Understanding CIDR Subnet Mask Notation.note¶
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Understanding CIDR Subnet Mask Notation
m0n0wall uses a subnet mask format that you may not be familiar with. Rather than the common
255.x.x.x, it uses CIDR (Classless InterDomain Routing) notation.
1.5.1. CIDR Table
You can refer to the following table to find the CIDR equivalent of your subnet mask.
Table 1.1. CIDR Subnet Table
Subnet Mask CIDR Prefix Total IP's Usable IP's Number of Class
C networks
255.255.255.255/32 1 1 1/256th
255.255.255.254/31 2 0 1/128th
255.255.255.252/30 4 2 1/64th
255.255.255.248/29 8 6 1/32nd
255.255.255.240/28 16 14 1/16th
255.255.255.224/27 32 30 1/8th
255.255.255.192/26 64 62 1/4th
255.255.255.128/25 128 126 1 half
255.255.255.0 /24 256 254 1
255.255.254.0 /23 512 510 2
255.255.252.0 /22 1024 1022 4
255.255.248.0 /21 2048 2046 8
255.255.240.0 /20 4096 4094 16
255.255.224.0 /19 8192 8190 32
255.255.192.0 /18 16,384 16,382 64
255.255.128.0 /17 32,768 32,766 128
255.255.0.0 /16 65,536 65,534 256
255.254.0.0 /15 131,072 131,070 512
255.252.0.0 /14 262,144 262,142 1024
255.248.0.0 /13 524,288 524,286 2048
255.240.0.0 /12 1,048,576 1,048,574 4096
255.224.0.0 /11 2,097,152 2,097,150 8192
255.192.0.0 /10 4,194,304 4,194,302 16,384
255.128.0.0 /9 8,388,608 8,388,606 32,768
1.5.2. So where do these CIDR numbers come from anyway?
The CIDR number comes from the number of 1's in the subnet mask when converted to binary.
The common subnet mask 255.255.255.0 is 11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000 in binary. This
adds up to 24 1's, or /24 (pronounced 'slash twenty four').
A subnet mask of 255.255.255.192 is 11111111.11111111.11111111.11000000 in binary, or 26 1's,
hence a /26.
And so on...
255.0.0.0 /8 16,777,216 16,777,214 65,536
254.0.0.0 /7 33,554,432 33,554,430 131,072
252.0.0.0 /6 67,108,864 67,108,862 262,144
248.0.0.0 /5 134,217,728 134,217,726 1,048,576
240.0.0.0 /4 268,435,456 268,435,454 2,097,152
224.0.0.0 /3 536,870,912 536,870,910 4,194,304
192.0.0.0 /2 1,073,741,824 1,073,741,822 8,388,608
128.0.0.0 /1 2,147,483,648 2,147,483,646 16,777,216
0.0.0.0 /0 4,294,967,296 4,294,967,294 33,554,432