03-11-2017
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Join Date: Feb 2017
Last Activity: 13 May 2020, 6:57 AM EDT
Location: United Kingdom
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Hi,
Firstly, from just looking at a single IP, you can't tell how large the network it's a part of is. You need to know the netmask. So for example, if I had an IP of 192.168.1.10, that doesn't tell you anything at all about how large or small the network I'm a part of is.
But if I tell you the netmask - e.g. 192.168.1.10/24 or 192.168.1.10/255.255.255.0 - then you know it's part of a network of 256 addresses, running from 192.168.1.0 to 192.168.1.255.
If on the other hand I'd told you the netmask was 192.168.1.10/25 or 192.168.1.10/255.255.255.128 - then you'd know it was part of a network of 128 addresses going from 192.168.1.0 to 192.168.1.127.
And again, in every network, the very first address and the very last address are not usable for hosts, as they are reserved for other purposes.
You can also get plenty of other netmasks than the old simple Class A, B, C notation tells you. For instance I could just have easily told you my netmask was 192.168.1.10/28, in which case you'd then be able to calculate that the network I was a part of runs from 192.168.1.0 to 192.168.1.15, and conists of 16 IP addresses.
So just from looking at an IP you can't tell anything about the size of the network. And these days, there are far more netmasks and subnet sizes that are far more common than the old Class A/B/C notation.