Your router is the source of your access to the internet, and because of its importance, unless you have experience with computers, you may be nervous diving into its settings. At Router Passwords, we will show that you do not need to be afraid. We will give you all the necessary information and a selection of step-by-step guides. You will not only be able to perform simple tasks with your router, such as changing the username and password or finding your IP address but even repair simple issues, such as a lagging internet connection. You will no longer have to rely on your techy friend or call a computer repair service, who will charge you for the pleasure of hitting the reset button.
With Router Passwords, you can find your brand of router, and have specific information about that particular model. Router Passwords will save you routing through countless websites that provide "general" information and instead give you what you need to know, based on the brand of your router, whether it is Netgear, Tp-Link, or another. Need to know your IP address? Need to see the default login details for your router? Do you want to secure your WiFi network? You are in the right place to find that information.
| Brand | Username | Password |
|---|---|---|
| D-Link | - | admin |
| TP-LINK | admin | admin |
| Netgear | admin | password |
| ASUS | admin | admin |
| Linksys | admin | - |
| Belkin | admin | - |
| ZyXEL | admin | 1234 |
| TRENDnet | admin | admin |
| Tenda | admin | admin |
| Buffalo | admin | password |
Perhaps you haven't got that far, and you are still without a router. Well, Router Passwords will give you the information you need to make an informed decision on your router purchase. Making the right purchase will be a deciding factor on the optimization of your network, so knowing you are making the right choice is invaluable. So with that said, what should you look for in a router to ensure you get the best experience?
The need for a robust network is necessary now more than ever before, with multiple online devices, either streaming or playing online games. Add your home gadgets that all connect to your WiFi network, and it is easy to see how hard a router has to work. An older router will not be able to keep up with the demand. But what can you do to make sure you are buying the right router?
Speed – Your ISP is a significant factor in your internet speed, though you want to ensure your router isn't the reason for the slow internet. WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac is the way the router's output gets classified. WiFi 802.11ac is the fastest with an output speed of 1GB per second.
Network Range – Speed isn't so much of an issue if your router has no range. Ensuring your WiFi network reaches the devices throughout your property is an essential factor.
Ease Of Use – Older routers require you to use a web browser to access the setting page, which can be daunting for those with limited computer experience. Newer routers come with an app, meaning you can manage your router from anywhere, and setup is simple.
Brand Loyalty – You may have a brand of a router that you would like to stick too. However, to add to that, if you have WiFi range extenders or similar devices to get the most out of your network, you should aim to brand match. Doing so will ensure your system is working at peak efficiency, as companies design their products to work best with their other products, instead of competitors.
Additional Features – Routers can come with USB ports, triple bandwidth, a smart connection that will connect your router to the best band for your device, and beamforming, which directs the wireless signal towards your device, as opposed to the signal being radial.
Your IP address or internet protocol address is the unique number assigned to your router or any device making use of the internet. The address lets the internet know where to send the information you request, just like how your home address ensures any letters get to you. Your IP address is a sequence of four numbers separated by periods with each number ranging from 0 to 255. The most popular IP addresses for routers include:
These types of IP addresses are called Ipv4 addresses, with around 4.3 billion different combinations available. That total is much less than the number of connected devices, with no two devices on the same network able to use the same address. So far, Ipv4 has proved sufficient as not all devices stay connected at the same time, and some only get used for private networks.
However, as more devices connect, the Ipv6 address will become the standard IP address, which will provide enough unique IP addresses for the world, with some leftover to spare.
Your assigned IP address is most likely dynamic. Your router has a set private IP address that other devices use to connect, and a dynamic IP address that gets generated at the start of an internet usage session and then deleted once you have finished, or it’s changed every 24 hours. It's for this reason that the Ipv4 addresses are still suitable. Your ISP or internet service provider is in charge of the assigned IP addresses, and it is much cheaper for them to assign a random address, instead of letting you use a set static IP address. A dynamic address is also more secure for the standard internet user, with randomly generated addresses making it harder for a user to have their location, and other information, tracked by someone with malicious intent.
A static IP address does serve a purpose, though they are more suitable for websites and companies that want one URL to manage their network. A web server, for example, should always be accessible, so a static IP address allows the server always to be online and manageable. Private networks are known as Lan or local area networks and also utilize static IP addresses. A printer that's part of a private network, for example, does not need a dynamic address, as it would be a waste of time for the user, who would have to find the new IP address every time they want to print something.
Your IP address is your unique number that the internet uses to ensure your requested information gets to you, but what is that unique number revealing about you? First and foremost, your IP address can link your network to the ISP. Getting this information is simple. The numbers your address starts with often connected to a specific ISP. The next piece of information that your IP address can provide to someone is your general location. Someone with the know-how can dive even further, to go as far as to understand your browsing history. If you are concerned about your security, a VPN service can help protect your browsing session.
If you are accessing the internet with a proxy service, you can find the details of the server you connect to here. A proxy service provides a server that acts as a gateway between you and the internet. That gateway can protect you, the user, from a range of threats that come when browsing the web. A proxy server also provides extra privacy by changing the IP address a website sees. It can also encrypt your data, making it unreadable as it travels from A to B. As a proxy server can change your IP address, it can give you access to blocked content, such as location restricted websites.
A user agent is a line of text that is sent to a website's server, every time you access that website. That line of text or string, which you can find here, identifies your browser and operating system. It's a way for a site to ensure its content gets delivered in a format optimized for that operating system and browser. An iPhone using iOs have very different requirements from a laptop running Windows 10. And if a site won't work with your browser and operating system, the website can let you know. As well as optimizing a website for your operating system and browser, it can help a website distinguish who uses their site more.
Your router has two IP addresses, one that the rest of the world sees, and one that only devices that connect to it can see. Your private or gateway address is the one that you will find here. This IP address will allow you to configure your router's settings though you need to know more than your address to access your router's web interface. You will also need to know your username and password, and if this is your first time accessing your router, or you never changed the user details, you can also find them here. From there, you will be able to make a variety of changes to your network.
Your local IP address is the address your router uses to distinguish the devices connected to its network. Most routers use 192.168.1.1 as their address, with 192.168.1.2, being the address for the device connected on the network. The last digit helps distinguish the connected devices. One device could be 192.168.1.3, and then the next is 1.4, and so on. You might need this information if you're trying to set up a game network via Lan or a web server, where you need to know each unique device address. It is possible to assign a specific IP address to a device, with your router manual providing instructions on how to do so.
Your ISP or internet service provider gives you, as the name suggests, access to the internet. You most likely know who provides your internet, as you have to pay a fee for the service. However, if you don't, you can click here to see who your ISP is. It is handy to know who provides your internet, as it allows you to trace the source of any issues you might be experiencing. Lower bandwidth than advertised, for example, is something suppliers do to save themselves money, though not a practice of a reputable company.
A ping test calculates the delay between sending information from one device and another device receiving that information. You can test your ping to an IP address, a website domain, or a host here. A ping test is usually the first thing someone will do if they are experiencing connectivity problems. If the network you are pinging doesn't respond or it takes a long time, resulting in a high ping, you can surmise that the problem is on the other end. An average ping result is between 50 and 60ms for a wireless connection.
You, or more precisely, your router, has two IP addresses, a public address, and a private address. You can find both here. Your private address is used by your devices to connect to your router, and the public address is used by websites to ensure any information you request gets back to you. Your private IP address will allow you to access your router's settings, with your public IP address revealing basic information to the websites you visit. For security reasons, you may wish to hide your public IP address, which you can do with a VPN or a proxy server.
A port, in computer networking terms, is an endpoint for communication. No matter the type of connection, physical or wireless, the communication terminates at the port of the device. Some ports are open, meaning they are open to accepting communication, with other ports closed meaning they reject communications, and you can check the status of your ports here. Port forwarding is an instruction given to one port, to forward information to another, which can help protect against unwanted traffic. You can check your port forwarding status here as well. Doing so can help you understand if a connection to an app, online game, or similar service is getting blocked.