2011/05/15

Equivalent of link-local address fe80::/64 in IPv4

Some days ago, my friends asked me what is the equivalent of IPv6 link-local address fe80::/64 in  IPv4.  Link-local address is auto-configured in the absence of router or DHCPv6 server.  In IPv4, we have 169.254.0.0/16 random addresses assigned to a NIC if it can not find any DHCP server.  Most importantly, hosts with 169.254.X.Y can communicate with each other since they are in the same /16 subnet.

However, there should be one difference, only Windows and Mac stations support 169.254.0.0/16.  While in IPv6, all OSes must support the link-local address and this should include iPhone OS and Android.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Your friendly blog stalker back again.

Some extra info for your post, it's called APIPA or / IPv4LL, and is also seen on Linux systems with the ISC DHCP Client, but most distros ship with the dhcpcd having the -L flag which disabled APIPA/IPv4LL.

Just a few cents from me. :)