The function and syntax of the Windows ROUTE command is similar to the UNIX route command. Use the command to manually configure the routes in the routing table.

ROUTE [-f] [-p] [command [destination] [MASK netmask] [gateway] [METRIC metric] [IF interface]

 

-f	Clears the routing tables of all gateway entries. If this is used in conjunction with one of the commands, the tables are cleared prior to running the command.
-p	When used with the ADD command, makes a route persistent across boots of the system. By default, routes are not preserved  when the system is restarted. When used with the PRINT command, displays the list of registered persistent routes. Ignored for all other commands, which always affect the appropriate persistent routes. This option is not supported Windows'95. command One of these: PRINT Prints a route ADD Adds a route DELETE Deletes a route CHANGE Modifies an existing route destination Specifies the host.
MASK	Specifies that the next parameter is the 'netmask' value. netmask Specifies a subnet mask value for this route entry.  If not specified, it defaults to 255.255.255.255. gateway Specifies gateway. interface the interface number for the specified route.
METRIC	Specifies the metric, ie. cost for the destination. All symbolic names used for destination are looked up in the network database file NETWORKS. The symbolic names for gateway are looked up in the host name database file HOSTS. If the command is PRINT or DELETE. Destination or gateway can be a wildcard, (wildcard is specified as a star '*'), or the gateway argument may be omitted. If Dest contains a * or ?, it is treated as a shell pattern, and only matching destination routes are printed. The '*' matches any string, and '?' matches any one char. Examples: 157.*.1, 157.*, 127.*, *224*. Diagnostic Notes: Invalid MASK generates an error, that is when (DEST & MASK) != DEST. Example> route ADD 157.0.0.0 MASK 155.0.0.0 157.55.80.1 IF 1 The route addition failed: 87

EXAMPLES

Examples:

> route PRINT

If IF is not given, it tries to find the best interface for a given
gateway.

> route PRINT
> route PRINT 157* .... Only prints those matching 157*
> route DELETE 157.0.0.0
> route PRINT

One way to use this would be as follows: You can't ping the server that you are connecting to, but you know the ip address to be 127.16.16.10

>route PRINT

Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x2 ...00 14 a4 c3 44 20 ...... Xircom CardBus Ethernet 10/100 Adapter
0x3 ...00 b0 d0 43 55 a5 ...... 3Com EtherLink PCI
0x4 ...00 01 b0 8f 8f 80 ...... NdisWan Adapter

Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
127.16.0.0 255.255.0.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
127.16.8.14 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.50.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 2
192.168.50.65 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.50.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 1
224.0.0.0 224.0.0.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
224.0.0.0 224.0.0.0 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 1

** notice that no gateway for the current ip goes to 255.255.255.0, so it must be added. Now do the following command:

>route ADD 127.16.0.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 <your current ip from winntcfg or winipcfg> METRIC 1

**Then do the following command:

>route print

Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
127.16.0.0 255.255.0.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
** 127.16.0.0 255.255.255.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
127.16.8.14 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.50.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 2
192.168.50.65 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.50.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 1
224.0.0.0 224.0.0.0 127.16.8.14 127.16.8.14 1
224.0.0.0 224.0.0.0 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.50.65 192.168.50.65 1

**Notice the ** ip address gives me the default gateway