A communication method includes a first IAB node receives a first message from a CU of an IAB donor, where the first message indicates the first IAB node to be handed over from a first parent node to a second parent node, and the first message includes a first IP address of the first IAB node. The first IAB node determines first transport network layer association information between the first IAB node and the CU of the IAB donor based on the first IP address. The first IAB node updates control plane context information of an F1 interface by using the first transport network layer association information, where the F1 interface is an interface between the first IAB node and CU of the IAB donor. An IAB node communicates with a CU of an IAB donor by using a first IP address as soon as possible after handover is completed.