Default gateway

How it is used

Checked early in almost every connectivity problem: 'Can you ping the default gateway?' Often shortened to 'gateway'. It is usually the first or last usable address of a subnet, and DHCP hands it out together with the IP address.

Example sentences

1. The PC has the wrong default gateway, so it can reach local printers but not the internet.

2. First ping the default gateway, then try an external address like 8.8.8.8.

Common collocations

• set the default gateway
• ping the default gateway
• default gateway address
• gateway of last resort

Related terms

• routerA device that connects different networks and decides, packet by packet, the best path for data to reach its destination, usually based on IP addresses.
• subnetA smaller network created by dividing a larger IP address range, so that groups of devices such as offices, departments or servers can be kept separate and managed more easily.
• IP addressA unique numerical label given to every device on an IP network so that data can be sent to it, for example 192.168.1.20 in IPv4.
• DHCPShort for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol: a protocol that automatically gives devices an IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and DNS servers when they join a network.
• routingThe process of choosing the path that traffic takes from one network to another, carried out by routers using routes that are either entered by hand or learned from other routers.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• default gateway · Software Engineering

More terms: IP Addressing

• IPv4
• IPv6
• subnet mask
• NAT
• static IP address
• port forwarding
• CIDR
• private IP address