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Which range of link-local addresses can be assigned?

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Christopher Snyder

Updated on January 28, 2026

Which range of link-local addresses can be assigned?


Score: 4.8/5 (4 votes)

​ Explanation: Link-local addresses are in the range of FE80::/10 to FEBF::/10. The original IPv6 specification defined site-local addresses and used the prefix range FEC0::/10, but these addresses were deprecated by the IETF in favor of unique local addresses.

Which range of local addresses can be assigned to an IPv6 enabled interface?

IPv6 uses 128-bit (2128) addresses, allowing 3.4 x 1038 unique IP addresses.

The length of the prefix of an IPv6 link-local address ranges from 10 to 127.

1.0 through 169.254. 254.255 for link-local addressing in Internet Protocol Version 4. Link-local addresses are assigned to interfaces by host-internal, i.e. stateless, address autoconfiguration when other means of address assignment are not available.

The limitation of link-local addresses is that IPv6 routers cannot forward link-level traffic outside the link.

22 related questions found

Note: Each router interface belongs to a separate network. Packets with a link-local address never leave the local network; therefore, you can use the same link-local address on both interfaces.

Which IP range is not designated for use on a local network?

0.0 is reserved for IP traffic local to your host. Usually, address 127.0.

IPv6 link-local addresses are addresses that can be used to communicate with nodes (hosts and routers) on an attached link. Packets with those addresses are not forwarded by routers. At least, they should not be. There have been cases where routers would happily forward packets with a link-local source address.

What is true of link-local addresses? They are passed out by the default gateway router. They are completely randomly generated by each computer. The last 64 bits are always generated from the MAC address, except on Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Generation Method of an IPv6 Link-Local Address
  1. After a global IPv6 unicast address is configured on the interface, an IPv6 link-local address is automatically generated.
  2. After the ipv6 address auto link-local command is run on the interface, an IPv6 link-local address is automatically generated.

IPv6 multicast addresses can be used for link-local LAN communications or they can be scoped for site-specific communications or even global use. An IPv6 multicast address for well-known link-local messages would start with “FF02” and you may recognize that FF02::1 is the all-nodes link-local multicast group address.

What is the IPv6 private address range?

IPv6 defines unique local addresses in RFC 4193, providing a very large private address space from which each organization can randomly or pseudo-randomly allocate a 40-bit prefix, each of which allows 65536 organizational subnets.

Link-local only: Choose “Link-local only” to limit IPv6 traffic to the local network.

Because new addresses are generated regularly the addresses are marked as temporary . A device can have multiple privacy extension addresses if the system is still using an old address when a new address is being generated. The system will keep the old address for as long as necessary.

Are there local IPv6 addresses?

A unique local address (ULA) is an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address in the address range fc00::/7. Its purpose in IPv6 is analogous to IPv4 private network addressing. ... They are routable only within the scope of such private networks, but not in the global IPv6 Internet.

The IPv6 Link Local addresses are made from the first 64-bit reservation (FE80::/64) and remaining bits are taken from the MAC address of the interface. ... The answer is, an hexadecimal number "FF:FE" is added in between the MAC address of the related interface to form the complete 128 bit IPv6 Link Local addresses.

Link-local addresses have a local scope, and cannot be used outside the link. They always have the prefix FE80::/10. Loopback IPv6 address—An IPv6 address used on a loopback interfaces. The IPv6 loopback address is 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1, which can be notated as ::1/128.

What is site local address?

Site-local addresses are designed to be used for addressing inside of a site without the need for a global prefix. A site-local address cannot be reached from another site. ... Nodes connected to the same site-local scope zone may communicate with each other using site-local addresses.

A link-local address is an Internet Protocol address that is intended only for communications within the segment of a local network (a link) or a point-to-point connection that a host is connected to. These activities will show you how to view and test IPv4 link-local addresses in Windows.

The link-local address or Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) is used if a machine connected in a DHCP environment is unable to acquire an IP address from the DHCP sever. This also helps in establishing communication between machines on the same network by allocating them IP addresses in the range of 169.254.

< Link-local address. A link-local address is an Internet Protocol (IP) unicast address intended to be used only to connect to the hosts on the same network, or link (such as an Ethernet one) as the given host.

How are IPv6 addresses assigned?

IPv6 address is not assigned, so the IPv6 address from the Ethernet configuration is set for a Static address of Ethernet interface. DHCPv6 server maintains a database of leased IPv6 addresses, and assigns to the client an unused IPv6 address.

What is the range of IP addresses?

An IP address is always a set of four numbers like that. Each number can range from 0 to 255. So, the full IP addressing range goes from 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.

How are IP addresses assigned?

IP addresses are assigned to a host either dynamically as they join the network, or persistently by configuration of the host hardware or software. ... Dynamic IP addresses are assigned by network using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). DHCP is the most frequently used technology for assigning addresses.