Destination Host Unreachable – Reasons and Fixes
The error message «Destination Host Unreachable«, during a ping test, tells that the ping request from our computer cannot find the route to the destination IP address (destination host).
It means the packet sent from your computer reached the destination network successfully but the remote gateway failed to find the destination host. So the remote gateway sends an Echo message «Destination host unreachable«. One major possibility for this error is there is no route listed in the remote gateway, for the packet send from your computer, to destination host.
If there is no route available, it is impossible to find the destination host and your computer will receive an error message «Destination host unreachable» from remote gateway. So one of the reason for this can be faulty routing table. If the destination host is down at the time the packet send, it may result destination host unreachable error message.
If the message is simply «Destination Host Unreachable«, then there is no route from the local system, and the packets to be sent were never put on the wire. Use the route utility to check the local routing table.
You may get Destination Host Unreachable message even if you ping to a host in the same subnet. When you ping to a host in the same subnet, your computer sends an ARP request for the MAC address of the destination host. If the host does not exist, you will get destination host unreachable message.
It is because without completing ARP request, ICMP echo cannot be sent.
Destination Host Unreachable — Reasons and Fixes
Reasons getting destination host unreachable message
- The ping packet find the destination network but failed to find the destination host
- Packet Routing issue on Remote gateway
- Destination host might be down
- Connection issues
Analyzing Destination Host Unreachable message
When you ping to an IP address in a different network, ping packets reach default gateway. Your default gateway sends the packet to remote gateway. So ping packet finally reaches the remote network. However, if the remote gateway failed to find the remote host, it will send an echo Destination host unreachable. If default gateway does not know the path to desired network, your computer will get «Destination net (or host) Unreachable» message. This can happen in two cases:
- If the route to specific network is down
- No such network address is listed in default gateway’s routing table
How to Resolve Destination Host Unreachable
The possible fix for the ICMP error message «Destination Host Unreachable«:
- Make sure that local host is configured correctly
- Make sure Destination Computer/Device is up
- Disable the Firewall and check for the issue
- Perform a tracert to the destination IP and check where the problem lies
When the packet is received by remote gateway but it failed to find remote host, you will receive ICMP Echo Destination Host Unreachable message.
ping response "Request timed out." vs "Destination Host unreachable"
When I ping an IP address, what is the difference between Request timed out and Destination host unreachable returned from the command?
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5 Answers 5
Destination Host Unreachable
This message indicates one of two problems: either the local system has no route to the desired destination, or a remote router reports that it has no route to the destination.
If the message is simply «Destination Host Unreachable,» then there is no route from the local system, and the packets to be sent were never put on the wire.
If the message is «Reply From < IP address >: Destination Host Unreachable,» then the routing problem occurred at a remote router, whose address is indicated by the «< IP address >» field.
Request Timed Out
This message indicates that no Echo Reply messages were received within the default time of 1 second. This can be due to many different causes; the most common include network congestion, failure of the ARP request, packet filtering, routing error, or a silent discard.
How to Solve Destination Host Unreachable Error?
‘Destination Host Unreachable’ is one of the usual but unexpected errors that flow out while carrying a network ping test.
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It is a type of Troubleshooting IP Default Gateway Issues that induce incorrect default gateway, which further leads to halt in a network ping test. This error occurs in an environment of all internet protocol utilizing products where network ping tests with two hosts and a receiver are involved.
An example of a Destination Host Unreachable error:

C:\Users\Me>ping 192.168.225.45
Pinging 192.168.225.45 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.225.47: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.225.47: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.225.47: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.225.47: Destination host unreachable.
It can be annoying for a command Prompt network ping check to obtain a “destination host unreachable” error. As you can see in the error above, there is an attempt to ping a particular IP address on a network computer and the response received is in the form above that does not provide the exact details about the error.
What’s the cause of the error?
A “Destination Host Unreachable” ping response is a strong indication that the initiating PC has a default gateway misconfiguration. Besides, there are other possible potential explanations for this error, including issues like cables that are incorrectly connected or firewalls that are too violent.
Apart from it, the simple answer to this problem may be whether you don’t have a device with an IP address system or you have a broken ARP table on your computer.
In order to fix this issue, you will have to analyze the network resources and determine where the issue is.
How to fix “Destination Host Unreachable” Error?
There are two scenarios for solving this error. Either of the technique can be used to resolve the error depending on the what is the actual cause of the error.
#1 Scenario – Default Gateway Misconfiguration
In case of a default gateway misconfiguration, we need to check and ensure our Default Gateway settings.
After that, the following steps are to be followed:
Step 1) To start with, our internet connectivity must be verified by a browser. We must visit google.com to see if it is running on our computer for this post. For post. If so, we realize that there is not a wider communication issue on our local network.
Step 2) Now, we have to check our IPv6 link to see if this is the issue. To do this, open the Prompt command and use the following code, but type “ping-6” for the isolation of the IPv6 line to insert your original IP address.
Step 3) We will then receive a reply in the command prompt like below:
Pinging 192.168.225.45 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.225.47: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.225.47: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.225.47: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.225.47: Destination host unreachable.
Step 4) The above message comes from IP address 192.168.225.47 which seems to be connected to our request for remote gateway handling. To verify this, we need to run a traceroute using the following command:
C:\Users\Me>tracert -6 -d 192.168.225.45
Step 5) Followingly, you will get another response that must resemble the given below:
Tracing route 192.168.225.45 over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.225.47
2 192.168.225.47 reports: Destination host unreachable.
Trace complete.
Step 6) From this, we can judge that the default gateway is 192.168.225.47. We may test our IP settings through a netshell to see if this is how it ought to be. Use the following order to open netshell:
Step 7) After opening the netshell, run the following command;
netshell>interface ipv6
netshell interface ipv6>showconfig
Step 8) The response should display our local area connection details, with the default gateway reference thread. We see the following in our example:
Default Gateway 192.168.225.47
This verifies that the default gateway is actually designed for 192.168.225.47, but by examining the IP address of our new computer, you will note that it is somewhat different: 192.168.225.50.
- Go back to Command Prompt to test if the problem has been fixed and exit Netshell using the following command:
- For once more we are in a position to run the ping test using the command:
C:\Users\Me>ping -6 192.168.225.45
Same like before, we will again receive the response, in the same way, showcasing the new Default Gateway:
Pinging 192.168.225.45 with 32 bytes of data:
32 bytes from 192.168.225.45: icmp_seq=0 ttl=57 time=27.205 ms
32 bytes from 192.168.225.45: icmp_seq=1 ttl=57 time=14.109 ms
32 bytes from 192.168.225.45: icmp_seq=2 ttl=57 time=13.887 ms
32 bytes from 192.168.225.45: icmp_seq=3 ttl=57 time=13.954 ms
32 bytes from 192.168.225.45: icmp_seq=4 ttl=57 time=18.269 ms
And now you can see our ping test, as well as connection, are working successfully.
#2 Scenario – Corrupted ARP Table
It is a situation where you cannot send packets to an IP Address before finding the MAC address (physical address) of the destination device. The MAC address of appliances with a different IP Address can be seen in the ARP table.
- Delete ARP Cache
- Open the Command Prompt as Administrator
- Click on the Windows Search and type cmd.
- Now, right-click on the Command Prompt from the Search Window.
- After that click on ‘Run as Administrator’ option.
- Type the given below command and press enter
- Try again to collect the same IP address and to test the issue
2. Run a Traceroute
If the problem continues, a traceroute will be performed to identify the issue.
- Open Command Prompt
- Type the given below command and press the enter key.

The traceroute result gives the result that there is no such destination device.
3. Disable PC Firewall
Many users have claimed that the target host unreachable error had been triggered by defective firewall settings. It is also, therefore, suggested that you switch off your laptop firewall and check for the problem.
4. Test the connection
Ensure that the system is on if the target device is open to you. Test and make sure that now the network connection is working. To check the link status, you should unplug and replug the network cable.
How to check if the issue is resolved?
For this, you need to ping the same IP address. However, if the error is occurring from the IP address side, then you must try to ping a different IP Address or domain name. To check whether the ‘destination host unreachable’ error has been solved, run the following command:
Fact Check:
- Network Cable Connection Issues
- Destination Host Down
- Packet Routing Issues in Remote Gateway
- Corrupted ARP Table
- Default Gateway Misconfiguration
- Ensure that the destination computer/device is up.
- Try to disable Firewall and check for the issue.
- Perform a traceroute to the destination IP address and check where the problem is occurring.
- Make sure that the localhost is configured correctly.
Final Words
If you are facing this error while ping testing the network, first, ensure that you have a stable network cable connection. After that, you should look for other ways to solve the error. Resolving ‘destination host unreachable’ error can be an easy task if you know the actual cause of the issue.
Try out the ways we have mentioned above and still if you are not able to resolve it, please let us know in the comment box below and we will help you.
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Destination Host Unreachable -Fix Ping Error Message
During my network engineer career, one of the common errors I received while troubleshooting connectivity issues is Destination Host Unreachable.
This error was the cause of my Internet connectivity problems most times.
The same can be true for you too. When you troubleshoot your connectivity problems, the chances of getting this ping reply are very high.
If you learn how to resolve this error by yourself, you can fix most of your Internet connectivity problems yourself. In this tutorial, I will explain everything about this error.
By the first part, you will learn the meaning of this ping reply.
The second part of this article explains the reasons to get the ping reply Destination Host Unreachable.
You will learn how to fix the Destination Host Unreachable ping error in the last part.
What does Destination Host Unreachable Ping Reply Mean?
Before proceeding to the core of this tutorial, let me explain the meaning of this ping reply.
Now you understand the meaning of this ping reply. However, to learn more about this error, you should ask yourself two questions.
-
Who replied to your device this Destination Host Unreachable message?
Let me answer the questions one by one. But before I explain the first question, you must learn how the ping operation works.
When you ping an address, this is how it works.
-
I am pinging to my blog by typing ping www.corenetworkz.com on command prompt.
You can get this reply from two possible sources.
-
Your Default Gateway
How do you know whether the reply comes from your default gateway or remote gateway?
-
Reply from x.x.x.x Destination Host Unreachable
If you see the following format, check the IP address. Most of the time, X.X.X.X must be a remote gateway address. Which shows the error message you received is from the remote gateway.
If you don’t see an IP address in the error reply, your default gateway sends it.
Reasons to Get the ICMP Error Destination Host Unreachable
Any one of the reasons listed below can get you to the ICMP Echo message Destination Host Unreachable.
-
Your Default Gateway doesn’t know the route to the destination IP address
The answer is no.
Analyzing the ICMP Echo Destination Host Unreachable
Let me explain why I received this ICMP Echo by analyzing a live example.
Here I send ping packets to the global DNS address 4.2.2.2 to troubleshoot the connectivity problem. The screenshot below shows the reply I received.
Which format is this? It is the second format of the Destination Host Unreachable error. Let me explain how to resolve this error.
How to Fix Ping Error Destination Host Unreachable?
If you do not want to go into the complexity of this ICMP Echo, you can follow the instructions below to resolve the Destination Host Unreachable Ping error message.
-
Disable the firewall
Aggressive firewall settings can cause the destination host unreachable error.
To check whether the firewall is the reason for this issue, disable it on your computer.
Try to access the Internet after disabling the firewall.
-
Switch off the devices on your network
Sometimes devices fell into the IP version conflicts. Different operating systems have different IP version priorities.
Windows 10 prefer IPv6 to IPv4. The same is true for the major Linux variants like Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, etc.
However, sometimes devices fail to work properly with IPv6.
Rarely it results in ICMP error messages. We can check it by disabling the IPv6 on your device.
Let us check how to disable the IP Version 6 on a Windows 10 computer and test the issue.
-
Right-click on the Network Adapter at the system tray
About The Author:
Alex George is a Microsoft and Cisco Certified Network Engineer. He has been working as a network engineer for more than ten years.