This probably isn't new for most of you guys, but I thought I'd share what my book

taught me. It makes subnetting quick and easy to figure out in seconds. No binary
needed. Since this is to help you answer questions fast, you should already have a basic
understanding in subnetting. Practicing this method will allow you to find everything
about a subnet in mere seconds.
Question: What's the subnet number, broadcast address, and host range of the below
address?
172.21.92.251
255.255.240.0
Lets first find the subnet number. First you need to find the interesting octet of the mask.
It may be easier for you to stack the IP and mask as I've done above. Take a look at each
octet in the mask and see if it's a 255, 0, or some other number. If the octet is neither a
255 or 0, that's your interesting octet. In our case, in red, shows the interesting octet.
255.255.240.0
Now that we have the interesting octet, compare the mask to the IP address. Anything
on the left of the interesting octet, signals that you should copy the IP address octet to
your subnet number. (X means it's currently unknown)
172.21.X.X
Anything on the right of the interesting octet, signals that you should copy a 0 down into
the subnet number.
172.21.X.0
All that's left to find is the value of the interesting octet for our subnet number. This part
is a little confusing at first, but will get easier with practice. The first step is to calculate
the magic number. There's nothing magic about it, but it has many uses. To find the
magic number, simply subtract the number 256 from the interesting octet in the mask.
256 - 240 = 16

Next you need to take the magic number and find the multiples of this number that is
closest to or less than the interesting octet in the IP address. This can be done easy by
doubling the magic number until you have a number that is closest to/equal to but not
more than the interesting octet in the IP address. Since our interesting octet in the IP
address is 92 you'll find the multiples as follows.
16, 32, 48, 64, 80, 96
As you can see, 80 is the closest number to 92 without actually going over 92. Guess
what? We now have our subnet number. Simply place 80 in the interesting octet.
172.21.80.0
Finding the broadcast address is very easy. You again deal with the interesting octet first,
but you're now using the subnet number that we just found out. Simply take the
interesting octet (80) and add the magic number (16) then subtract 1. This gives you
your interesting octet for the broadcast address.
80 + 16 -1 = 95
Lastly, anything to the right of your interesting octet will now change from 0 to 255. Now
you have your broadcast address.
172.21.95.255
Lets pull together what we have.
Subnet Number - 172.21.80.0
Broadcast Address - 172.21.95.255
To find the host range, simply add 1 to the final octet of the subnet number and subtract
1 from the final octet of the broadcast address.
Host Range - 172.21.80.1 - 172.21.95.254
And now you have your subnet number, broadcast address, and host range without

having to use any binary. If you practice this a few times you'll find it very easy to do in
your head. This will help you answer mostly any subnetting question on the ICND1 test.
Sample Problems
1. 10.180.10.18, mask 255.192.0.0
2. 10.200.10.18, mask 255.224.0.0
3. 10.100.18.18, mask 255.240.0.0
4. 10.100.18.18, mask 255.248.0.0
5. 10.150.200.200, mask 255.252.0.0
6. 10.150.200.200, mask 255.254.0.0
7. 10.220.100.18, mask 255.255.0.0
8. 10.220.100.18, mask 255.255.128.0
9. 172.31.100.100, mask 255.255.192.0
10.
172.31.100.100, mask 255.255.224.0
11.
172.31.200.10, mask 255.255.240.0
12.
172.31.200.10, mask 255.255.248.0
13.
172.31.50.50, mask 255.255.252.0
14.
172.31.50.50, mask 255.255.254.0
15.
172.31.140.14, mask 255.255.255.0
16.
172.31.140.14, mask 255.255.255.128
17.
192.168.15.150, mask 255.255.255.192
18.
192.168.15.150, mask 255.255.255.224
19.
192.168.100.100, mask 255.255.255.240
20.
192.168.100.100, mask 255.255.255.248
21.
192.168.15.230, mask 255.255.255.252
22.
10.1.1.1, mask 255.248.0.0
23.
172.16.1.200, mask 255.255.240.0
24.
172.16.0.200, mask 255.255.255.192
25.
10.1.1.1, mask 255.0.0.0

Sample Answers
1. 10.180.10.18, mask 255.192.0.0
---- Subnet Number - 10.128.0.0
---- Broadcast Address - 10.191.255.255
---- Host Range - 10.128.0.1 - 10.191.255.254
2. 10.200.10.18, mask 255.224.0.0
---- Subnet Number - 10.192.0.0
---- Broadcast Address - 10.223.255.255
---- Host Range - 10.192.0.1 - 10.223.255.254