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A default gateway provides the access point for other networks when one of the networks tends to share or communicate the data packets with the other network. It is a node in a computer network that provides a leap to the other networking system when no successive IP address is specified on the routing table for transferring the data packet to the destination host.
The process includes the transfiguration of the following :
- IP addressing
- Subnet mask
- Network Topologies
What is The default gateway is not available error?
While trying to connect our system to the internet we often face an error prompting “The default gateway is not available”. Before understanding this error let’s get a brief on the default gateway.
At times the IP packet at a certain occasion of the node is unable to find the route to transfer the data to the destination. In that case, the IP packet follows the default gateway for the routing procedure.
The Best Example of a default gateway is the router that couples LAN(local area network) to the internet in an office’s network.
However when the default gateway is unavailable then the above-stated error occurs.
Following are the possible causes for this error:
- The IP settings might be incorrect
- The faulty ISP configuration settings
- Incorrect router settings
- Outdated drivers
- McAfee solutions often reported blocking the internet connection
We’ll be discussing various solutions to do away with the “Default gateway not available” error in this article.
Let’s check them out!
Remove any or all the McAfee Programs from your system
One of the prime reasons causing the “ The default gateway is not available” error is the McAfee security program on your system. You need to remove this from your system to get rid of this error.
Following are the steps to remove the McAfee programs from your system:
- Go to the Control Panel on your PC
- Type programs in the search bar present at the top-right corner of the control panel window
- Select uninstall a program under Programs and Features.
- Locate McAfee from the list of programs. Right-click on the icon and select Uninstall.
Once the program gets uninstalled, the issue gets fixed. You can switch to any other Anti-virus software to protect your system against any possible malware/threat.
Reset the WiFi adapter
Following are the steps to reset the ethernet adapter and fix the “The default gateway is not available” error:
- Right-click on the network caption
- Go to Open network Internet settings > change your network settings
- Click on change adapter settings from the menu. This will show your wifi connection adapter which can be chosen later.
- Right-click on the adapter and choose “Disable” option
- Keep waiting for a few minutes and then choose Enable from the menu. Close the menu once done.
Update your network adapter drivers.
Updating your network adapter drivers to the latest version to do away with the “ The default gateway is not available” error.
- Press Win+X and select Device Manager from the pop-up menu.
- Right-click on the Network adapter option to expand it. This would display the version of the current drive of your system.
- Select update driver software from the context menu.
- Locate the automatically updated driver software option. Download the apt software for your system.
The driver software must be downloaded and then installed from the authentic site of your hardware manufacturer to ensure that the issue is completely resolved
Uninstall your network adapter drivers
This is yet another effective method to resolve the “The default gateway is not available” error.
Check out the following steps to perform this:
- Press Win+X and select Device Manager from the pop-up menu.
- Right-click on the Network adapter option to expand it. This would display the version of the current drive of your system.
- Click uninstall
- Once done, reboot your system.
Note- You shouldn’t be concerned about the drivers not existing on the system once you uninstall them because they are automatically detected and reinstalled by Windows when you reboot your system.
Change the network adapter drivers.
This is a bit lengthy and complicated method to fix the “the default gateway is not available” issue. Here the network adapter drivers are exchanged with some previously installed drivers on your system
- Press Win+X and go to the device manager
- Right-click on the network adapter option and expand it. This would display the version of the current drive of your system.
- Select update driver by right-clicking the connection you’re using to access the internet from the context menu.
- Select “Browse my computer for driver software” from the two options that are displayed on the window
- Go to “let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”.
- Uncheck the box next to Show compatible hardware.
- You can continue fixing the adapter with other sets of network adapters available on the list until the issue is resolved.
Reset TCP/IP through the net-shell command:
So far we’ve discussed various methods related to network adapters to fix the “The default gateway is not available” error.
The TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and IP (Internet Protocol) refer to various attributes and setups which are required to establish the internet connection properly.
Resetting the TCP/IP setups method has a great success rate when it comes to resolving the “The default gateway not available” error.
Following are the steps to reset TCP/IP through netshell:
- Open the command prompt window by typing “command prompt” in the search bar next to the windows icon at the bottom right corner of your screen
- Type netsh int ip reset in the command window. (Typing netsh winsock reset command is optional)
- Run one of the following commands (You can even run both the commands in case you aren’t aware of the IP version your computer)
- netsh int ipv4 ( for IPv4)
- netsh int ipv6 (for IPv6)
- Close the command prompt window.
Try connecting to the Internet to check if the “Default gateway not available” issue persists. If it does, jump to the next method.
Manually fill in the gateway details
In case the previous method fails to resolve the “The default gateway is not available” issue, then the user is not left with a choice but to configure this manually. Here we manually enter the required gateway settings by following the steps discussed below:
- Get the IP address subnet mask and default gateway. For this open the command prompt window by typing “command prompt” in the search bar next to the windows icon at the bottom right corner of your screen.
- Run ipconfig in the window.
- Of the fields and values displayed, note down the: values for your IP address, subnet masks, and default gateway
- Close the command prompt window
- Now go to the Control panel by typing “control panel” in the search bar next to the windows icon at the bottom right corner of your screen on your system and perform the following steps:
- Click on the Network and Internet option
- Select Network and Sharing Centre from the following window
- Click on Change Adapter Settings from the top left region of the window
- Right-click on the option via which you connect to the Internet( Ethernet or Wifi) and then select Properties
- In the properties, window locate Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), which is likely to be the IP protocol that your computer is using and double click on it
- However, if you’re sure about your system using the Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6), which is the newer protocol then double click on this.
- Check the box next to Use the following IP address and fill in the details you got in step 3 from the command prompt.
- In the DNS section, check the box next to Use the following DNS server addresses
- Fill in the following details in the given fields: >Preferred DNS SERVER:8.8.8.8 > Alternate DNS Server:8.8.4.4
- Click OK to save the changes
- Close the Control panel and other windows
Connect your system to the internet to check if the web is being accessed normally and check whether or not the “The default gateway is not available” issue is resolved.
Conclusion
So far we’d discussed the 7 easiest methods to fix “The default gateway is error not available” error. To add on to these, we can even try changing our system’s power or battery plan to get rid of this problem.
The new age routers are designed to operate at a frequency of 5Ghz. However, there’s a possibility that your adapter is not supporting this frequency. Therefore you should alter the router frequency to 2.4Ghz with the help of the router manual.
