How to Troubleshoot: The Default Gateway is Not Available

Brief introduction of default gateway

What is the default gateway? Take it briefly, the default gateway is used to transfer data when the device is unsure of the destination. Besides, default gateway is the router that can connect your computer to the external network segment.

Without a default gateway, you wouldn't be able to connect to the Internet. If the error "the default gateway is not available" appears, it also means that the network is unavailable.

Why would I run into "the default gateway is unavailable"?

As a matter of fact, the error "The default gateway is not available" on Windows 10, 11 may be triggered by the following reasons. All these causes can block you to connect to the Internet.

• Incorrect IP settings
• The ISP configuration settings
• Router settings and outdated drivers

How do I fix the default gateway is not available?

If “the default gateway is not available” on Windows 11, 10, 8...keeps happening,  we provide you with 2 workarounds to help you easily fix the issue. Follow me to know the concrete steps.

Workarounds:

☞ Workaround 1. Restart the PC. From the feedback of many users, the error disappears after they shut down and reboot the PC. Trying to do it first may save a lot of time for you if it works.

☞ Workaround 2. Uninstall the antivirus software and turn off the firewall. The antivirus may cause the error “the default gateway is not available” and the firewall may block the gateway. Therefore, we can temporarily disable them to check whether the issue is related to them.

Method 1. Update the network adapter drivers

As we said above, the outdated driver can cause the problem. So we can fix the issue Windows 10 the default gateway is not available by updating the driver.

Step 1. Search “Device Manager” in the search box and then open it.

Step 2. Locate on “Network Adapters”. Right-click on the option under it and then choose “Update Driver”.

Method 2. Change Power Management settings for your network adapter

Some users reflect that the issue can be fixed by changing Power Management settings. So let's have a shot.

Step 1. Search “Device Manager” in the search box and then open it. Locate the network adapter and double-click it. (As the above steps)

Step 2. Once the Properties window opens, go to the Power Management tab and uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power".

Step 3. Click "OK" to save the changes.

Method 3. Reset TCP/IP with the Netsh command.

By running the command line shown in this part, we can reset the settings, thus the issue can be fixed then.

Step 1. Search "cmd" in the search box and then right click , and choose “Run as Administrator” to open it.

Step 2. Type the following command line and then press the “Enter” key.

• netsh int ip reset

Step 3. Once the command is completed, reboot the PC and then check whether the issue has gone.

Method 4. Set IPv4 settings

Apart from the means above, we can set the IPv4 settings to fix the issue. 

Step 1. Press Win + R and then input “ncpa.cpl”, press the “Enter” key.

Step 2. Right click on your Internet, and then select “Properties”.

Step 3. Scroll down and find “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)”, double click on it.

Step 4. Tick “Use the following DNS server addresses”, and then write “1.1.1.1” beside the Preferred DNS server”, “1.0.0.1” beside the Alternate DNS server. And click on “OK”.

Step 5. Close the window and then check whether the issue has been fixed.

Method 5. Disable and enable the network

Sometimes the network issue cannot be ignored. If the network is unstable, we can enable and disable it to make it better.

Step 1. Press Win + R and then input “ncpa.cpl”, press the “Enter” key.

Step 2. Right-click on your network and then click on “Disable”.

Step 3. After a moment, right-click on the network, and then choose “Enable”.

AnyViewer: Connect to external PC without troubles

When you need to use Default Gateway to connect the external computer, it may be annoying to meet with the error "The default gateway is not available" on Windows 10. Is there any way to get a connection without trouble?

The answer is Yes. We strongly recommend an easy way to connect to a remote PC-- AnyViewer. With it you can enjoy a stable connection with high responsiveness all the way. Follow me to know how to operate.

Step 1. Install AnyViewer. Sign up for the AnyViewer account and then log in to this account on the two computers. Once logged in, the PC will be assigned to the account automatically. 

Step 2. After logging in, you can see your interface as the following picture. 

Step 3. On the client computer, go to "Device", locate and click the PC that you need to control. And then click "One-click control" to achieve a remote connection with one click.

If you upgrade to the Professional and Enterprise versions, then you can:

Conclusion

What should we do to the error “the default gateway is not available” on Windows 11, 10, 8...? Here we mainly introduce 2 workarounds to help you out of the issue quickly and 5 solutions to fix it. If you need to access remote device, AnyViewer can be a good choice.