The math
2(48 − 44) = 24 = 16
The subnet ID lives in the last hex digit of the third hextet. Each /48 still contains 65,536 /64 LAN segments.
First subnets of 2001:db8::/44
| # | /48 subnet |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2001:db8::/48 |
| 2 | 2001:db8:1::/48 |
| 3 | 2001:db8:2::/48 |
| 4 | 2001:db8:3::/48 |
| 16 | 2001:db8:f::/48 |
Addresses are written in RFC 5952 form: lowercase, no leading zeros, longest zero run compressed to ::.
Planning tip
Keep subnet boundaries on nibbles (multiples of 4 bits) so each subnet ID maps to whole hex digits and reverse DNS (ip6.arpa) delegation stays clean. Encode structure (site, function, VLAN) in those digits rather than allocating sequentially.