How to add a static IP route in Windows?
To add a static IP route
- Open Command Prompt.
- At the command prompt, type:
route add destination mask subnetmask gateway metric costmetric if interface
where:
- destination: Specifies either an IP address or host name for the network or host.
- subnetmask: Specifies a subnet mask to be associated with this route entry. If subnetmask is not specified, 255.255.255.255 is used.
- gateway: Specifies either an IP address or host name for the gateway or router to use when forwarding.
- costmetric: Assigns an integer cost metric (ranging from 1 through 9,999) to be used in calculating the fastest, most reliable, and/or least expensive routes. If costmetric is not specified, 1 is used.
- interface: Specifies the interface to be used for the route that uses the interface number. If an interface is not specified, the interface to be used for the route is determined from the gateway IP address.
For example, to add a static route to the 10.0.0.0 network that uses a subnet mask of 255.0.0.0, a gateway of 192.168.0.1, and a cost metric of 2, you type the following at a command prompt:route add 10.0.0.0 mask 255.0.0.0 192.168.0.1 metric 2
Notes
- To open a command prompt, click Start, point to All programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command prompt.
- To make a static route persistent, you can either enter route add commands in a batch file that is run during system startup or use the -p option when adding routes.
- Routes added by using the -p option are stored in the registry under the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip \Parameters\PersistentRoutes - All symbolic names used for destination or gateway are looked up in the network and computer name database files (Networks and Hosts), which are stored in the local systemroot\System32\Drivers\Etc folder.
- If a route addition fails, you can use the tracert command to verify that the gateway specified is directly reachable from the same subnet as this computer.