IP Address 192.168.1.1; Its Uses And Drawbacks

192.168.1.1 is a default IP address for many network devices, including LinkSys home broadband routers.  Although it is the default address, it can be changed at home, using the network router’s administrative console.   This IP address is in the range of private IP addresses as defined by RFC 1918, where 3 private address ranges have been specified.  These are 10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255, 172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255 and 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255.  Private IP addresses are unique in that they can be used over and over on different networks.  Thus any network router, or computer on a local network, can be set to use this address. As with any IP addresses however, only one computer on a network can be set to use this address, otherwise there will be address conflicts.  Thus, private IP addresses are considered non-routable, which basically means that it cannot be used to connect on the internet without the use of Network Address Translation (NAT).  To explain this a bit more you, as the reader of this article, can have a device on your network with IP address <a href="http://www.tech-faq.com/192.168.1.1.shtml">192.168.1.1</a>, and I can have the same IP address for one of the devices on my network, however, we cannot connect our two networks, as this will cause an address conflict. Thus be sure, whenever you connect a new device to your existing network that its default IP address (which will most probably be in one of the Private IP ranges as set out by RFC 1918), isn’t already in use on your network.  If you find that there are address conflicts on your network, you must contact your system administrator immediately to change one or more of the IP’s to another suitable address. There is a lot of information on the IP address <a href="http://www.tech-faq.com/192.168.1.1.shtml">192.168.1.1</a> in the LinkSys user manual.  It will explain the pro’s of having a default IP address when playing networked games or when using DSL and cable connections. A great advantage of using a private IP address is that it is extremely useful when troubleshooting.  Should there be a problem with your router or network, you can easily troubleshoot it by going to the main controls and accessing the different components contained there.  These include username and passwords as well as network components.  Many settings can also be adjusted here, including the DCP and LAN.   You can use the private IP address <a href="http://www.tech- faq.com/192.168.1.1.shtml">192.168.1.1</a> as a gateway as well.  This will make the flow of information quick, simple and effective on your network.  Gateways are basically the route-indicators and traffic controllers of dataflow in a network.  Thus if used efficiently it can increase the speed of data flow in your network quite significantly. As can be seen in this article, by using any private IP address you can increase dataflow, easily troubleshoot your network as well as make quick changes to administrative settings.  However, many of these aspects are quite advanced and if you are not an expert in the field of computer networking it may be best that you leave any changes that you think need to be made to the IP address, or features thereof, to an expert or your system administrator.

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