Editing Default gateway (section)

==Role==
A [[Gateway (telecommunications)|gateway]] is a network node that serves as an access point to another network, often involving not only a change of addressing, but also a different networking technology. More narrowly defined, a router merely forwards packets between networks with different [[IP address#Subnetworks|network prefix]]es. The networking software stack of each computer contains a [[routing table]] that specifies which interface is used for transmission and which router on the network is responsible for forwarding to a specific set of addresses. If none of these forwarding rules is appropriate for a given destination address, the default gateway is chosen as the router of last resort. The default gateway can be specified by the [[route (command)|route]] command to configure the node's routing table and [[default route]].

In a home or small office environment, the default gateway is a device, such as a [[DSL router]] or [[cable router]], that connects the local network to the Internet. It serves as the default gateway for all network devices.

Enterprise network systems may require many internal [[network segment]]s. A device wishing to communicate with a host on the public Internet, for example, forwards the packet to the default gateway for its network segment. This router also has a default route configured to a device on an adjacent network, one hop closer to the public network.