D-Link DSL-504 User Manual - Ip Concepts

DSL-504 ADSL Router User’s Guide 

B 

IP Concepts 

This appendix describes some basic IP concepts, the TCP/IP addressing scheme 

and shows how to assign IP Addresses.  

When setting up the Router, you must make sure it has a valid IP address. Even 

if you will not use the WAN port (ADSL port), you should, at the very least, make 

sure the Ethernet LAN port is assigned a valid IP address. This is required for 

telnet, in-band SNMP management, and related functions such as “trap” 

handling and TFTP firmware download. 

IP Addresses 

The Internet Protocol (IP) was designed for routing data between network sites 

all over the world, and was later adapted for routing data between networks 

within any site (often referred to as “subnetworks” or “subnets”). IP includes a 

system by which a unique number can be assigned to each of the millions of 

networks and each of the computers on those networks. Such a number is called 

an IP address. 

To make IP addresses easy to understand, the originators of IP adopted a system 

of representation called “dotted decimal” or “dotted quad” notation. Below are 

examples of IP addresses written in this format: 

201.202.203.204        189.21.241.56        125.87.0.1 

Each  of  the  four  values  in  an  IP  address is the ordinary decimal (base 10) 

representation of a value that a computer can handle using eight “bits” (binary 

digits — 1s and 0s). The dots are simply convenient visual separators. 

Zeros are often used as placeholders in dotted decimal notation; 189.21.241.56 

can therefore also appear as 189.021.241.056. 

IP networks are divided into three classes on the basis of size. A full IP address 

contains a network portion and a “host” (device) portion. The network and host 

portions of the address are different lengths for different classes of networks, as 

shown in the table below. 

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