I have an #AskFedi question!
I have been using my phone (on t-mobile) as a hotspot to connect my laptop to the internet. How is it assigning IP addresses to my computer? Are they IP addresses that are owned by t-mobile? Are the ones they give me to use shared with other people that use t-mobile? Are they reusing a pool of the same ones access all their subscribers? Or am I misunderstanding how IP addressing is working in this context.
I have been using my phone (on t-mobile) as a hotspot to connect my laptop to the internet. How is it assigning IP addresses to my computer? Are they IP addresses that are owned by t-mobile? Are the ones they give me to use shared with other people that use t-mobile? Are they reusing a pool of the same ones access all their subscribers? Or am I misunderstanding how IP addressing is working in this context.
Hypolite Petovan
•How is it assigning IP addresses to my computer?
Your phone acts as your router would in your home.
Are they IP addresses that are owned by t-mobile?
Yes, the same way Verizon owns blocks of IP addresses, AT&T, CloudFlare, GoDaddy, Digital Ocean, etc…
Are the ones they give me to use shared with other people that use t-mobile?
Not at the same time, but yes.
Are they reusing a pool of the same ones access all their subscribers?
Yes. Home router IP addresses tend not to change too often but I expect mobile IP addresses to change more frequently.