How To Find Your Default Gateway IP Address Via IPCONFIG

How To Find Your Default Gateway IP Address Via IPCONFIG

The ipconfig command, among many other things, is great for quick access to your default gateway IP address:

1. Open Command Prompt. 
2. Execute the following command exactly:

ipconfig

...no space between 'ip' and 'config' and no switches or other options. 

3. Depending on your version of Windows, how many network adapters and connections you have, and how your computer is configured, you may get something very simple in response, or something very complex.
   
   What you're after is the IP address that's listed as the Default Gateway under the heading for the connection you're interested in. See Step 5 in the process above if you're not sure which connection is important.

On my Windows 10 computer, which has a number of network connections, the portion of the ipconfig results that I'm interested in is the one for my wired connection, which looks like this:

...

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

 Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

 Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::8126:df09:682a:68da%12

 IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.9

 Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1...

As you can see, the Default Gateway for my Ethernet connection is listed as 192.168.1.1. This is what you're after as well, for whatever connection you're interested in.

If that's too much information to look at, you could try executing ipconfig | findstr "Default Gateway" instead, which significantly trims down the data that's returned in the Command Prompt window.

This second method is only helpful if you know that you only have one active connection since multiple connections would show their default gateways with no more context on what connection they apply to.

How to Find Your Default Gateway IP Address

The instructions below will only work to find the default gateway IP address on "basic" wired and wireless home and small business networks. Larger networks, with more than a single router and simple network hubs, may have more than one gateway and more complicated routing.

1. Open Control Panel, accessible via the Start Menu, at least in most versions of Windows.
   
   Tip: If you're using Windows 10 or Windows 8.1, you can shorten this process by using the Network Connections link on the Power User Menu, accessible via WIN+X. Skip to Step 5 below if you go that route.
   
   See What Version of Windows Do I Have? if you're not sure which version of Windows is installed on your computer. 

1. Once Control Panel is open, tap or click on the Network and Internet link. This link is called Network and Internet Connections in Windows XP.
   
   Note: You won't see this link if your Control Panel view is set to Large icons, Small icons, or Classic View. Instead, tap or click on Network and Sharing Center and move on to Step 4. In Windows XP, click Network Connectionsand skip to Step 5. 
2. In the Network and Internet window...
   
   Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista: Tap or click on Network and Sharing Center, most likely the link at the very top.
   
   Windows XP Only: Click the Network Connections link at the bottom of the window and then skip to Step 5 below. 
3. On the left margin of the Network and Sharing Center window...
   
   Windows 10, 8, 7: Tap or click on Change adapter settings.
   
   Windows Vista: Click on Manage network connections.
   
   Note: I realize it says change or manage in that link but don't worry, you won't be making changes to any network settings in Windows in this tutorial. All you'll be doing is viewing the already configured default gateway IP. 
4. On the Network Connections screen, locate the network connection that you want to view the default gateway IP for.
   
   Tip: On most Windows computers, your wired network connection is probably labeled as Ethernet or Local Area Connection, while your wireless network connection is probably labeled as Wi-Fi or Wireless Network Connection.
   
   Note: Windows can connect to multiple networks at the same time so you may see several connections on this screen. Usually, especially if your network connection is working, you can immediately exclude any connection that says Not connected or Disabled. If you're still having trouble determining which connection to use, change the view to Details and note the information in the Connectivity column. 

1. Double-tap or double-click on the network connection. This should bring up an Ethernet Status or Wi-Fi Status dialog box, or some other Status, depending on the name of the network connection.
   
   Note: If you instead get a Properties, Devices and Printers, or some other window or notification, it means that the network connection you chose does not have a status to show you, meaning it's not connected to a network or the Internet. Revisit step 5 and look again for a different connection. 
2. Now that the connection's Status window is open, tap or click on the Details... button.
   
   Tip: In Windows XP only, you'll need to click the Support tab before you'll see the Details... button. 
3. In the Network Connection Details window, locate either the IPv4 Default Gateway or IPv6 Default Gateway under the Property column, depending on which network type you're using. 
4. The IP address listed as the Value for that property is the default gateway IP address Windows is using at the moment.
   
   Note: If no IP address is listed under either Property, the connection you chose in Step 5 may not be the one Windows is using to connect you to the Internet. Check again that this is the right connection. 
5. You can now use the default gateway IP address to troubleshoot a connection problem you might be having, to access your router, or whatever other task you had in mind.
   
   Tip: Documenting your default gateway IP is a good idea, if only to avoid having to repeat these steps next time you need it.

Which Protocols are used for PING?

ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) is an error-reporting protocol network devices like routers use to generate error messages to the source IP address when network problems prevent delivery of IP packets. ICMP creates and sends messages to the source IP address indicating that a gateway to the Internet that a router, service or host cannot be reached for packet delivery. Any IP network device has the capability to send, receive or process ICMP messages.

ICMP is not a transport protocol that sends data between systems.

While ICMP is not used regularly in end-user applications, it is used by network administrators to troubleshoot Internet connections in diagnostic utilities including ping and traceroute.

One of the main protocols of the internet protocol suite, ICMP is used by routers, intermediary devices or hosts to communicate error information or updates to other routers, intermediary devices or hosts. The widely used IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) and the newer IPv6 use similar versions of the ICMP protocol (ICMPv4 and ICMPv6, respectively).

ICMP messages are transmitted as datagrams and consist of an IP header that encapsulates the ICMP data. ICMP packets are IP packets with ICMP in the IP data portion. ICMP messages also contain the entire IP header from the original message, so the end system knows which packet failed

The ICMP header appears after the IPv4 or IPv6 packet header and is identified as IP protocol number 1.

What Is a Ping Test?

What Is a Ping Test?

Ping is a networking utility program or a tool to test if a particular host is reachable. It is a diagnostic that checks if your computer is connected to a server. Ping, a term taken from the echo location of a submarine, sends data packet to a server and if it receives a data packet back, then you have a connection. The term "ping" can refer to the time it takes for a data packet to travel round-trip. It means "get the attention of" or "check the presence of". In a computer network, a ping test is a way of sending messages from a computer to another. Aside from checking if the computer is connected to a network, ping also gives indicators of the reliability and general speed of the connection.

Ping Test

A ping test is a method of checking if the computer is connected to a network. It also determines the latency or delay between two computers. It is used to ensure that a host computer which your computer tries to access is operating. A ping test is run for troubleshooting to know connectivity as well as response time.

Ping Execution

Microsoft (MS) Windows has a ping utility with it to run a ping test. It also has other utilities available for free web downloads. To do a ping test, just identify the website, remote server or computer by its IP address or name. It gives you an output confirming which connection is successful as well as the number series in milliseconds, the communication delay.

Like MS Windows, Linux and Mac OSX also provide a ping command program to run from the shell of the operating system (OS). Here is how a ping test is done in MS Windows.

1. Ping by IP address:

1.      Open the shell prompt or MS DOS prompt from the Start Menu

2.      Type: ping     (ENTER)

2. Ping a Web Site:

·         C:\>ping www.about.com

For Linux, open a terminal or telnet window as the equivalent to MS Windows command prompt.
For Mac OS X, click on Applications folder, Utilities then Network Utility.

Ping Options

When should you run a ping test? You use it when you have connection problems. You run ping in order to detect where the problem comes from. If the ping shows to be successful but you still cannot reach the target, then the problem is not with you.

Your options depend on the implementation. Here are a few:

·         -? Help. This is used to display ping usage and syntax.

·         -c Count.  This means to send count packets then stop. Another way to stop is type [ctrl]-C. This is best for those who check their connection nature behavior from time to time.

·         -f Flood. Send packets soonest. This is to test network performance.

·         -l Preload. This is to send preload packets then go to normal mode. This is good for finding out the number of paces the router can handle quickly.

·         -n to seek for numeric output. This is used to prevent from getting into contact with a name server.

·         -p Pattern. A number of hexadecimal digits is called a pattern. It is to pad a packet end. This is applied when data-dependent problem is suspected.

·         -R is option for IP's Record Route. This is to determine the route the packets shall take. The target host may give the information.

·         -r is to skip routing tables. This applies when you think there is a routing problem and ping cannot find its way to the target host. This is only for hosts which can be reached directly even without routers.

·         -s size of packet. Alter packet size and check large packets to have them fragmented.

·         -t ping until stopped ([ctrl]-C).

·         -v for verbose. This means show ICMP packets with detailed information.

·         -w Timeout. This is for satellite, cellular and other networks with high latency. This means ping has a longer timeout so it identifies latency problems.

Example of the options usage is:

Ping -t www.yahoo.com

Ping Results Interpretation

The output or a result of running a ping test can look like this:

1. Reply from 192.168.0.8: bytes=32 time=

·         Microsoft Windows ping outputs four messages - confirmation line, size in bytes, time and Time to Live (TTL). The latter is a number from 1 to 128. It is the number of networks which the ping passed through on its way to the target. The value 128 means that the device is on the local computer without other networks in between.

2. Request timed out.

·         No connection whatsoever.

3. Ping: cannot resolve mysample.com: Unknown host

·         Misspelled host name.

Using ping to troubleshoot connection problems narrows down the causes of the problem in your computer from the command prompt window. This diagnostic utility gives you an understanding how computer connection works by getting used to viewing the cornerstones of regular network.

What is "ping", "download speed", and "upload speed"?

What is "ping", "download speed", and "upload speed"?

The ping is the reaction time of your connection–how fast you get a response after you've sent out a request. A fast ping means a more responsive connection, especially in applications where timing is everything (like video games). Ping is measured in milliseconds (ms).

The download speed is how fast you can pull data from the server to you. Most connections are designed to download much faster than they upload, since the majority of online activity, like loading web pages or streaming videos, consists of downloads. Download speed is measured in megabits per second (Mbps).

The upload speed is how fast you send data from you to others. Uploading is necessary for sending big files via email, or in using video-chat to talk to someone else online (since you have to send your video feed to them). Upload speed is measured in megabits per second (Mbps).

Subnet (subnetwork)

Subnet (subnetwork)

A subnet (short for "subnetwork") is an identifiably separate part of an organization's network. Typically, a subnet may represent all the machines at one geographic location, in one building, or on the same local area network (LAN). Having an organization's network divided into subnets allows it to be connected to the Internet with a single shared network address. Without subnets, an organization could get multiple connections to the Internet, one for each of its physically separate subnetworks, but this would require an unnecessary use of the limited number of network numbers the Internet has to assign. It would also require that Internet routing tables on gateways outside the organization would need to know about and have to manage routing that could and should be handled within an organization.

Subnet mask is a mask used to determine what subnet an IP address belongs to. An IP address has two components, the network address and the host address. For example, consider the IP address 150.215.017.009. Assuming this is part of a Class B network, the first two numbers (150.215) represent the Class B network address, and the second two numbers (017.009) identify a particular host on this network.

What is Subnetting?

Subnetting enables the network administrator to further divide the host part of the address into two or more subnets. In this case, a part of the host address is reserved to identify the particular subnet. This is easier to see if we show the IP address in binary format.

The full address is:

10010110.11010111.00010001.00001001

The Class B network part is:

10010110.11010111

The host address is:

00010001.00001001

If this network is divided into 14 subnets, however, then the first 4 bits of the host address (0001) are reserved for identifying the subnet.

The subnet mask is the network address plus the bits reserved for identifying the subnetwork -- by convention, the bits for the network address are all set to 1, though it would also work if the bits were set exactly as in the network address. In this case, therefore, the subnet mask would be 11111111.11111111.11110000.00000000. It's called a mask because it can be used to identify the subnet to which an IP address belongs by performing a bitwise AND operation on the mask and the IP address. The result is the subnetwork address:

Subnet Mask	255.255.240.000	11111111.11111111.11110000.00000000
IP Address	150.215.017.009	10010110.11010111.00010001.00001001
Subnet Address	150.215.016.000	10010110.11010111.00010000.00000000

The subnet address, therefore, is 150.215.016.000.