Differentiate between a default gateway and a DNS server.

Differentiate between a default gateway and a DNS server.

• A. Default gateway routes traffic toward external networks; DNS resolves domain names to IP addresses.
• B. DNS resolves domain names to IP addresses; Default gateway routes traffic toward external networks.
• C. Default gateway translates domain names to IP addresses.
• D. Default gateway is the same as the DNS server.

Answer: (A)

The distinction is that a default gateway handles routing to destinations outside the local network, while a DNS server translates domain names to IP addresses. The default gateway is the next-hop device your host sends packets to when the destination isn’t on the same subnet; it forwards those packets toward the correct external network based on routing rules. A DNS server, by contrast, translates human-friendly domain names (like example.com) into the numeric IP addresses that devices use to establish connections. They perform different roles—routing versus name resolution—and one does not perform the function of the other. Some setups place DNS services on the router, but even then the gateway’s job remains routing, not translating names.

The distinction is that a default gateway handles routing to destinations outside the local network, while a DNS server translates domain names to IP addresses. The default gateway is the next-hop device your host sends packets to when the destination isn’t on the same subnet; it forwards those packets toward the correct external network based on routing rules. A DNS server, by contrast, translates human-friendly domain names (like example.com) into the numeric IP addresses that devices use to establish connections. They perform different roles—routing versus name resolution—and one does not perform the function of the other. Some setups place DNS services on the router, but even then the gateway’s job remains routing, not translating names.