Networking - Subnet question

[coorsman]

Does anyone see a problem with this setup.

Just trying to figure out if this orignal setup was incorrect.

Terminal#1 - Static IP 66.147.81.52 - Subnet 255.255.255.254
Terminal#2 - Static IP 66.147.81.53 - Subnet 255.255.255.254
Printer#1 - Static IP 66.147.81.54 - Subnet 255.255.255.254
Printer#2 - Static IP 66.147.81.55 - Subnet 255.255.255.254
Printer#2 - Static IP 66.147.81.56 - Subnet 255.255.255.254

This site was having intermittent communicatins problems and saw the subnet was 255.255.255.254 on all 5 devivces. I changed it to 255.255.255.0 and everything seems to be working correctly so far. I know what subnetting is for but I'm not an expert on networking. I was always tought to use 255.255.255.0 on most system setup. Researching the 254 octet only 2 ip address could work, but all devices were usually working but would eventually fail.


So.. I sould like to know why so I can explain it to the customer.

Thanks in advance.



Cheers,
Coorsman

 

[Moregelen]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv4_subnetting_reference

Which system are you using? A lot of programs out there just assume (despite it being bad practice) that you are on 255.255.255.0 given that it is the most common.

 

[coorsman]

It's a Maitre'd site using posiflex xp machines and epson 220B printers. My first time on site. Like I stated they have had issues for a while. Just thought I'd do some cable testing and couldn't even ping the printers. Did a IP check on the printers and saw the 224 and thought that was weird so I changed everything back to 0 and so far... ok.


Cheers,
Coorsman

 

[Moregelen]

*shrugs* Dunno. 254 is intended for point-to-point, but I'm not networking expert. I leave that to others in the office =)

 

[MenulinkMan]

My first question was why are they using public IP's?

The 3 ranges of private IP's are 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255, 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255, and 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255

 

[coorsman]

Thanks for that bit of info Menulinkman. Not really sure why it was set up this way but we intend on changing next visit. Thanks for all the help.


Cheers,
Coorsman