NetworkingIntermediate
Subnet
A smaller network carved out of a larger IP address range, grouping related addresses together for efficient organisation and routing.
Full Definition
A subnet (subnetwork) is a logical subdivision of an IP network. It is defined using CIDR notation (e.g. 203.0.113.0/24), where the prefix length (/24) specifies how many bits are fixed in the network address, leaving the rest for host addresses. A /24 subnet contains 256 addresses. Subnets are important in the proxy industry because datacenter providers own entire subnets — websites can block a whole /24 or /16 with one rule to cut off a scraper that just rotates within the same subnet. Good proxy pools use IPs from diverse subnets and diverse ASNs to avoid subnet-level blocks.
