Which statement accurately describes private vs public IP addresses and when to use private addresses?

Which statement accurately describes private vs public IP addresses and when to use private addresses?

• A. Private addresses are public and used for external services.
• B. Private addresses are non-routable on the Internet and are used within internal networks; public addresses are routable on the Internet.
• C. Private addresses are routable on the Internet.
• D. Public addresses are non-routable.

Answer: (B)

Private IP addresses are meant for use inside a local network and are not routable on the global Internet. Devices on a home or office network typically get private addresses, and they reach the Internet by having a router translate those addresses to a public IP through NAT. Public IP addresses, on the other hand, are globally unique and routable on the Internet, so they are used when a device or service must be directly reachable from outside the local network. So the correct statement captures that private addresses stay inside the internal network and aren’t seen on the Internet, while public addresses can be routed across the Internet. This choice also aligns with how NAT allows numerous private addresses to share a smaller set of public addresses.

Private IP addresses are meant for use inside a local network and are not routable on the global Internet. Devices on a home or office network typically get private addresses, and they reach the Internet by having a router translate those addresses to a public IP through NAT. Public IP addresses, on the other hand, are globally unique and routable on the Internet, so they are used when a device or service must be directly reachable from outside the local network.

So the correct statement captures that private addresses stay inside the internal network and aren’t seen on the Internet, while public addresses can be routed across the Internet. This choice also aligns with how NAT allows numerous private addresses to share a smaller set of public addresses.