I know that if I have a network 83.23.159.0/24 then I have 254 usable host IP addresses because: 83.23.159.0 (in binary: host portion all zeros) is the subnet address 83.23.159.1-254 are host addresses 83.23.159.255 (in binary: host portion all ones) is the broadcast address I understand the use for a broadcast address, but I don't understand what the subnet address is ever used for. I can't see any reason that an IP packet's destination address would be set to the subnet address, so why does the subnet itself need an address if it is never going to be the endpoint for AN IP flow? To me it seems like a waste to not allow this address to be used as a host address. To summarise, my questions are: Is an IP packet's destination ever set to the subnet IP address? If yes, in what cases and why? If no, then why not free up that address for any host to use?