How To Access Your Router Configuration Without A Password

Losing the login information to your router is common, and can happen for a number of reasons. The first reason is that it may not necessarily be any credentials that you set yourself, as routers often come with prefixed usernames and passwords.

For example, in home use, a username is commonly admin and a password could be admin as well, or simply just password. If your router is from an Internet Service Provider (ISP), the username is usually admin, but has a prefixed password that the ISP setup for all of its routers.

Another scenario: you may have bought a used router from someone, but they forgot to hand you the credentials to get into the router configuration. Suffice to say, not having this information on hand is quite common, and can be easily resolved. If you follow along, we’ll get you your router credentials back in your hands in no time.

How to Access your Router

Accessing your router is fairly easy. You’ll need to have a browser on your computer, such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or even the default Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer option.

1. Once you open your browser of choice, type in the IP for your router into your address bar and press “Enter” on your keyboard.
   • Most router’s will use a similar IP address. For example, most of Linksys’ routers use 192.168.1.1, as well as other brands.
     
     
     

If you don’t know your IP address, you can follow these steps to figure it out:

1. Open Command Prompt in Windows
   
   
   
2. Type in ipconfig/all.
   
   
   
3. Once it shows you the results, simply look for the Default Gateway listing, and that’ll show you the IP address.
   
   
   
4. You can then take that IP address and enter it in in your browser.
   
   
   

If you have any trouble connecting, we recommend connecting up an Ethernet cable up to the PC or laptop you’re trying to log into your router with. This is a common practice, as it reduces the possibility of a connection drop during your router configurations. Not only that, but it ensures that your router is the router you’re accessing, as you could very easily access someone else’s router in the area if they have a similar model, IP address and credential setup.

Once that’s done, this should take you to a login page where we can begin trying different passwords, as outlined in the next section.

Recovering Login Credentials

If you know that you didn’t change the information to get into the router, the username and password can (usually) be easily found.

Consult the manual

Often the manual that comes with the router will have the default username and password listed in it somewhere or even on the back of the manual. If you didn’t get a manual with your router, you can always look up the model number of the router in Google. Usually, you can get your hands on a free PDF version of the manual, and you can find the password and username in there.

Stickers or notes

Sometimes manufacturers will attach stickers to the back of the router, with information like the serial number, model number, etc. Sometimes you’ll find a sticker on the back of the router containing the login credentials as well, although this is becoming less common in efforts to harden security.

Try a default password

You can always try a default username and password, too. Most commonly, the username will be admin and the password will be admin as well. Another common credential configuration is admin as the username and password as the password. In rarer cases, the password will be blank, so after typing in admin as the username, you can just press the “Enter” button on your keyboard to login without filling in the password field.

Consult your ISP

If you picked up a router from your ISP, getting a username and password can be as simple as picking up the phone and calling them. If the credentials aren’t a default option like we mentioned above,many companies will have a preset password, sometimes involving the company’s name in someway.

Look it up online

Lastly, finding your router’s password can be as simple as accessing www.routerpasswords.com. You pick the brand of your router, and the site will give you a list of model numbers associated with that brand. Once you match up your router to one of the listed model numbers, it’s as simple as using the login information provided.

Reset your router

If none of the above options worked, you’ll have to return your router to factory settings to get into it. Generally, it’s the same process from router-to-router. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Press the reset button.
   • Almost all will have a reset button you can press. This can be a button on the outside of the router, or a pinhole (pinholes are often used so that routers aren’t reset on accident, with some mistaking it for a power button) where the button can be pressed with a paperclip.
     
     
     
2. Hold that reset button down for 10-seconds with the power on.

Once you do this, the router will reset itself and you can log in with the default username and password, as we discussed above.

Keep in mind that resetting your router resets everything to factory settings. If you have any ports forwarded, special network settings or any other custom configurations, this is all erased and returned to factory defaults. Once the reset is complete, you’ll have to reconfigure everything again.

Change your password

Once you’re finally able to get into your router, we definitely recommend changing the default password. If you live in a congested area, and your Wi-Fi signal is strong enough, other people could easily log into your router’s configuration and swap your settings around. After all, since passwords like admin and password are quite common, it wouldn’t be too difficult to get into someone’s router with unchanged settings. That said, it’s imperative that you change it.

Changing the password is different from router-to-router; however, it’s a similar process. For example, to do it on Century Link routers:

1. Inside the router’s dashboard go to Advanced
   
   
   
2. Go to Security > Administrative Password
   
   
   
3. Set Password to change the default password.
   
   

Some routers even support Password Recovery, so that you can recover a lost password without having to reset all of your configurations. If this is an option, we recommend turning it on.

To avoid having the problem in the future, be sure to store your username or password somewhere safe, such as in an encrypted password database. Be sure to read our article on how you can keep your passwords safe in a database with LastPass.

Wrapping Up

If you lose the password to your router, don’t worry. It’s very easy to get it back if you don’t mind spending a little time re-configuring your settings.

If you have any questions, experience, tips or tricks related to resetting a router’s configuration, please share in the comment section below!