Why is my subnet mask 255.255.255.255?

Question

I have a modem which used for internet broadband and I got an IP address in the 'A' class 10.x.x.x and have netmask 255.255.255.255.

• What does 255.255.255.255 mean exactly?
• When I try to sniff with promisc mode, will this 'netmask' never allow me to try such things?
• What is the dhcpcd configuration so that each client gets the subnet mask 255.255.255.255?
  (For example: By MAC Address)

Solution 1

It means that your phone is using a point to point link. All your outgoing traffic will be routed to the other end of your link and nothing will be sent to the local network, which is unsurprising as there is no local network.

Solution 2

A network with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.255 puts each device inside its own subnet, forcing them to communicate with the router before communicating with any other device.

Solution 3

An address with a 255.255.255.255 may be one end of a PTP (point to point) tunnel. Check your routing table using a command like netstat -rn. You may see a route to another address from your IP. The other address should have a route to 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0 (the default route).

Comments

[capede]

'and you can have a internal IP like yours and still be on the internet, so this isn't your problem.', how come sir ? what is my modem? do you mean the vendor sir? my modem is haier C100, i changed nothing just run 'wvdial' in order to established my internet connection on host A ( 10.0.1.1) eth0 , really looking forward for your leap of faith of answers sir :D