What is Limited Broadcast Address?

The limited broadcast address is defined as which sends or broadcast packet to all hosts connected to its own or home network.

• In limited broadcast addresses, the network also called subnets.
• The limited broadcast is packet-destinated to the local network.
• The network identifier portion and host identifier portion of the destination address is either all ones (255.255.255.255) or all zeros (0.0.0.0).
• The network identifier portion and host identifier portion will differ according to the class.

For class A:
class A ranges from 0 to 127, and the size of class A is 32 bits in that 8 bits are considered as the network identifier portion and the remaining 24 bits are considered as the host identifier portion.

Example-1 :
The limited broadcast address of 25.2.45.23 will be 255.255.255.255, the network identifier portion is 25 and the host identifier portion is 2.45.23.

For class B:
Class B ranges from 128 – 191, and the size of class B is 32 bits in that 16 bits are considered as the network identifier portion and the remaining 16 bits are considered as the host identifier portion.

Example-2 :
The limited broadcast address of 186.22.34.63 will be 255.255.255.255, the network identifier portion is 186.22 and the host identifier portion is 34.63.

For class C:
Class C ranges from 192-223, and the size of class C is 32 bits in that 24 bits are considered as the network identifier portion and the remaining 8 bits are considered as the host identifier portion.

Example-3 :
The limited broadcast address of 201.1.2.3 will be 255.255.255.255, the network identifier portion is 201.1.2 and the host identifier portion is 3.

class	IP Address	network identifier portion	host identifier portion	network address	limited broadcast address
A	25.2.45.23	25	2.45.23	25.0.0.0	255.255.255.255
B	186.22.34.63	186.22	34.63	186.22.0.0	255.255.255.255
C	201.1.2.3	201.1.2	3	201.1.2.0	255.255.255.255

Note –

• The limited broadcast address is applicable for class A, class B, and class C.
• The limited broadcast address is not applicable for class D and class E.