Default route

Article summary

In computer networking, the default route is a configuration of the Internet Protocol (IP) that establishes a forwarding rule for packets when no specific address of a next-hop host is available from the routing table or other routing mechanisms. The default route is generally the address of another router, which treats the packet the same way: if a route matches, the packet is forwarded accordingly, otherwise the packet is forwarded to the default route of that router. The route evaluation process in each router uses the longest prefix match method to obtain the most specific route. The network with the longest subnet mask or network prefix that matches the destination IP address is the next-hop network gateway. The process repeats until a packet is delivered to the destination host, or earlier along the route, when a router has no default route available and cannot route the packet otherwise. In the latter case, the packet is dropped and an ICMP Destination Unreachable message may be returned. Each router traversal counts as one hop in the distance calculation for the transmission path. The device to which the default route points is often called the default gateway, and it often carries out other functions such as packet filtering, firewalling, or proxy server operations.…

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