Surely you have ever marked the IP address of your router in your computer’s browser to be able to restart, format or change any setting. It is popular wisdom that to access the router we have to write 192.168.1.1 in the browser (or some variant in 1.1) and enter the settings with the username and password, upon restart. But why? Why does the router have that IP address and what do these associated numbers mean?
The first thing we have to understand before knowing why the addresses of your router are 192.168.xx is what an IP address is, what it is for, what types there are or how many there are. It is convenient to clarify what they are and how they work, where there are IP addresses and what the numbers correspond to.
What is an IP address?
The IP address is a code or set of numbers that serves as identification or as a license plate. It serves as identification in the network or in the global set of Internet. That is, it can be an IP address that works to identify them in general on the Internet or within an internal network if you want to differentiate the different devices or identify them. In this case, for example, the “internal” IP address would allow us to know which computer has each IP to know who has done what, although we will explain that in depth in the next few paragraphs so that you can understand it better.
As we say, it is a kind of license plate that identifies us both in an internal network and an external network and means Internet Protocol. What IP addresses allow us is to manage communications in networks and each address is unique and does not repeat itself. No device has the same IP address as another simultaneously, these codes are not repeated at the same time.
How are they formed?
The IP addresses, both that of the router and any other associated with a device, are made up of 32-bit codes that are simplified and that is why we use four numerical sets. Four numerical sets that we normally identify separated by points. That is, it would be something like “xxx.yyy.zz.aa” or the classic 192.168.xx of the router that we have explained in previous paragraphs. Each of the sets of decimal numbers in the IP address has values that are between 0 and 255 and these values, as we have explained, are separated by periods from each other.
IP types
We know what it is and how they are formed (with the 32-bit codes divided into four numerical sets …) but there is not only one type, there are several. Although we will not go into details about dynamic or static IPs, we do want to know that there are public IP addresses and private IP addresses. The public ones are those that identify us on the Internet , those that are assigned to us when we go to surf and that our Internet provider gives us. On the other hand, there are the private IP addresses that identify us within the same network.
Private IP
These are the ones that interest us to know why the router is 192.168.xx These private IP addresses are intended to identify each device within the same network . At home, for example, one IP address will be held by your mobile phone, another address will be held by your computer, another address will be held by a video surveillance camera at home and another by your tablet, for example. It is assigned so that each device is discoverable on the same network.
Router IP: 192.168.xx
We already understand what IPs are and what types there are. Among the private IP addresses we find that our router always has the address 192.168.xx or almost always, at least. Why? Many manufacturers use this IP automatically so that you enter the router’s administration panel or configuration (you can try to use 192.168.0.1 in the browser bar and you will access the router) Normally it is usually 192.168.1.1 to access the router although it may also vary and other options such as 192.168.0.1 are used. Both allow us to access the router to check it.
We have to go back to 1996 to remember the time when the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) was forced to determine the range of IPv4 addresses for internal use, that is, the allocation of IP addresses internally, within a closed network. . These IP addresses are not available on the public Internet, but within local networks. Well, the first thing you should know is that you can connect up to 253 devices to a router within your home network according to the 192.168.0.x configuration.
The IP addresses, in terms of their assignment, are limited by a number: 4,294,967,296 IP addresses . And if each device on the Internet used its own IP address, obviously, we would end up with the available IPs really fast, for many years now. Yes, the number of devices on the Internet far exceeds this figure. In this way, three blocks of IP addresses were reserved for local networks:
- 10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255 (Class A) – 16,777,216 addresses.
- 172.16.00 – 172.31.255.255 (Class B) – 1,048,576 addresses.
- 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255 (Class C) – 65,536 addresses.
Considering these possible cases , a home router is even more limited, with a range 192.168.0.x , where the last figure is the only variable between 0 and 255 . Here, one of the addresses is assigned to the network and another to the broadcast, then there are 253 possible assignments.
What if I need more than 253 IP addresses?
If you are going to connect more than 253 devices to the network simultaneously, which is unlikely, we can choose any of the other two IP address assignment formats, for which we must change some aspects of the network configuration. The smaller the network in this sense, the easier it is to maintain. So this above is what explains why IP addresses are 192.168.xx in the local network realm, although we already know that the possibilities can be expanded.
Know what the IP of my devices is
From the router
Your router may not have that IP address assigned but we can easily find out what it is in case it has changed. You can find out from CMD or your computer’s command console, but also from macOS.
- Open your computer
- Go to the start menu
- Search for CMD or command console
- The Command Prompt will open
- Type ipconfig
- Play intro or enter on your keyboard
Here a series of information will appear, including ” Default gateway ” together with the code of four numerical blocks. That will be the gateway or IP address associated with your router and which you should follow.
From an Apple computer you can also do it:
- Go to System Preferences
- Open the Network section
- Find the connection you use
- Tap on “Advanced …”
Here you will see, as you can see in the image, a section called “Router” together with the set of four numerical blocks where you will see the IP address. The logical thing is that that address is 192.167.0. 1 but it can vary slightly and it can also end in 1.1, as we have explained.
From any other device
To find out the IP address of any other device, you can do it through the free Fing mobile application. It is an app that you can use on Android and iOS and that allows us to scan all devices connected to the same network. This allows us to identify the IP address of each device in the house and thus have control or identify intruders. It is very easy, just turn it on and connect to your WiFi network and you will see the name of the device (or the brand of the phone, for example) and the assigned IP.
