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If either of these is true, the gateway forwards the packet via the shortest path directly towards that network. However, if the gateway does not recognize the packet destination network and does not know which direction it should be sent to get it closer to its destination, then the gateway will direct the packet to its own default gateway. This process will continue until a gateway is reached that does not have its own default gateway parameter is set, or until a gateway is found that knows a route that can reach the destination network.

This would be similar to a person setting off on a cross-country road trip without a map (or GPS) in hand. If the person wanted to drive from Los Angeles to Boston, they could get directions to Salt Lake City, and then upon arrival in Salt Lake City, they could get directions to Denver, and then get directions in Denver to Kansas City and so on until they finally got directions in New York City on how to get to Boston.

When they started in Los Angeles, they did not know how to get to Boston, however, en route to Boston, they kept getting updated directions on how to get closer to their destination until they actually encountered their destination. This is how the default gateway concept works. Your computer does not need to know how to contact the destination computer, it only needs to know how to get to the default gateway. That, and a little bit of faith, gets the packet to its final destination.

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