What is your public IP address on the local machine?
What is your public IP address on the local machine?
Hello everyone. I'm trying to understand something from a video about networking. In the clip, someone switches to a static IP address, but they mention a local static IP of 199.207.13.45. I’m confused because I thought Class A/B/C IPv4 addresses like 199.x.x.x are reserved for public use and can’t be assigned locally. How is it possible to give that specific private IP? Also, the subnet range 255.255.255.0 seems to fit, but I’m not sure how that connects. Could you clarify this for me? Thanks!
You can assign any IP address you like, and locally speaking it will work. The problems with that only begin when you try to route between networks. Someone outside your network trying to access that public IP will go to the properly assigned system. Also there is a small chance that you might want to access that public system, but get routed to your local one instead. I think you can file it under bad practice and it should be avoided, but there's nothing stopping you from doing it if you really want to.
Did you anticipate receiving an RFC 1918 address like 10.x.x.x 192.168.x.x? In reality, most devices today are routed through NAT gateways—either home routers or corporate firewalls—and there’s no inherent barrier preventing direct access. Many home routers function as modems and can be configured to bypass the router by enabling transparent bridge mode (also known as pass-through). Be cautious; disabling this feature immediately strips internet access and may be difficult to reverse. If you proceed, you’ll be able to assign a public IP address to your router’s WAN interface, making it reachable globally. Some ISPs, particularly satellite providers, already route all customers through NAT (carrier-grade), limiting direct connectivity. As the world shifts toward IPv6, the End-to-End principle will be reinstated, aligning with the original design of the internet.