Subnet Masking Made Simple

Assumptions:
It is assumed that the reader understands IP addressing and how to recognize Class A/B/C addresses.
Additionally, it is assumed that the reader is familiar with converting to and from decimal to binary.
Why subnet:
Subnetting allows a network administer to segment their network into smaller networks. An example of
this would be to have IP phones on a different network than the data traffic in order to help reduce the
amount of broadcast messages to the phone.
Lets do it:
We will take a private Class B address and subnet it. Here is our address: 172.20.0.0 255.255.0.0
An administrator can borrow the last 2 octets (host) to subnet. Lets say that it has been decided that the
customer wants 8 networks. They have IP phones, printer, servers, and so on that the company wants on
different networks.
1. Since the administrator wants 8 networks, we need to borrow enough bits to equal 8. Now
remember this is binary, so we need 3 bits (2 to the power of 3 equals 8. Additionally, you can
count in binary (2, 4, 8= 3 bits).
2. Plot those 3 bits from left to right as shown. Remember, we are borrowing our bits from the left.
This is why we are plotting them from the most significant bit.
128
1

64
1

32
1

16

3. Now add 128+64+32 to get our subnet mask. 255.255.224.0

4. Now that we have our subnet mask we need to plot out our addresses. Highlight the farthest bit
on the right and that will be the value we use to add.
128
64
32
16
8
4
2
1
1
1
1

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Material, is Confidential and Proprietary to Avaya

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Subnet Masking Made Simple

The value here is 32, so our addresses for 172.20.0.0 255.255.224.0 are as follows:

Start of
Network

Start of
Addresses

End of
Addresses

Broadcast
Address

172.20.0.0
172.20.32.0
172.20.64.0
172.20.96.0
172.20.128.0
172.20.160.0
172.20.192.0
172.20.224.0

172.20.0.1
172.20.32.1
172.20.64.1
172.20.96.1
172.20.128.1
172.20.160.1
172.20.192.1
172.20.224.1

172.20.31.254
172.20.63.254
172.20.95.254
172.20.127.254
172.20.159.254
172.20.191.254
172.20.223.254
172.20.255.254

172.20.31.255
172.20.63.255
172.20.95.255
172.20.127.255
172.20.159.255
172.20.191.255
172.20.223.255
172.20.255.255

There we have our 8 networks. Keep in mind that we would have the same results if the network
administrator would have wanted 7 networks. We would still have borrowed 3 bits since 2 bits would
equal 4 networks.
Lets do it again:
Now lets take a Class C address. The method is the same, but the outcome looks a little different. Here
is our address: 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0
An administrator can borrow the last octet (host) to subnet. Lets say that it has been decided that the
customer wants 11 networks. They have IP phones, printer, servers, and so on that the company wants
on different networks.
5. Since the administrator wants 11 networks, we need to borrow enough bits to equal 11 (or close
to it). Now remember this is binary, so we need 4 bits (2 to the power of 4 equals 16.
Additionally, you can count in binary (2, 4, 8, 16= 4 bits). We cannot use 3 bits because we
want 11 and 8 is not enough. Even though we only want 11 networks 4 bits will have to do and
the administrator will have additional networks for growth.
6. Plot those 4 bits from left to right as shown. Remember, we are borrowing our bits from the left.
This is why we are plotting them from the most significant bit.
128
1

64
1

32
1

16
1

7. Now add 128+64+32+16 to get our subnet mask. 255.255.255.240

8. Now that we have our subnet mask we need to plot out our addresses. Highlight the farthest bit
on the right and that will be the value we use to add.
128
64
32
16
8
4
2
1
1
1
1
1
This Work Product, excluding any embedded Accenture
Material, is Confidential and Proprietary to Avaya

Page 2 of 3

Subnet Masking Made Simple

The value here is 16, so our addresses for 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.240 are as follows:

Start of
Network

Start of
Addresses

End of
Addresses

Broadcast
Address

192.168.1.0
192.168.1.16
192.168.1.32
192.168.1.48
192.168.1.64
192.168.1.80
192.168.1.96
192.168.1.112
192.168.1.128
192.168.1.144
192.168.1.160
192.168.1.176
192.168.1.192
192.168.1.208
192.168.1.224
192.168.1.240

192.168.1.1
192.168.1.17
192.168.1.33
192.168.1.49
192.168.1.65
192.168.1.81
192.168.1.97
192.168.1.113
192.168.1.129
192.168.1.145
192.168.1.161
192.168.1.177
192.168.1.193
192.168.1.209
192.168.1.225
192.168.1.241

192.168.1.14
192.168.1.30
192.168.1.46
192.168.1.62
192.168.1.78
192.168.1.94
192.168.1.110
192.168.1.126
192.168.1.142
192.168.1.158
192.168.1.174
192.168.1.190
192.168.1.206
192.168.1.222
192.168.1.238
192.168.1.254

192.168.1.15
192.168.1.31
192.168.1.47
192.168.1.63
192.168.1.79
192.168.1.95
192.168.1.111
192.168.1.127
192.168.1.143
192.168.1.159
192.168.1.175
192.168.1.191
192.168.1.207
192.168.1.223
192.168.1.239
192.168.1.255

There we have our 16 networks.

Additional notes:
The only subnet masks available are ending in: 128, 192, 224, 240, 248, 252, and 254. This can be
confirmed by adding up the binary values.
128
1

64
1

32
1

16
1

8
1

4
1

2
1

128
+64
192
+32
224
+16
240
+8
248
+4
252
+2
254
This Work Product, excluding any embedded Accenture
Material, is Confidential and Proprietary to Avaya

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