Hi all,

What is the difference b/w subnetmask and default gateway?


Sabita

A subnet Mask defines Subnet for the particular connection. ie If a connection has an IP address 192.168.1.250 and a subnet mask 255.255.255.0, then it can access all ips between 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.255. If the subnet mask is 255.255.0.0, then the range broadens from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.255.255.

Default Gateway is the access point for a host to access an external network. When there is a request for accessing an IP address that doesnot fall into the current subnet specified by the subnet mask, the communication is made to the default gateway.