6 ms·

Something I never understood is why people choose 192.168.1.1 for private networks. Being all the other factors equal, isn't 10.1.1.1 easier to type and more "

Something I never understood is why people choose 192.168.1.1 for private networks. Being all the other factors equal, isn't 10.1.1.1 easier to type and more "aesthetically pleasant"?

MisterTea 8y ago
At my company we use 10.0.x.x for that reason, easy to type.
egwynn 8y ago
Not 100% sure, but it may be because so much SOHO equipment uses 192.168/16 by default.
- sk5t 8y ago
  But why? Someone had to choose that default.
  - tonyarkles 8y ago
    One possible reason is that a lot of corporate networks use 10.x.x.x. If you’re using a similar subnet at home, using a VPN can get awkward.
    - colanderman 8y ago
      Yep. We use both 10.x.x.x and 192.168.x.x at my workplace (who knows why). I had to request a special change to our VPN settings so I could still access my home network while connected to it.
      - Johnny555 8y ago
        Wouldn't it have been easier to change your home network?
        colanderman 8y ago
        Easier to change address allocations and DNS entries of a dozen devices in my network to fix the problem for just me, than to make a request to corporate IT to fix the problem for everyone? No.
  - pseudalopex 8y ago
    It's the smallest of the private IPv4 ranges. Corporate and academic networks tend to use the larger ones, so it's the least likely to cause a numbering conflict.
- gh02t 8y ago
  IIRC, I used to have one of the old Apple Airport travel routers back in the day and it used 10.0.0.1 by default. I've tended to prefer that block for my home network ever since.
echevil 8y ago
Plenty of companies, universities and even small ISPs use 10.0.0.0
jorvi 8y ago
It depends. Some use 10.0.0.x, some use 192.168.1.x and some use 192.168.178.x There's also 172.16.0.x, which I have never seen used by default on any networking devices.. which makes it perfect if you have a piece of network that you visibly want to separate from the rest of the LAN.
- adzm 8y ago
  I use 172.16.0.0/12 for that reason, to differentiate it from other subnets when using VPNs.
  - HighPlainsDrftr 8y ago
    I almost always put my VPN connections in this range for that reason. Nobody ever uses it. Makes it obvious when you see that address in a webserver log or a route table.
forapurpose 8y ago
> Something I never understood is why people choose 192.168.1.1 for private networks While interviewing someone for an entry-level job, I told the interviewee that there was a network using 10.0/16 (a 16-bit subnet mask, or more popularly 10.0.x.x). He corrected me and said that 10.0.0.0 networks should have an 8 bit subnet mask (10.x.x.x). On one hand, I definitely liked that he was willing to challenge me, even during an interview, and that he knew the spec (RFC 1918 does assign an 8-bit mask to the 10. private network). On the other hand, I wasn't sure he was technically correct that a 16-bit mask was wrong, even if 8-bits was 'correct', and I couldn't see what negative consequence the 16-bit subnet had - his thinking seemed a bit rigid. Anyway, maybe there are other purists who believe smaller networks should use 192.168/16, or maybe they instinctively use it because the RFC gives it the smaller network allocation. Or maybe they know something that I don't. > isn't 10.1.1.1 easier to type and more "aesthetically pleasant"? And it's much easier for non-technical people to understand and to remember without error. In fact, I recommend something even easier, such as 10.9.8.x. For people supporting the non-technical, those little details can save hours, even a day. I've seen cases where after hours of frustration, the support tech discovers that the user typed in something like 129.168, or 192.16.8. Great support reps are great humanitarians, able to handle those situations with grace, without humiliating the poor user, and without heavy drinking. EDIT: clarifying edit
- y4mi 8y ago
  He was wrong. Subnets exits for two things. Physical segmentation of networks and consequently limiting the scope of broadcasts. With a /8 (especially with desktop machines) the broadcast would definitely be a major bottleneck in the network.
- srj 8y ago
  10/8 is a class A range (high order bit = 0), but CIDR says that you can separately describe which bits are for the network. Unless this interview was conducted more than 20 years ago I'd say your interviewer was mistaken.
  - forapurpose 8y ago
    > I'd say your interviewer was mistaken Is that what you meant to say? The interviewer (me) thought that 10.0/16 was fine, which I think agrees with your analysis. The interviewee said only 10/8 was correct. (Re-reading my GP comment I realize that my role might have been ambiguous, so I've clarified it.)

Something I never understood is why people choose 192.168.1.1 for private networks. Being all the other factors equal, isn't 10.1.1.1 easier to type and more "aesthetically pleasant"?

MisterTea 8y ago

At my company we use 10.0.x.x for that reason, easy to type.

egwynn 8y ago

Not 100% sure, but it may be because so much SOHO equipment uses 192.168/16 by default.

sk5t 8y ago
But why? Someone had to choose that default.
- tonyarkles 8y ago
  One possible reason is that a lot of corporate networks use 10.x.x.x. If you’re using a similar subnet at home, using a VPN can get awkward.
  - colanderman 8y ago
    Yep. We use both 10.x.x.x and 192.168.x.x at my workplace (who knows why). I had to request a special change to our VPN settings so I could still access my home network while connected to it.
    - Johnny555 8y ago
      Wouldn't it have been easier to change your home network?
      - colanderman 8y ago
        Easier to change address allocations and DNS entries of a dozen devices in my network to fix the problem for just me, than to make a request to corporate IT to fix the problem for everyone? No.
- pseudalopex 8y ago
  It's the smallest of the private IPv4 ranges. Corporate and academic networks tend to use the larger ones, so it's the least likely to cause a numbering conflict.
gh02t 8y ago
IIRC, I used to have one of the old Apple Airport travel routers back in the day and it used 10.0.0.1 by default. I've tended to prefer that block for my home network ever since.

echevil 8y ago

Plenty of companies, universities and even small ISPs use 10.0.0.0

jorvi 8y ago

It depends. Some use 10.0.0.x, some use 192.168.1.x and some use 192.168.178.x There's also 172.16.0.x, which I have never seen used by default on any networking devices.. which makes it perfect if you have a piece of network that you visibly want to separate from the rest of the LAN.

adzm 8y ago
I use 172.16.0.0/12 for that reason, to differentiate it from other subnets when using VPNs.
- HighPlainsDrftr 8y ago
  I almost always put my VPN connections in this range for that reason. Nobody ever uses it. Makes it obvious when you see that address in a webserver log or a route table.

forapurpose 8y ago

> Something I never understood is why people choose 192.168.1.1 for private networks While interviewing someone for an entry-level job, I told the interviewee that there was a network using 10.0/16 (a 16-bit subnet mask, or more popularly 10.0.x.x). He corrected me and said that 10.0.0.0 networks should have an 8 bit subnet mask (10.x.x.x). On one hand, I definitely liked that he was willing to challenge me, even during an interview, and that he knew the spec (RFC 1918 does assign an 8-bit mask to the 10. private network). On the other hand, I wasn't sure he was technically correct that a 16-bit mask was wrong, even if 8-bits was 'correct', and I couldn't see what negative consequence the 16-bit subnet had - his thinking seemed a bit rigid. Anyway, maybe there are other purists who believe smaller networks should use 192.168/16, or maybe they instinctively use it because the RFC gives it the smaller network allocation. Or maybe they know something that I don't. > isn't 10.1.1.1 easier to type and more "aesthetically pleasant"? And it's much easier for non-technical people to understand and to remember without error. In fact, I recommend something even easier, such as 10.9.8.x. For people supporting the non-technical, those little details can save hours, even a day. I've seen cases where after hours of frustration, the support tech discovers that the user typed in something like 129.168, or 192.16.8. Great support reps are great humanitarians, able to handle those situations with grace, without humiliating the poor user, and without heavy drinking. EDIT: clarifying edit

y4mi 8y ago
He was wrong. Subnets exits for two things. Physical segmentation of networks and consequently limiting the scope of broadcasts. With a /8 (especially with desktop machines) the broadcast would definitely be a major bottleneck in the network.
srj 8y ago
10/8 is a class A range (high order bit = 0), but CIDR says that you can separately describe which bits are for the network. Unless this interview was conducted more than 20 years ago I'd say your interviewer was mistaken.
- forapurpose 8y ago
  > I'd say your interviewer was mistaken Is that what you meant to say? The interviewer (me) thought that 10.0/16 was fine, which I think agrees with your analysis. The interviewee said only 10/8 was correct. (Re-reading my GP comment I realize that my role might have been ambiguous, so I've clarified it.)