Difference between Default and Static route on a cisco?

Hi all,

Can a default route be called a static route OR is there any difference b/w them?

Static route is any route to a network or host which was defined staticaly (meaning that it is not automatically added/changed through some routing protocol).

The default route on the other hand, is a route which matches any packets with destination address that does not match to any of the other routes. It is a routers "last hope", where it will forward packets to networks for which it has no clue of proximity. Technicaly, the default route is no different than any other route, it's only a route that matches destinations to the 0.0.0.0 network, which mathematicaly contains all the possible IPv4 addresses.

Also, a static route is established when you know the destination ip address so that you can carve the complete path for the router & the router does not has to think anything it just follows what you say, when it receives the packet that has the destination that matches the one stated in the static route, it send it through that interface or to that gateway also stated in the static route.

Well, very correctly summed up by "nske", just like to give you an analogy, a static route is something which will remain static, i mean you have hard coded it that if the packet has to go to this destination it will go through this ip.

But a default route is something of a sort of a default gateway ( but only for the packets that have a destination ip address about which the router has no clue ) so the router quitely passes those packets to the default route instead of dropping them.

Hope that helps...

HI all

there are a lot fo differences as it was mentioned int the last topics, but i Think is missing the security purpouses, with only a static route you can controll to with network (s) you can acces, but wiht a default router you cant because it means that for to go to any destination network you must got by this exit interface or by this next hop ip address.

example:
In a hub and spoke topology in the concentrator router or the hub router you must sepcify static routes to the routers attached to it.

In the router attached to the hub router you have two choices: a static router or a default route, the commmand practically the same, but int a default route you dont specifye the destination address you want to go.

BYE.

Also, a static route is established when you know the destination ip address so that you can carve the complete path for the router & the router does not has to think anything it just follows what you say, when it receives the packet that has the destination that matches the one stated in the static route, it send it through that interface or to that gateway also stated in the static route.

Well, very correctly summed up by "nske", just like to give you an analogy, a static route is something which will remain static, i mean you have hard coded it that if the packet has to go to this destination it will go through this ip.

But a default route is something of a sort of a default gateway ( but only for the packets that have a destination ip address about which the router has no clue ) so the router quitely passes those packets to the default route instead of dropping them.

Hope that helps...

Hey "havohej" why do you keep quoting me buddy

To answer sherazkhan's question I would say:

Yes and no.

There are static routes and default static routes. There are dynamic routes and dynamic default routes. A default route is where you send packets that have a destination network that is not already in your routing table. If you do not have the destination network or a default route in your routing table you drop the packet.

Static routes are configured one route at a time for example on a cisco router this is the recommended way you configure a static route:
Syntax: (ip route, destination network, subnetmask (of the destination network), next hop)
Example: ip route 192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0 172.16.1.1
this is how you configure a default static route:
Syntax: (ip route, any address not already in the routing table, next hop)
Example: ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 172.16.1.1

However, you can configure dynamic routing protocols to advertise default-routes as well. Sometimes this may include a static default route but it doesn’t have to. This is fully covered in “CCNA 2: Routers and Basic Routing”. This is book available at Ciscopress.com and a course available at your nearest Cisco Academy.