An IP address basically has two components. The first component is the Network ID, which identifies the network that the computer is connected to. The second component is the Host ID which identifies a specific computer within a network. Unlike a MAC address which is a physical hardware address, an IP address is a logical address.
What is LAN? What is WAN? And What is NAT?
A LAN is a local area network. That’s your home network. A WAN is a wide area network. Anything NOT in your LAN, is in your wide area network. And NAT means “network address translation”. What the heck is that? Well, your router is also considered a NAT server. And NAT is what helps keep your private network, well,… private.
How Does the Internet Work?
The Internet works by connecting millions of home networks and business networks around the world. Consider the name carefully. It’s called the “In-ter-net” because it interconnects multiple networks, and ultimately establishes what we know as “The Internet Network”. So we don’t really connect to it. We’re actually part of it when we do connect.
