In a computer network , a link-local address is a network address that is valid only for communications within the network segment or the broadcast domain that the host is connected to. Link-local addresses are most often assigned automatically through a process known as stateless address autoconfiguration or link-local address autoconfiguration . [1] Link-local addresses are not guaranteed to be unique beyond their network segment, therefore routers do not forward packets with link-local addresses. IPv4 link-local addresses are assigned to address block 169.254.0.0 / 16 ( 169.254.0.0 through 169.254.255.255 ). In IPv6 , they are assigned the address block fe80:: / 10 . [2] Contents 1 Address assignment 2 IPv4 3 IPv6 4 See also 5 References Address assignment [ edit ] Link-local addresses may be assigned manually by an administrator or by automatic operating system procedures as self-assigned IP addressing. For Inte