Home Networks & Wi-Fi · Inside Your Router · Lesson 1 of 5

Getting Into Your Router

Open your router's app or admin page and lock it with your own password.

Finding the way in

Your router is the box that makes your Wi-Fi and connects your devices to the internet. It has its own settings, just like your computer. You can look at them and change them.

There are two common ways in. Many newer routers use the maker's app on your phone. Others use an admin page, a settings page you open in a web browser. "Admin" is short for administrator, the person in charge.

To open the admin page, your computer or phone must be connected to that router. Then type the router's address into the browser's address bar. It is often 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1, or a number like them. This is the router's IP address, its number on your home network.

Not sure which one? Look at the sticker on the bottom or back of the router. It usually lists:

• The network name and the Wi-Fi password
• The admin page address, or the app to download
• The admin user name and password
• The model number

Notice that there are two passwords. They do different jobs.

• The Wi-Fi password lets a phone or laptop join your network.
• The admin password lets someone sign in and change the router's settings.

Only the person who looks after the router needs the admin password.

On the practice computer, open the router's admin page and sign in with the password on the sticker. Then follow the steps in the side panel.

Your own admin password

The password printed on the sticker is the default password. That means it is the one the router came with from the factory.

Many older routers used the same default on every unit, like "admin" or "password". Lists of these are easy to find online. Anyone on your Wi-Fi could sign in and change your settings.

Newer routers usually print a different password on each sticker. That is better. But anyone who picks up the router can still read it. So change it to your own.

Here is how it usually goes:

1. Sign in to the router's app or admin page.
2. Find a section called Administration, System or Management. The names vary by maker.
3. Choose the option to change the router or admin password.
4. Type a new, long password. A passphrase, three or four random words joined together, is easy to remember and hard to guess.
5. Save. You may be signed out and asked to sign in again with the new one.

Keep the new password somewhere safe. A password manager is an app that stores your passwords securely. Writing it down and keeping it at home is fine too.

Some router apps use an account with the maker instead of a router password. If yours does, give that account a strong password and turn on two-step verification. That means you also type a code from your phone when you sign in.

Forgot the new password? Most routers have a small reset button. Holding it for several seconds puts the router back to factory settings. That also erases your Wi-Fi name and password, so you would have to set everything up again.