Computer Networking Help

I think I attached the right PDF for this question, 😁 but does anyone happen to know how to solve these problems? If I grabbed the wrong file, maybe the admin could just delete it. 🙂 I'm also happy to chat via DM if that's easier. 🙂

William Baker said:I think I attached the right PDF for this question, 😁 but does anyone happen to know how to solve these problems? If I grabbed the wrong file, maybe the admin could just delete it. 🙂 I'm also happy to chat via DM if that's easier. 🙂

I get it. Only problem is, looking at the image, these aren't really full problems—or they're missing pieces. Something feels off. At least, that's my first impression.

The problems are pretty basic. Just follow the theory. You've got four sets paired with four different masks. You just mask the part of the address you need using binary and read the number.

209.50.1.0 - that last zero means it's the network ID.
255.255.255.0 - the mask tells you only the number after the last dot counts as the device address.

For 20 hosts, that's 11100000, so a custom mask 224 (the sum of the masked bits) would be 255.255.255.(128+64+32).

Now just apply that same logic to the other one, but in reverse.

William Richardson12 said:The problems are pretty basic. Just follow the theory. You've got four sets paired with four different masks. You just mask the part of the address you need using binary and read the number.

209.50.1.0 - that last zero means it's the network ID.
255.255.255.0 - the mask tells you only the number after the last dot counts as the device address.

For 20 hosts, that's 11100000, so a custom mask 224 (the sum of the masked bits) would be 255.255.255.(128+64+32).

Now just apply that same logic to the other one, but in reverse.

Spot on; the mask is /27, which works out to 255.255.255.224.
The host IP range would be 209.50.1.1 - 209.50.1.30

It feels like these are just the final answers, but what I actually need is the full step-by-step process—like, the entire assignment worked out from start to finish. I missed the one lecture where we actually tackled this specific problem, so now my professor has me on his bad side. If anyone is feeling generous and has the energy to help me out, I’d really appreciate it.

Everything you need is already written down somewhere. Just go grab a textbook or find a lecture online. You need to actually grasp what an address is, how address classes work, and what a subnet mask does... you’ll definitely find a problem solved just like this one if you look. I already gave you the rundown; I'm not going to sit here and draw it all out for you. Use a textbook or a proper course for that stuff.

Wait, are you looking for the answer to question 7 or number 8?

With 20 hosts, you're basically hunting for the first power of two that "covers" that number => 2^5 which equals 32 (that'll do the trick)
Since the mask is 32 bits total... the subnet mask ends up being 32 minus 5 which gives you a /27 -just a little hint there

So basically
209.50.1.0 => that's your network address
209.50.1.1 through 209.50.1.30 => those are all the usable IP addresses for your hosts
209.50.1.31 => and that's your broadcast address

These assignments are pretty bizarre; they don't even bother explaining what you're actually supposed to do.
For instance, with problem number 7, what's the deal with part "(C)"?
Maybe it’s referring to an old Class C subnet that used that specific address, but I don't see how that connects to anything regarding 20 hosts or whatever else...

ironcyclist58 said:These assignments are pretty bizarre; they don't even bother explaining what you're actually supposed to do.
For instance, with problem number 7, what's the deal with part "(C)"?
Maybe it’s referring to an old Class C subnet that used that specific address, but I don't see how that connects to anything regarding 20 hosts or whatever else...

The question is fine if you actually know the theory. It says Class C, which means you assume a 255.255.255.0 default mask just to have a starting point, though you could technically figure it out without the hint. Subnetting is basic stuff... just networking 101.

Back at my state university, they'd just give us the IP and the subnet mask and leave it at that.

Honestly, mentioning classes here is just completely pointless. It’s not even been relevant for like 20 years, so I have no idea why anyone would even bring it up. CIDR and classes are basically mutually exclusive concepts... they don't even belong in the same conversation.

This feels like one of those highly specific problems that gets hashed out during a live lecture—where everyone just intuitively "gets" what the instructor wants—but looking at it purely on paper, I’m completely lost.
I mean, how did you all determine that we're actually looking for the host address range? Or even more fundamentally, what is the expected format for the final answer?
To me, this looks like someone just handed us a set of variables like a=5 and b=7 without telling us if we need to solve for c, x, y, or z. You guys probably have some extra context from listening to similar lectures that makes this make sense, but I'm flying blind here.

Jonathan Mendoza17 said:This feels like one of those highly specific problems that gets hashed out during a live lecture—where everyone just intuitively "gets" what the instructor wants—but looking at it purely on paper, I’m completely lost.
I mean, how did you all determine that we're actually looking for the host address range? Or even more fundamentally, what is the expected format for the final answer?
To me, this looks like someone just handed us a set of variables like a=5 and b=7 without telling us if we need to solve for c, x, y, or z. You guys probably have some extra context from listening to similar lectures that makes this make sense, but I'm flying blind here.

Yeah, just realized—I've got 20 hosts on the POnetwork
here.
So, how many subnets am I actually looking at making?
Every single one's gotta have a /27 mask (255.255.255.224),

Here's the breakdown for the second subnet:

209.50.1.32 -> network address
209.50.1.33 - 209.50.1.62 -> host addresses
209.50.1.63 -> broadcast

ironcyclist58 said:These assignments are pretty bizarre; they don't even bother explaining what you're actually supposed to do.
For instance, with problem number 7, what's the deal with part "(C)"?
Maybe it’s referring to an old Class C subnet that used that specific address, but I don't see how that connects to anything regarding 20 hosts or whatever else...

Yeah, I'm finding them just as weird. I spend most of my time working in the Cisco world, where instructions are usually way more precise. That's why I mentioned they feel incomplete.