Types of IP Address (Examples)
Bryce Leo
⚡ Smart Summary
Types of IP address in computer networks fall into four main categories: public, private, static, and dynamic. Each type controls how devices are identified, how traffic is routed, and how visible a machine is online.
What is an IP Address?
An IP address is a numerical label assigned to every device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol (IP) for communication. An IP address acts as an identifier for a specific machine on a particular network. It also helps you establish a virtual connection between a source and a destination.
IP Full Form: IP stands for Internet Protocol, so an IP address is also called an IP number or internet address. It specifies the technical format of the addressing and packet scheme. Most networks combine TCP with IP.
Types of IP address
There are mainly four types of IP addresses:
- Public
- Private
- Dynamic
- Static
Public and private addresses are based on their network location: a private IP is used inside a network, while a public IP is used outside it, on the internet. Static and dynamic describe how the address is assigned.
Let us see all these types of IP address in detail.
Public IP Addresses
A public IP address is the one primary address associated with your whole network. All devices on that network share this same public IP address when they communicate with the internet, through Network Address Translation (NAT).
This type of public IP address is provided to your router by your ISP (Internet Service Provider), and it is unique across the entire internet.
Private IP Addresses
A private IP address is a unique IP number assigned to every device that connects to your home internet network, which includes devices like the computers, tablets, and smartphones used in your household.
It also includes network-connected devices you use, like printers, smart speakers, and smart TVs. With the rising industry of internet of things (IoT) products, the number of private IP addresses you are likely to have in your own home is growing.
Private addresses are not routable on the public internet. Your router assigns them from the RFC 1918 reserved ranges: 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, and 192.168.0.0/16.
Dynamic IP address
Dynamic IP addresses keep changing over time. They are temporary and are allocated to a device every time it connects to the web. Dynamic IPs are drawn from a pool of addresses that is shared across many devices and assigned automatically, usually by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server.
A dynamic IP address stays active for a specific lease period; after that, it expires and the device receives a renewed or different address.
Static IP Addresses
A static IP address is an IP address that does not change automatically. In contrast, a dynamic IP address is assigned by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server and is subject to change. A static IP address stays the same; it only changes when an administrator alters it as part of routine network administration.
Static IP addresses are consistent: assigned once, they stay the same over the years. Because a static IP can reveal a lot of information about a device, many users pair one with a tool to hide IP address details from trackers and advertisers.
Public vs Private and Static vs Dynamic: Key Differences
The tables below compare the four types side by side.
| Criteria | Public IP | Private IP |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Used on the internet, outside your network | Used only inside a local network |
| Assigned by | Your ISP | Your router (DHCP) or an administrator |
| Uniqueness | Unique across the whole internet | Unique only within the local network |
| Criteria | Static IP | Dynamic IP |
|---|---|---|
| Stability | Stays the same until changed manually | Changes with each DHCP lease |
| Cost | Often a paid add-on from ISPs | Standard and usually free |
| Best for | Servers, hosting, remote access | Home users and everyday browsing |
💡 Tip: Home users are well served by a dynamic public IP; businesses hosting servers usually need a static one.
Types of Website IP Addresses
Two types of website IP Addresses are 1) Shared IP Address 2) Dedicated IP Address
Shared IP Addresses
A shared IP address is used by small business websites that do not yet get many visitors or have many files or pages on their site. The IP address is not unique, and it is shared with other websites on the same server.
Dedicated IP Addresses
A dedicated IP address is assigned uniquely to each website. Dedicated IP addresses help you avoid potential blacklists caused by bad behavior from others on your server. A dedicated IP address also gives you the option of pulling up your website using the IP address alone, instead of your domain name, and helps you access your website while you are waiting on a domain transfer.
Version of IP address
Two versions of IP addresses in use today are 1) IPv4 and 2) IPv6.
IPv4
IPv4 was the first widely deployed version of IP. It went into production on the ARPANET in 1983, and today it is still the most widely used IP version. It identifies devices on a network using a 32-bit addressing system.
The 32-bit address scheme allows 2^32 addresses, which is about 4.3 billion unique addresses. IPv4 remains the primary Internet Protocol and still carries the majority of internet traffic, although global IPv6 adoption now exceeds 40 percent.
IPv6
IPv6 is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) initiated work on it in early 1994, and its core standard was published in 1998.
This newer IP version is being deployed to fulfill the need for more internet addresses and to resolve issues associated with IPv4. With a 128-bit address space, it allows 340 undecillion (3.4 x 10^38) unique addresses.
Beyond these categories, IP addresses can also be classified by how they deliver traffic.
IP Address Classification Based on Operational Characteristics
Unicast addressing
Unicast addressing is the most common form of IP addressing, and it is available in both IPv4 and IPv6.
A unicast address refers to a single sender or receiver, and it can be used for both sending and receiving data.
In most cases, a unicast address is associated with a single device or host, but one device or host may have more than one unicast address.
Broadcast addressing
Broadcast addressing is another addressing method, available only in IPv4. It allows you to send data to all destinations on a network with a single transmission operation.
The IP address 255.255.255.255 is used for limited broadcast, which never leaves the local network, while a directed broadcast combines the network prefix with all-ones host bits to reach a specific subnet.
IPv6 does not provide any broadcast addressing. It replaces broadcast with multicast to the specially defined all-nodes multicast address.
Multicast IP addresses
Multicast IP addresses are used mainly for one-to-many communication. Multicast messages are mostly sent to the IP multicast group address.
Routers forward copies of the packet out to every interface with hosts subscribed to that specific group address. Only the hosts that need to receive the message will process the packets. All other hosts on that LAN will discard them.
Anycast addressing
In anycast addressing, the data stream is not transmitted to all receivers, but only to the one that the routing system decides is closest to the sender.
Anycast addressing comes as a built-in feature of IPv6. In IPv4, it is implemented using the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) with the shortest-path metric. This method is widely used for global load balancing and in distributed DNS systems.
