How to Connect to Your Home Router as an Administrator

Use the router's IP address to access its settings and make changes

The Wireless Connection
The Wireless Connection
Introduction
by Bradley Mitchell
An MIT graduate who brings years of technical experience to articles on SEO, computers, and wireless networking.
Updated November 08, 2019

There are times when you need to connect to your router, for example, to address a network-wide problem, make changes to your network, set up port forwarding rules, and configure firmware updates. To access a router as an admin requires that you know the router's IP address and the administrative user's password and username.

How to Access a Router as an Administrator

Animated illustration of a person accessing their router on a computer
Lifewire / Tim Liedtke

Follow these steps to connect to your router as admin:

  1. Verify that your computer is connected to the router using either an Ethernet cable or a wireless connection.

  2. Identify the IP address of the router. Most routers are manufactured to use a default address such as 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1, 192.168.2.1, or 192.168.1.100.

    If those don't work and you don't know the router's default IP address is, or if it was changed it, see our How to Find Your Default Gateway IP Address guide.

  3. Open a web browser such as Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Firefox and request a connection to the router using its IP address. For example, type http://192.168.1.1 in the address bar to connect to a router that has 192.168.1.1 as its IP address.

  4. Enter the administrative login information to authenticate and access the admin settings.

Routers are shipped with default usernames and passwords. This is usually the word admin but might be different for your router (some might not even have a password or might not use a username).

Follow these links to see the default passwords and usernames for NETGEAR, D-Link, Linksys, and Cisco routers if you have one of those routers, or consult the router documentation if you're not sure what it is.

Some routers are not accessed in the way described above. Most are, but a few, like Google Wifi, require different (usually easier) steps, such as using a mobile app.

What If I Can't Access My Router?

If after trying the username and password on the router, the browser returns an error message, your computer might not be connected to the correct router. Or, the username and password combination might not have been correct.

If you're sure that you're using the correct IP address to access the router, try the following procedures:

  2. Open a web browser such as Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Firefox, and request a connection to the router using its IP address.

  4. Open a web browser such as Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Firefox, and request a connection to the router using its IP address.

  5. This restores the router to its default condition with the IP address, username, and password that it was shipped with.

  6. Open a web browser such as Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Firefox, and request a connection to the router using its IP address.

1:23

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Administer a Router Over Wi-Fi

Setting up a router for the first time is best done over a wired connection so that the connection isn't dropped if the security or wireless settings are changed in the process. However, it can be done over wireless too.

When accessing a router over Wi-Fi, keep the computer close to the router, in the same room if necessary, to avoid connection drops due to interference or weak wireless signals.