IP address issues

[webdev17]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this question or not, but I'm fairly new to networking and just want to find out some general information. Is there ever a situation where two different machines can have the same IP address? My general reaction is no but I'm not 100% sure. Also, could two different machines ever have the same host ID? Any information you could provide about these situations would be great.

Thanks.

 

[ralphgb]

Two machines can have the same IP address as long as they are in a private subnet and are not in the same subnet. For example, there are no doubt millions of computers with the IP address of 192.168.1.100, because that's what Linksys uses for the beginning of their default DHCP IP address assignment. Because they are all on separate subnets, there is no problem (routers will not forward packets with a destination address in a private subnet). However, if two PCs that were both connected to the same LAN were given the same address, problems would occur.

 

[theo1881]

yeah ralphgb's right, you can have the same ip providing not on the same subnet, you should notice issues if this occurs

Laters, phat, headshape