Private IP Ranges Explained

Quick answer: Private IP addresses are reserved for internal networks. They are not routed across the public internet, so homes, offices, and cloud networks can reuse the same address space independently.

The three IPv4 ranges come from RFC 1918. IPv6 has a comparable internal-use range called Unique Local Addresses (ULA), defined by RFC 4193.

The private ranges at a glance

10.0.0.0/8

The largest private IPv4 block. It is common in large organisations, campus networks, and multi-site environments where many subnets are needed.

172.16.0.0/12

This range covers 172.16.0.0 through 172.31.255.255. It is often used for VPN pools and cloud VPCs because it provides a useful middle ground between address capacity and avoiding common home-network defaults.

192.168.0.0/16

The familiar choice for home routers and small office networks. A router will often assign addresses from 192.168.0.0/24 or 192.168.1.0/24 to devices on the local network.

fc00::/7

IPv6 Unique Local Addresses cover fc00::/7; in practice, locally assigned addresses normally begin with fd. Like private IPv4 ranges, they are intended for internal use and are not globally routed.

Why private addresses are useful

• They can be reused: Your 192.168.1.10 can exist in millions of unrelated networks without conflict.
• They reduce public IPv4 demand: NAT lets many internal devices share a smaller number of public addresses.
• They help separate internal services: Private addressing is useful for printers, databases, internal dashboards, and service-to-service traffic.

Private does not mean secure by itself. A private address should still be protected with sensible access controls, network segmentation, and authentication. Learn more about NAT and the difference between an intranet and the internet.

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