The following example describes the packet forwarding process with static routes.
In the figure, click the Play button to see the animation, where PC1 is sending a packet to PC3:
1. The packet arrives on the GigabitEthernet 0/0 interface of R1.
2. R1 does not have a specific route to the destination network, 192.168.2.0/24; therefore, R1 uses the default static route.
3. R1 encapsulates the packet in a new frame. Because the link to R2 is a point-to-point link, R1 adds an "all 1s" address for the Layer 2 destination address.
4. The frame is forwarded out of the Serial 0/0/0 interface. The packet arrives on the Serial 0/0/0 interface on R2.
5. R2 de-encapsulates the frame and looks for a route to the destination. R2 has a static route to 192.168.2.0/24 out of the Serial 0/0/1 interface.
6. R2 encapsulates the packet in a new frame. Because the link to R3 is a point-to-point link, R2 adds an "all 1s" address for the Layer 2 destination address.
7. The frame is forwarded out of the Serial 0/0/1 interface. The packet arrives on the Serial 0/0/1 interface on R3.
8. R3 de-encapsulates the frame and looks for a route to the destination. R3 has a connected route to 192.168.2.0/24 out of the GigabitEthernet 0/0 interface.
9. R3 looks up the ARP table entry for 192.168.2.10 to find the Layer 2 Media Access Control (MAC) address for PC3. If no entry exists, R3 sends an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) request out of the GigabitEthernet 0/0 interface, and PC3 responds with an ARP reply, which includes the PC3 MAC address.
10. R3 encapsulates the packet in a new frame with the MAC address of the GigabitEthernet 0/0 interface as the source Layer 2 address and the MAC address of PC3 as the destination MAC address.
11. The frame is forwarded out of GigabitEthernet 0/0 interface. The packet arrives on the network interface card (NIC) interface of PC3.