When packets move from one LAN segment to another LAN segment across a router, the source and destination Media Access Control (MAC) addresses in the packet change.

Packets destined for a remote network must be forwarded by a router that is typically the sending host's default gateway. The IP address of the remote host is inserted into the packet, while the MAC address of the default gateway is inserted as the Layer 2 address. This ensures that the packet is received by the default gateway. The router then examines the destination IP address, performs a route lookup, and forwards the packet toward the destination, inserting its MAC address as the source MAC address. If the next hop is another router, then the destination MAC address is replaced with the next router's MAC address. This process is repeated by each router along the path (inserting its own MAC address as the source MAC address and inserting the MAC address of the next router interface as the destination MAC address) until the packet is received by the remote host's default gateway. The destination gateway then replaces the destination MAC address with the host's MAC address and forwards the packet.