It is different for each modem, but this tutorial will help you change WiFi passwords. Changing your WiFi network password isn't something you need to do often, but there are times when you need to. Maybe you've forgotten your WiFi password and need to change it to something easier to remember. If you suspect someone is stealing your WiFi, you can change the WiFi password to something they won't guess.
Regardless of the reason, you can easily change WiFi passwords by going into your modem settings and typing in a new password of your choice. In fact, in most cases, you can change your WiFi password even if you don't know the current one.
- PC does not connect to the Internet but connects to the modem
How to change WiFi password
These are very general instructions for changing a WiFi password. The steps required to make changes to a modem's settings differ between modems from different manufacturers and may even be unique between models of the same modem. Here are some additional details on these steps.
- Log in to the modem as an administrator.
- Find the WiFi password settings.
- Enter a new WiFi password.
- Save changes.
Log in to the modem as an administrator to change the modem password
You need to know the IP address, username and password of the modem to log in as an administrator and put the password to the WiFi.
For example, if you are using a Linksys WRT54G modem, the table in that link shows that the username can be left blank, the password is “admin” and the IP address is “192.168.1.1“. So, in this example, you would open the page http://192.168.1.1 in your web browser and log in with the admin password.
It is good to know that many modems use the default IP address 192.168.1.1, or 192.168.0.1 192.168.11, so try these if you're unsure, and maybe even change a digit or two if they don't work, like 192.168.0.1 or 10.0.1.1.
Most modems also use the word admin as a password and sometimes as a username as well.
If the modem's IP address has changed since you first purchased it, you can find out the default gateway your computer uses to determine the modem's IP address.
Find the WiFi password settings
Locating the WiFi password settings should be easy enough after you log in. Search for a section Network, wireless o WiFi or something similar to find the wireless information. This terminology differs between modems.
Once you are on the page that allows you to change the WiFi password, there will most likely also be words like SSID and cryptography, but you're looking for the password section specifically, which might be called something like key network, key shared, passphrase o WPA-PSK.
To use the Linksys WRT54G example again, in that particular modem, the WiFi password settings are on the tab wireless, in the sub-tab Wireless security, and the password section is called WPA shared key.
Create a new WiFi password
Type a new password in the text field provided on that page, but make sure it's strong enough to make it hard to guess. If you think it will be too difficult for you to remember, store it in a free password manager.
Save the WiFi password change
The last thing you need to do after changing the WiFi password on your modem is to save the changes. There should be a button Save Changes o Save somewhere on the same page where the new password was entered.
Still can't get the password to the modem?
If the above steps didn't work for you, you can still try a few things, but the first should be to contact the manufacturer or consult the product manual for instructions on how to change the WiFi password for your specific modem. Just search the manufacturer's website for the model number of your modem to find the manual.
Some new modems are not managed by their IP address but are instead accessible via a mobile app. Google's WiFi Mesh Modem System is an example where you can change the WiFi password directly from the mobile app in the Settings of net.
If you can't even get past step 1 to log in to the modem, you can reset the modem to factory defaults to clear the default login information. This will allow you to log into the modem using the default password and IP address and will also clear the WiFi password. From there, you can configure the modem using any desired WiFi password.
Further Reading:
- What is a WPA2 password? I'll explain it to you
- Change WiFi password, simple
- How to see the WiFi passwords saved on your Android phone
- See iPhone WiFi password, simple
- How to see passwords on android phone
