Binary Math Breakdown
This illustrates the exact Bitwise operations your router performs to establish network boundaries.
■ Network Bits (Locked)
■ Host Bits (Available)
* The AND operation locks in the Network bits. Both bits must be 1 to result in 1. This strips away all host bits, finding the start of the subnet.
* The OR operation uses the inverted mask to force all Host bits to 1. This reveals the very last address in the subnet.