what does a network mask do
Best Answer: The subnet mask is the network address plus the bits reserved for identifying the subnetwork. It's called a mask because it can be used to identify the subnet to which an IP address belongs by performing a bitwise AND operation on the mask and the IP address.est Answer: The subnet mask is the network address plus the bits reserved for identifying the subnetwork. It's called a mask because it can be used to identify the subnet to which an IP address belongs by performing a bitwise AND operation on the mask and the IP address.