Default Gateway

A default gateway is the device, usually a router, that a computer sends traffic to when the destination is outside its own local network. Devices on the same subnet talk directly; everything else, including the internet, goes through the gateway.

The gateway's IP address is part of a device's network settings, normally handed out by DHCP along with the IP address, subnet mask and DNS servers. On home networks it is often 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1, which is also the address of the router's admin page. Commands such as ipconfig (Windows) or ip route (Linux) show it.