diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b2c7b41..e9402e5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ module "example-server-linuxvm" {
   vmname    = "example-server-linux"
   vmrp      = "esxi/Resources - or name of a resource pool"
   network = {
-    "Name of the Port Group in vSphere" = ["10.13.113.2", "10.13.113.3"] # To use DHCP create Empty list ["",""]
+    "Name of the Port Group in vSphere" = ["10.13.113.2", "10.13.113.3"] # To use DHCP create Empty list ["",""]; You can also use a CIDR annotation;
   }
   vmgateway = "10.13.113.1"
   dc        = "Datacenter"
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ module "example-server-windowsvm-advanced" {
   vmnameformat      = "%03d" #To use three decimal with leading zero vmnames will be AdvancedVM001,AdvancedVM002
   domain            = "somedomain.com"
   network = {
-    "Name of the Port Group in vSphere" = ["10.13.113.2", "10.13.113.3"] # To use DHCP create Empty list ["",""]
+    "Name of the Port Group in vSphere" = ["10.13.113.2", "10.13.113.3"] # To use DHCP create Empty list ["",""]; You can also use a CIDR annotation;
     "Second Network Card"               = ["", ""]
   }
   ipv4submask  = ["24", "8"]
diff --git a/main.tf b/main.tf
index 0d006d8..1b044f3 100644
--- a/main.tf
+++ b/main.tf
@@ -210,8 +210,14 @@ resource "vsphere_virtual_machine" "vm" {
       dynamic "network_interface" {
         for_each = keys(var.network)
         content {
-          ipv4_address = var.network[keys(var.network)[network_interface.key]][count.index]
-          ipv4_netmask = "%{if length(var.ipv4submask) == 1}${var.ipv4submask[0]}%{else}${var.ipv4submask[network_interface.key]}%{endif}"
+          ipv4_address = split("/", var.network[keys(var.network)[network_interface.key]][count.index])[0]
+          ipv4_netmask = var.network[keys(var.network)[network_interface.key]][count.index] == "" ? null : (
+                           length(split("/", var.network[keys(var.network)[network_interface.key]][count.index])) == 2 ? (
+                             split("/", var.network[keys(var.network)[network_interface.key]][count.index])[1]
+                           ) : (
+                             length(var.ipv4submask) == 1 ? var.ipv4submask[0] : var.ipv4submask[network_interface.key]
+                           )
+                         )
         }
       }
       dns_server_list = var.dns_server_list
diff --git a/variables.tf b/variables.tf
index 44aca80..54cdf00 100644
--- a/variables.tf
+++ b/variables.tf
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #Network Section
 variable "network" {
-  description = "Define PortGroup and IPs for each VM"
+  description = "Define PortGroup and IPs/CIDR for each VM. If no CIDR provided, the subnet mask is taken from var.ipv4submask."
   type        = map(list(string))
   default     = {}
 }
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ variable "network_type" {
 }
 
 variable "ipv4submask" {
-  description = "ipv4 Subnet mask."
+  description = "ipv4 Subnet mask. Warning: The order must follow the alphabetic order from var.network."
   type        = list(any)
   default     = ["24"]
 }