What is a default gateway address?
A default gateway address is only applicable when you need two different networks to communicate with one another, and a router/gateway is added to the system.
What the gateway address does is reserve an IP address for the gateway/router that will be included as the intermediary and lets the device know that it is there.
Here is an example:
You have two devices on two different networks and you want them to communicate.
Device A | Device B |
IP: 192.168.1.10 |
IP: 1.10.2.3
|
You include a router between them to establish a connection. The router will need two different IP addresses in order to be able to communicate with both networks. The router's addresses are then given to device A and B so they know who the router is.
Device A | Router | Device B |
IP: 192.168.1.10 | IP A: 192.168.1.5 | IP: 1.10.2.3 |
Gateway Address: 192.168.1.5 | IP B: 1.10.2.1 | Gateway Address: 1.10.2.0 |