diff --git a/src/modules/system.lua b/src/modules/system.lua
index ddda7c1..e0e7e3f 100644
--- a/src/modules/system.lua
+++ b/src/modules/system.lua
@@ -2,17 +2,52 @@ local i_o = require 'i_o'
 local pure = require 'pure'
 
 return function(main_state, config, common, width, point)
+   local IP_EXE = 'ip'
+   local TEST_IP = '104.18.114.97' -- ipv4.icanhazip.com
+   local IP_REGEX = 'via ([^ ]+)'
+   local DEV_REGEX = 'dev ([^ ]+)'
+   local ERR = 'Error'
+
    local text_spacing = config.geometry.text_spacing
 
    local __string_match = string.match
 
+   i_o.assert_exe_exists(IP_EXE)
+
+   -- NOTE conky has a builtin gateway function but it will only output
+   -- whatever the output of 'ip route' is, which won't pick up changes that
+   -- some VPNs (like tailscale) will make to the rest of the routing table.
+   -- More reliable way to test the "default route" is to ask the routing table
+   -- how it would route to a public IP, which is what we do here.
+   local ip_cmd = IP_EXE..' route get '..TEST_IP
+
+   local get_gateway = function()
+      local ip_glob = i_o.execute_cmd(ip_cmd)
+      if ip_glob == nil then
+         return ERR
+      else
+         local ip = __string_match(ip_glob, IP_REGEX)
+         if ip ~= nil then
+            return ip
+         end
+
+         local dev = __string_match(ip_glob, DEV_REGEX)
+         if dev ~= nil then
+            return dev
+         end
+
+         return ERR
+      end
+   end
+
    local mk_stats = function(y)
       local obj = common.make_text_rows(
          point.x,
          y,
          width,
          text_spacing,
-         {'Kernel', 'Uptime', 'Last Upgrade', 'Last Sync'}
+         -- {'Kernel', 'Uptime', 'Last Upgrade', 'Last Sync', 'Gateway'}
+         {'Kernel', 'Uptime', 'Last Upgrade', 'Gateway'}
       )
       -- just update this once
       common.text_rows_set(obj, 1, i_o.conky('$kernel'))
@@ -25,11 +60,12 @@ return function(main_state, config, common, width, point)
                "^%d+%s+([^%s]+)%s+([^%s]+).*"
             )
             common.text_rows_set(obj, 3, last_update)
-            common.text_rows_set(obj, 4, last_sync)
+            -- common.text_rows_set(obj, 4, last_sync)
          else
             common.text_rows_set(obj, 3, 'N/A')
-            common.text_rows_set(obj, 4, 'N/A')
+            -- common.text_rows_set(obj, 4, 'N/A')
          end
+         common.text_rows_set(obj, 4, get_gateway())
       end
       local static = pure.partial(common.text_rows_draw_static, obj)
       local dynamic = pure.partial(common.text_rows_draw_dynamic, obj)
diff --git a/src/sys.lua b/src/sys.lua
index 8788af6..f5d436e 100644
--- a/src/sys.lua
+++ b/src/sys.lua
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ M.get_core_topology = function()
       pure.partial(gmatch_to_tableN, '(%d+),(%d+)')
    )
    local out =
-      i_o.execute_cmd('lscpu -y -p=core,cpu | grep -v \'^#\' | sort -k1,1n')
+      i_o.execute_cmd('lscpu -y -p=core,cpu | grep -v \'^#\' | sort -k1,1n -t,')
    return pure.fmap_maybe(f, out)
 end