How big is an IPv4 IP address?

How big is an IPv4 IP address?

• 148 bits
• 64 bits
• 32 bits
• 16 bits 

EXPLANATION

Addresses in IPv4 are 32-bits long. This allows for a maximum of 4,294,967,296 (2³²) unique addresses. Addresses in IPv6 are 128-bits, which allows for 3.4 x 10³⁸ (2¹²⁸) unique addresses.

The two most common versions of IP in use today are Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). Both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses come from finite pools of numbers. For IPv4, this pool is 32-bits (2³²) in size and contains 4,294,967,296 IPv4 addresses.

To your computer, an IP address is a 32-bit number subdivided into four bytes. Understanding binary also provides you with some of the rules pertaining to IPs. We wondered why the four segments of an IP were called octets.