how to set the default gateway (/etc/network/interfaces ?)

[Thufir Hawat]

Is the default gateway *only* in /etc/network/interfaces or can that be 
set elsewhere?  By set I mean stored to a file, persisting.

In trying to use an IOGear wireless bridge, the settings showed a bit 
odd.  In the Access Point status section, when connecting to the bridge 
at 192.168.1,252, ie the gateway, there was:

Channel Number      11  
Encryption      WPA2
BSSID   70:54:d2:36:b7:05
Status  Connected
TCP/IP Configuration
Attain IP Protocol  Fixed IP
IP Address  192.168.1.252
Subnet Mask     255.255.255.0
Default Gateway     0.0.0.0
DHCP Server     Disabled
MAC Address     00:21:79:c6:5a:de

http://askubuntu.com/a/265056/45156


and I found that default gateway setting confusing because I had set the 
gateway as so:


thufir at dur:~$ 
thufir at dur:~$ cat /etc/network/interfaces.static 
# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.100
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.252

# The secondary network interface
auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp
thufir at dur:~$ 


and so I don't see why the default gateway should be 0.0.0.0, this makes 
no sense.  Particularly given that simply switching the wires over to 
connect the bridge to a router, rather then the computer, works fine.  
(And, the router is even set to DHCP -- or maybe that's the solution??)


thanks,

Thufir