How to Connect to Your Home Router as an Administrator

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

By
Bradley Mitchell
Writer
An MIT graduate who brings years of technical experience to articles on SEO, computers, and wireless networking.
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Bradley Mitchell
Updated March 24, 2020
The Wireless Connection
The Wireless Connection
Introduction

To access a router as an administrator, you must 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:

These steps work for nearly any router and modem, and can be accomplished through any modern web browser, on both desktop and mobile devices.

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

    If you're trying to access a router outside of your network you need to enable what's usually called Remote Administration. You'll also need to know the router's external IP to make this work so that you can enter that address into the browser. However, this type of connection isn't guaranteed even if the remote admin setting is on since the IP address can easily change (if it's a dynamic IP, which most home networks are).

  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, 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—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.

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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.

When you access 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.