How to Find a Default Gateway Address

Techwalla may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.
The default gateway is the IP address of the network server or device that your computer is connected to.

When your computer is connected to a network, the default gateway is the server, router or switch that the computer is connected directly to. If you are troubleshooting a connectivity problem, obtaining the default gateway is likely to be something that you will need to do as part of the troubleshooting process, as lack of connectivity to the default gateway will lead to lack of connectivity to the Internet. Find your default gateway to begin this troubleshooting process.

Advertisement

Finding the Default Gateway in Windows

Video of the Day

Step 1

Press the Windows logo and "R" keys simultaneously, then type "cmd" without quotation marks in the window that appears. Press "Enter." This launches the command prompt window.

Advertisement

Video of the Day

Step 2

Type "ipconfig" at the command prompt and press "Enter."

Step 3

Examine the set of numbers next to "Default Gateway." This set of numbers (e.g. "192.168.0.1" is the address of the device that your computer is connected to on the network.

Advertisement

Finding the Deafault Gateway on a Mac

Step 1

Click the Apple logo at the top of the screen, then click "System Preferences." Alternatively, click the System Preferences icon in the dock.

Step 2

Click the "Network" icon.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Step 3

Click the drop-down menu next to "Show," and select the network connection that you would like to display the information for, such as "Built-in Ethernet."

Step 4

Click "Advanced," and make sure that the "TCP/IP" tab is on top on the screen that appears.

Advertisement

Step 5

Examine the set of numbers next to "Router." This set of numbers (e.g. "192.168.0.1") is the address of the device that your computer is connected to on the network.

Advertisement

Advertisement

references