This post is part of the Local Network Privacy FAQ.
A local network is an IP network associated with a broadcast-capable network interface. These interfaces include Wi-Fi and Ethernet (1), but not WWAN or VPN. Any address on a local network is considered to be a local network address.
In addition, all multicast addresses (224.0.0.0/4, ff00::/8) and the IPv4 broadcast address (255.255.255.255) are considered to be local network addresses.
There’s one non-obvious exception to the above: If your device is configured to use a network proxy, and that proxy just happens to reside on a local network, communication with its address is not restricted.
(1) iOS devices support Ethernet via a relatively easy user configuration option.
Back to the FAQ
What is a local network?
A local network is an IP network associated with a broadcast-capable network interface. These interfaces include Wi-Fi and Ethernet (1), but not WWAN or VPN. Any address on a local network is considered to be a local network address.
In addition, all multicast addresses (224.0.0.0/4, ff00::/8) and the IPv4 broadcast address (255.255.255.255) are considered to be local network addresses.
There’s one non-obvious exception to the above: If your device is configured to use a network proxy, and that proxy just happens to reside on a local network, communication with its address is not restricted.
(1) iOS devices support Ethernet via a relatively easy user configuration option.
Back to the FAQ
