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Link-local address
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<p>In <a href="/facts/Computer_network/3w5RM99p">computer networking</a>, a link-local address is a <a href="/facts/Network_address/W7RQVwBr">network address</a> that is valid only for communications on a <i>local <a href="/facts/Link_layer/pHRpQ3k7">link</a></i>, i.e. within a <a href="/facts/Subnetwork/s1rQsNDv">subnetwork</a> that a host is connected to. Link-local addresses are typically assigned automatically through a process known as link-local address autoconfiguration, also known as auto-IP, <a href="/facts/Automatic_private_IP_addressing/K1lLgqKv">automatic private IP addressing</a> (APIPA, specific to IPv4), and <a href="/facts/Stateless_address_autoconfiguration/K1lLgqKv">stateless address autoconfiguration</a> (SLAAC, specific to IPv6). While most link-local addresses are <a href="/facts/Unicast/PHStTfFe">unicast</a>, this is not necessarily the case; e.g. IPv6 addresses beginning with <i>ff02:</i> (<i>ff02::/16</i>), and IPv4 addresses beginning with <i>224.0.0.</i> (<i>224.0.0.0/24</i>) are <a href="/facts/Multicast/D9IspSfl">multicast</a> addresses that are link-local. </p><p>Link-local addresses are not guaranteed to be unique beyond their network segment. Therefore, <a href="/facts/Router_(computing)/Nh5cIyVf">routers</a> do not forward <a href="/facts/Data_packet/xCYf8SJu">packets</a> with link-local source or destination addresses. </p><p><a href="/facts/IPv4/bnQ5MEqm">IPv4</a> link-local unicast addresses are assigned from address block <i>169.254.0.0/16</i> (<i>169.254.0.0</i> through <i>169.254.255.255</i>). In <a href="/facts/IPv6/d4dg7kIL">IPv6</a>, unicast link-local addresses are assigned from the block <i>fe80::/10</i>.: 2.4 </p>