Question

How does a router work?

Please explain the IP addressing system.

Answer 1

A router examines a packet header's destination IP address and compares it against a routing table to determine the packet's best next hop. Routing tables list directions for forwarding data to particular network destinations, sometimes in the context of other variables, like cost. They amount to an algorithmic set of rules that calculate the best way to transmit traffic toward any given IP address.

Typically, routers are configured by default to have their private IP address (their address on the local network) as the first host ID. So, for example, on a home network that uses 192.168.1.0 for a network ID, the router is usually going to be 192.168.1.1.

IP (Internet Protocol) Address is an address of your network hardware. It helps in connecting your computer to other devices on your network and all over the world. An IP Address is made up of numbers or characters.An example of an IP address would be: 506.457.14.512

There are are two IP versions: IPv4 and IPv6. IPv4 is the older version which has an space of over 4 billion IP addresses. However, the new IPv6 version can provide up to trillions of IP addresses to fulfill the need of all internet users and devices.

There are a few types of IP addresses like private IP addresses, public IP addresses, static IP addresses and dynamic IP addresses.

A private IP address is the address of your device connected on the home or business network.

Your public IP address is the main IP address to which your home or business network is connected. This IP address connects you to the world, and it’s unique for all users.

All private and public IP addresses can be either static or dynamic. IP addresses that you configure manually and fix them to the network of your device are called static IP addresses. Static IP addresses cannot change automatically.