Normally, routers come from the factory with passwords that are awfully complicated and difficult to remember, which makes the process of connecting devices to the wireless network slow and complicated. So it might be interesting to change the password for something easier to remember.
If you want to change the password and the name of your network, below we teach how to do this. The exact process depends on your router, but in general terms, it’s the same for everyone: you need to access their settings and change that information from there.
To access your router settings, you’ll need to open a browser, such as Chrome or Firefox. Then, in the address bar, you need to put his IP. It is a set of four groups of three numbers, each group separated from the others by a point. This varies among routers, but some of the most common addresses are 192.168.1.1, 192.168.0.1, 192.168.2.1, 10.0.0.1, and 10.0.1.1. If any of these addresses work, go straight to step 2. If not, read step 1.
Table of Contents
1. Discover the IP of your router
Windows: On the desktop, press the Windows + R key, type “cmd” (without the quotation marks) and press enter. This will cause the command prompt to appear. Do not be alarmed by the black screen full of letters and symbols. Then type “ipconfig” (again without quotes) and press enter. A lot of data will appear. Look for “Default Gateway” and note the number on the side: this is the address of the router. Put this address in your browser bar and hit enter.
Mac: Click the Apple menu and select “System Preferences.” Then click on “Network” and, on the screen that appears, click “Advanced” in the lower right corner of the window. On the next screen, select the “TCP / IP” option and then search for the “Router” information: this is the address of the router. Put this address in your browser bar and hit enter.
2. Access the router settings
Your browser will display a login screen. By default, the username is “admin” and the default password is also “admin”. Your router’s manual should have more information about its default password. If you changed the password and do not remember it, hold the power button on your router for 30 seconds: this will revert the password to the default.
3. Search for Wi-Fi or Wireless settings
Again, this varies between different routers. All of them, however, should have a tab or menu called simply “Wi-Fi” or “Wireless”. Select it. If this menu has several sections, look for a security relationship.
4. Choose a new name and password for your network
On this page, you should see fields with the name “SSID”, “Network Name” and “Password”. “SSID” or “Network Name” are the same: they indicate the name that your network will appear for devices that can “see” Wi-Fi networks. You can give whatever name you want, but try to choose something original to easily find the network and do not get confused when connecting.
The “Password” field, in turn, indicates the network password. To change the password, simply change the information in this field. It may be necessary to enter the new password more than once to ensure that the two passwords match.
5. Check the type of security
Since you are here, take the time to see if there is any information about the type of security of your network. This usually appears in a field with the name “security mode” or similar. Ideally, select a mode that includes WPA2. This is the safest form of encryption that most routers have available.
6. Click “apply” or “save”
Do not forget to click “save changes”, “apply” or something like before closing the browser! Otherwise, all this work may have been in vain. It may be that your router asks you to restart it before you apply the changes. As soon as it reconnects, your network will already have the new name and password (and you’ll need to reconnect all your devices).
If you need help, have doubts or concerns, do not hesitate to leave a comment in the comment box below and we will try to help you as soon as possible!