Router security

[bucolic_frolic]

A contractor used my hi speed internet to email a bill. I mean he used his smart phone. Grabbed my router's password. Should I change my router's password, how do I do that? Could my router be access from the internet by someone with that information? I have no idea.

[mikeysnot]

1. Your ISP has instructions on how to reset your pasword

depending on your provider.

Usually it is and IP address like 10.0.0.1 or 192.168.1.1.

Your user name is admin and they have your password.

[CentralMass]

2. What type of router (make and model) do you have..

If you don't have your documention on it. Google changing the password on my "your routers brand" .

Your router serves up a webpage accessible on your wireless network. Many use the local ip address 192.168.1.1 .odds are that if you enter that in a browser windoe it will tske you to your routers login page.

Once you find the right address for your router you enter the adress into a browser window and it takes you to a login screen. The router has a default user name (which might be "admin" or nothing (blank) and password if you have never changed them. The document for your model will have this info and tell you how to changr both the usename and password. Once you change them be sure to write them down and save it someplace safe. The documment will also tell yiu how to change the ssid of your router from the default thst is usually on the label on the router to something catchy like "Abraham Linksys"

Here is a link for a netgear router.

https://kb.netgear.com/23438/Smart-Wizard-How-to-change-your-NETGEAR-router-WiFi-password-or-network-name-SSID-using-Smart-Wizard

A generic article for Linksys.routers.

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/reset-username-password-linksys-wireless-router-54174.html

[bucolic_frolic]

4. It's a D-Link 2750B

about 6 years old, I think. They sent me a more modern one but it burned out in 1 year
and they declined to replace it. Said they wanted it back then changed their minds.
Fickle.

[CentralMass]

5. Here is the link..

https://www.verizon.com/support/residential/internet/highspeed/networking/2750bgateway/atlas6602.htm

That tells you how to login and change the the usernane and password to access your router.

This link off of that page tells you how to change your routers ssid and the key that you use to login to it. I looks like they have something called "In Home Agent" to make it easier.

https://www.verizon.com/Support/Residential/Internet/HighSpeed/Networking/2750BGateway/ATLAS6594.htm

[lpbk2713]

3. They all come with default User & PW's out of the box.

If he knew the make and model he knew that info as well. Look up the user manual for that router online (including Ver Nbr) and you can change it to your liking.

[canetoad]

6. Be aware

That if your internet set-up is anything like mine, you will have two router passwords.

The first, which enables log-in to the router admin is the ISP password, and will need to be changed on their website.

The second (and possibly third, if it's a dual band router) are the passwords you used to set up your wireless network/s and can be changed easily by logging in to the router.

[lapfog_1]

7. everyone here is talking about the router admin password

which he did not get unless you gave it to him.

Probably (just guessing) you gave him your wifi password (the key used between various wireless devices and your router to encrypt the transmissions).

He won't be able to use that unless he comes back to your house (or parks someplace near your house or apt).

Still, I would change it. log into your router by pointing a browser page at the router device... usually by opening a new browser page and entering http://192.168.1.1 or maybe http://192.168.0.1 or possibly http://10.0.0.1 and then entering the admin account name (typically "admin&quot and the password... then follow the menu selections until you get to wifi security and change the wifi password there... and then follow the instructions to reset the router)

you will have to go to each device that normally associates with the wifi router (laptops, IoTs, cell phones) and enter the new password for wifi.

If, on the other hand, you DID give him the admin password, you will need to follow the instructions to change that... as he COULD (potentially) log into your router from anywhere on the internet (this is harder to do than it sounds).. and do things that could make your life miserable.

[bucolic_frolic]

8. He caught the 'admin' network ID, and read password off the bottom of the router on a sticker

So it was like accz04IQ4 or something about that length, it's my wireless connection network number

[bucolic_frolic]

9. Hard Drive crash

Hard drive crashed 3 days later. Not that it was unexpected, and I don't think connected with the contractor
use. SmartDrive had been warning about failure for 15 months. It was a Vista OS so I didn't bother to replace it,
just backed up some things. But did lose a lot.

I did some calculations ... i bought that system used in 2011, it was so heavily used the owner was trashing it,
and the DVD drive was worn out, needed replacement. Then my system runs an average of 13 hours a day.
So I put 25,000 hours on the hard drive in 5.5 years, plus what it had before.

So now I am running the same PC on DVD-only boot - with Linux Mint Serena. Very good.

And I bought a very lightly used basic laptop, and that is almost totally locked up. Will barely download, it just sits
and chatters for hours. The virus scan said no problems. Trying to download malwarebytes, but it's not doing that either.
Can't tell if it's downloaded updates, typical of a new OS, or infected with something, or it's just the bloatware it came with.

Tempted to go with Linux in a used PC loaded with ram and no OS installed.

But how do I get the new laptop operational?

[bucolic_frolic]

10. Success

new pc, or at least lightly used, budget model but works great. Good to be back online in full capacity! I've been working on a DVD-booted laptop with no hard drive, and thus didn't remember very much. About every 3 or 4 hours the memory cache would be full and the DVD would spin looking for answers, so it had to be shut down and rebooted. But it was a backup plan for a hard drive crash of sorts, and it was barely adequate. But it worked.