Talk:Default gateway

Maybe a major cleanup of this article would make it a good stand-alone article but it should probably be a section in the main gateway article. Rsduhamel 19:37, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes, i think so too! Michele

As somebody who came here specifically to find out what a "default gateway" was (my router, apparently :)), I must respectfully disagree.

Add: in homes with a wireless router the default gateway is the wireless router. ( I think this is correct. Bill)

Being a network student, we have been taught to only used default gateway, so i would have to disagree here i'm afraid Darren.

Same here Daren, I'm a networking student and i came here learn exactly what was listed on this page. No need to clutter it up with any more information Nexeh

I'm a network professional, and i agree with the students. No need to make things complicated :)

Uh, it's complicated already... I need to know how to change a default gateway from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.2.1 without completely killing my Internet access, I came here, and... Only understood about three words in the article. I understand that it's a node, but... that's not helpful. And the Usage and Examples sections were overly complex. 0_o 71.179.34.80 02:07, 19 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Since WP is not a how-to guide, I'm afraid you're not finding the information you want because you're looking in the wrong place. You won't find step-by-step instructions here. -- Mikeblas 03:00, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

I think the second paragraph should be changed. As far as my knowledge is concerned, modems can't act as a gateway. Shall we remove the second paragraph which says "In home computing configurations, an ISP often provides a physical device which both connects local hardware to the Internet and serves as a gateway. Such devices include DSL modems and cable modems." ? Bakshi Gulam (talk) 06:59, 30 July 2013 (UTC) Bakshi Gulam
 * I've changed modem to router which I think fixes this. TwoTwoHello (talk) 10:25, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

Merger proposal
While I guess a "default route" and a "default gateway" can have subtly different meanings, for the most part I think it would be best if these two articles were merged together. They appear to be largely redundant. Wrs1864 (talk) 19:44, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

I disagree. I searched for default gateway and found here exactly what I was looking for! The article is short and simple, true, but sometimes that is the best form. -- 88.194.194.231 (talk) 14:29, 2 March 2009 (UTC)


 * But the default route article is also short and simple and has almost the same content. What did you find useful about this article that wasn't in the other? Wrs1864 (talk) 14:35, 2 March 2009 (UTC)


 * The terminology has been used interchangeably but there is a difference. A device that does not have a routing table (i.e. a layer-2 device) will use a default gateway.  Requests that are not found on the local LAN will be sent to the default gateway.  A device that does have a routing table (i.e. a layer-3 device) will use a default route when a match is not found using the device's routing table.


 * Layer-2 devices direct their traffic toward a router to have the router find the destination. Layer-3 devices have some idea about the topology and can determine what how to direct traffic.  If the layer-3 device does not know where to send the traffic it will use the default route.


 * The pages should not be merged but should definitely reference each other. Psibernetik (talk) 15:01, 11 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Utter bull-nonsense. Layer 2 devices know nothing about routing and such and don't even need an IP address. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.120.102.12 (talk) 21:53, 15 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I also disagree they are different but similar, default gateway's are used by hosts so they know where the router that they use to connect to other networks mainly the internet is, how ever default route is used on routers as a last resort path if they don't have a route to the destination network. So i think they should be kept separate but maybe give a reference to default gateways Olie440 (talk) 20:22, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

I disagree with the merge idea - mostly because people searching for 'Default Gateway', a term seen on the output of the ipconfig (Windows) and ifconfig (Linux) commands, are probably happy getting to a page titled Default Gateway.

I disagree to the merger proposal .I think this is the right way to present the content about Default gateway in the way IPv4 uses itVerma.spv (talk) 10:47, 12 December 2010 (UTC)Verma.spv

They SHOULD NOT be merged. These are related topics but NOT the same. A "default gateway" is an address referring to a specific device that is/should be touching the outside where as a "default route" is a theoretical term that typically refers to the gateway. These terms have slightly different meanings. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chrisallen87 (talk • contribs) 18:26, 18 March 2011 (UTC) I would not like them to be merge. they have clear diffrences. Default gateway is use to connect two computer with difference IP address while default route is esssentially a master IP address. at least, that what i think my IT teacher said. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.21.168.198 (talk) 01:45, 20 July 2011 (UTC) I concur they should not be merged default route will be searched by IT pros, default gateway will be searched by PC users setting up a LAN. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Smiley97111 (talk • contribs) 16:34, 28 September 2011 (UTC)

Image request
An image (with some IP-numbers) would be nice. -- 88.194.194.231 (talk) 14:29, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

These two should not be merged as for a pc end user there is no term default route he will be dealing with default gateway only. You could cross refer each other. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.163.46.112 (talk) 03:05, 26 February 2010 (UTC) DO NOT MERGE THESE ARTICLES!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.173.84.192 (talk) 05:58, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

They should not be merged. Network settings on a PC usually refer to default gateway, not default route. If they are redundant, then the default route article should be deleted. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.134.137.73 (talk) 22:22, 25 August 2011 (UTC)

== Question == if we have a private network, without a router (just a switch say), do I need to worry about gateway addresses? common in industrial machine networks, suppose the controller (PLC) talks to some drives. This might be a contrasting example to elucidate the basic concept Feldercarb (talk) 21:21, 3 August 2023 (UTC)