Public IPs and home residential IPs: where do they really fit in the Internet age?

With the rapid development of the Internet in recent years, we can't help but wonder what the difference is between a public IP and a home residential IP. What role do these two play in our daily use of the Internet? Let's unravel this mystery together!

I. Public IP: the window to the world

A public IP, as the name suggests, is an IP address that can connect to the Internet. It is vital for devices that are able to communicate over the Internet. To have a public IP, you usually need to apply for one from your Internet Service Provider so that you can communicate with other public IPs around the world.

So, what are the characteristics of public IP? First of all, public IP is globally unique, just like each of us has our own unique ID card. Secondly, public IP can directly access other devices on the Internet, which is equivalent to having a window to the world. For example, when you use your cell phone to access the Internet, the word "Ethernet0/0" may come to mind. This is the interface we configured on the router, so that the phone through the public IP directly with other devices to communicate.

In addition to being able to connect to the Internet, public IP can provide us with more services. For example, we can put some resources on our own devices and share them with others through public IP. In this way, even if you are at the end of the world, you can access your own device remotely and enjoy the comfort of home.

II. Family residential IP: small and beautiful LANs

A home residential IP, is an IP address that is used to manage and locate devices in a home network. It differs from a public IP in that a home residential IP is assigned within the home network for internal communication and access.

What are the characteristics of a home residential IP? First of all, a home IP usually belongs to a private IP address range, such as the common 192.168.0.1. This is designed to enable address assignment in a home network so that other devices on the Internet cannot directly access the devices in the home network. Second, home IPs are reusable, meaning that the same home IP can be used in different home networks, which is like having multiple homes in a building, each with a door number of 101 without conflict.

The relationship between a home residential IP and a public IP is similar to the relationship between a neighborhood and a city. A neighborhood is closed and only people within the neighborhood can access each other, whereas if you look at the neighborhood as a home residential IP, then the city is open and can communicate with cities around the globe.

III. NAT techniques for public IPs and home residential IPs

Although there is a functional difference between public IPs and home IPs, there is a magical connection between them - NAT technology.NAT, or Network Address Translation, converts and maps home IPs to public IPs, allowing home IP to be able to communicate with other devices on the Internet.

So how does NAT technology work? We can illustrate this with a simple example. Suppose you want to turn on a web server in your home so that external users can access a certain service in your home. This is done using NAT technology.NAT maps requests from external users to the home residential IP and then communicates with the external users over the public IP. In this way, external users can access the services in your home as if they were accessing a server on the public IP.

NAT technology brings us a lot of convenience and also increases the security of the network. You don't have to worry about external users accessing the devices on your home residential IP directly, but rather through the public IP. It's like having a Mr. Doorman in our house who only allows access to those who have a legal pass.

IV. How to get the public IP?

It is not so easy to get a public IP since it is a unique resource in the world. Usually, we get a public IP by applying to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). the ISP will assign you a public IP to connect to the Internet according to your needs.

Of course, besides applying through your ISP, you can also try some other ways to get a public IP. for example, you can use some technical means, such as using a proxy server, to get a public IP in other regions. or, you can also choose to buy a cloud server, which usually has its own public IP, and you can access the Internet through the cloud server.

Summary:

Public IPs and Home Residential IPs are functionally different, but they are both important players in the Internet world. Public IP connects the world and allows us to enjoy the convenience of the Internet, while Home Residential IP identifies us in our home network, which provides a small and beautiful local area network for our homes.

In our daily use of the Internet, we may not realize the difference between a public IP and a home residential IP, but they silently provide us with convenience and security. Whether it is public IP or home IP, they are both an integral part of the Internet era. Let's enjoy the convenience of this digital world with gratitude!