There are two types of IP address which is configured on a home network. You have the public IP address, which is allocated by the ISP and the private IP address which is used by internal users on the home network.
The public IP address which is provided by the ISP, cannot be altered or changed. The details of the private IP address which can be setup for the home network is explained below.
You should have observed that your wifi router , typically comes with a default IP address. This could either be 10.0.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. (Note that some vendors may also have other default IP address configured).
Private IP address is the IP address which is assigned to your local network.
IANA, which stands for internet assigned numbers authority has allocated a certain block of IP address for private use. The list is provided below.
10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255
172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255
192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255
Let us assume that you need to setup your home network where an IP address range needs to be configured.
You can allocate IP address from the range which is provided above. If you want to assign IP address for 100 users on the network, the following are the options you have.
You can use the IP address range from 10.0.0.1 – 10.0.0.100 or 172.16.0.1 – 172.16.0.100 or 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.100.
The subnet mask for the above IP address range would be 255.0.0.0, 255.255.0.0 and 255.255.255.0 respectively.
The IP addresses can be configured either as static or dynamic. Dynamic IP address is always recommended as it reduces the complexity of configuring static IP address.
To configure the dynamic IP address for the users, you need to setup the DHCP server on the router. The IP address range which needs to be allocated, along with the subnet mask is configured and setup on the DHCP server.
This is allocated automatically by the router to users on the network.
Product Recommendation
Firewall router for home – ASUS WiFi 6 Router (RT-AX3000)
TP-Link AX6600 WiFi 6 Gaming Router (Archer GX90)- Tri Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router
Mesh router for 5000 sqft home – NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6 System (RBK852)