one you see on our what is my IP page. Private ranges are defined by RFC 1918 and are never routed on the public internet.
| Range | CIDR | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 | 10.0.0.0/8 | Class A private | 16.7 million addresses. Common on large or business networks. |
| 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 | 172.16.0.0/12 | Class B private | Just over 1 million addresses. Often used by Docker and corporate VPNs. |
| 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 | 192.168.0.0/16 | Class C private | The home-network range. Your router is usually 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. |
| 127.0.0.0 - 127.255.255.255 | 127.0.0.0/8 | Loopback | Refers to your own device. 127.0.0.1 is "localhost". |
| 169.254.0.0 - 169.254.255.255 | 169.254.0.0/16 | Link-local (APIPA) | Auto-assigned when a device cannot reach a DHCP server. A sign of a connection problem. |
| 100.64.0.0 - 100.127.255.255 | 100.64.0.0/10 | Carrier-grade NAT | Used by ISPs to share public IPs among many customers (CGNAT). |
If you need to open your router's settings, try these in a browser. The exact one is printed on most routers.
On Windows, run ipconfig and read the IPv4 Address. On macOS or Linux, run ifconfig or ip addr. On a phone, it is under Wi-Fi network details. It will almost always start with 192.168, 10., or 172.16-31.
The address the internet actually sees is different. Check it, along with your location, ISP and network, with our free IP lookup or the quick what is my IP tool.
A private IP address is used inside a local network and is not reachable from the public internet. Ranges like 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x and 172.16-31.x.x are reserved for private use. Your router gives each device a private IP and shares one public IP with the internet.
192.168.1.1 is the default gateway address most home routers use. It is the first usable address in the 192.168.1.0/24 private range. Typing it into a browser opens the router admin page.
192.168.1.1 is a private IP address. It is only valid inside your local network and cannot be reached from the internet.