Helpful Hint: how to find out the subnet mask?

During network setup, many questions arise: how to find the subnet mask, the default gateway, the IP address. With the first parameter, today we'll figure it out. Users at the initial configuration of the network often do not know also where to enter these parameters.

All in order

If we talk about what a subnet mask is, how to know this
Parameter, it should be noted that you can do this by looking at your network connection settings. Go to the "Start" menu, which is located in the toolbar. Find the "Settings" tab, select "Network Connections". Thus, we will open a window with the same name. In the event that you have network connections, all of them will be displayed in the specified window. However, if you do not see the appropriate notation, you need to create a new connection. Next, we'll figure out how to find out the subnet mask when everything is already created. First of all, right-click on the network connection designation. Then click on the "Properties" item in the appeared menu.

Working with Properties

After the done actions, a window called "Properties" appears before you. Here we need to find the function of the components that are used when connecting. Move the scroll bar down, find the item called "Internet Protocol". Left-click on this item. A little below the "Properties" button becomes active. Click on it, and a window will appear that is responsible for the properties of the Internet Protocol, where you can see the IP address of the computer, as well as the subnet mask. By the way, if necessary, you can learn the subnet mask by IP. However, as a rule, this is not necessary, since the mask value is always the same: 255.255.255.0. Let's look at how to find out the subnet mask if the network connection is configured for the first time, and what actions still need to be performed. In this case, in the Internet Protocol properties window, after specifying the IP address, click the left mouse button in the "Subnet Mask" field, so the value that we need to set (255.255.255.0) will be filled automatically.

Changing the Subnet Mask

During the reconfiguration of a local network or consolidation into a single multiple network, it is necessary to change the values of individual parameters. It's best to do this yourself, not hoping for changes to the settings in the automatic mode. To combine several local networks, you need to connect the routers or network hubs that are included in each of the networks. It is strictly forbidden to connect network devices in a circular fashion. Most often, you can access any of the computers that are part of the created network without having to make additional settings.

You may experience problems only if you want to install a shared printer or create shared network resources. To prevent the appearance of intranet errors, you need to configure the settings of the installed network adapters. So we looked at how to find out the subnet mask, and also learned what this parameter is for.