<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (December 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (December 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> In computer networking, the default route is a setting on a computer that defines the packet forwarding rule to use when no specific route can be determined for a given Internet Protocol (IP) destination address . All packets for destinations not established in the routing table are sent via the default route . </P> <P> The default route generally points to another router, which treats the packet the same way: if a route matches, the packet is forwarded accordingly, otherwise the packet is forwarded to the default route of that router . The route evaluation process in each router uses the longest prefix match method to obtain the most specific route . The network with the longest subnet mask that matches the destination IP address is the next - hop network gateway . The process repeats until a packet is delivered to the destination . Each router traversal counts as one hop in the distance calculation for the transmission path . </P>

When do routers forward packets out through the default route