It’s pretty much common knowledge now that you can find the default router login username/password on the back of most routers, and that factory resetting the router reverts any custom values back to these defaults.

But what if you want to find these router admin credentials when they’re been changed to something custom? Perhaps someone else changed the admin username/password, or you did, but you’ve forgotten what you changed them to (surprisingly common!). And you DON’T want to be messing about factory resetting the router to restore the defaults, when there’s lots of users currently on the network who would not take kindly to this.

How do you find the router administration details in a more roundabout way, without having to resort to the “nuclear” option of factory resetting it and annoying everyone else?

It is sometimes possible to use software like the Router Password Kracker to hack a custom or default router login password, if it’s something that’s in their dictionary of common phrases. And if this doesn’t work, then the only real solution is to factory reset the router to restore the default login credentials, despite the temporary disruption this can cause for connected users.

In other words, without being a super-skilled hacker, your options outside of doing a factory reset are actually quite limited in finding a custom router settings admin/password.

Note – In this article we are talking about the router administration/settings/configuration username and password – the details you use to gain access to the router settings to change them. We’re not referring to the Wi-Fi username and password – hacking this without having the details requires some more advanced skills and isn’t something we’re going to cover in this article. See here for help with this.

In any event you must be connected to a router via cable or Wi-Fi to access the settings page, so none of the following is possible unless you are first connected to the router’s network either by ethernet or wireless.

But let’s cover in more detail how to find and use the default router login details, plus how to possibly find/hack your router admin/password if they’ve been set to unknown or forgotten custom values (not always possible, but there are some things you can try).

Finding The Default Router Admin (Username/Password) Credentials

The way this search phrase is worded implies that the reader already knows that factory resetting the router is what reverts the router login username/password back to the defaults, and they instead want to try and find a custom username/password. We’ll cover this further below. But first we’ll cover the default credentials basics.

If you haven’t yet, it’s always worth trying the default router login login/admin/password on the back, since in the vast majority of cases on home networks, it’s not changed from these defaults, even though it ideally should be for better security.

The default router login username/password is usually on the back of the router on a label/sticker; something like this:

 

You punch the login IP into the address bar of any browser on any device currently connected to the router via LAN cable or Wi-Fi. See here for connecting to the router by WPS if the default Wi-Fi password doesn’t work.

If the sticker/label has been peeled off or you can’t access it, here are some common router settings login details:

1. Some common login IPs (bolded ones are most common):

• 192.168.0.1
• 192.168.1.1
• 192.168.1.254
• 192.168.2.1
• 192.168.0.2
• 192.168.20.1
• 192.168.100.1
• 10.0.0.1
• 10.1.1.1
• 192.168.1.2
• 192.168.10.2
• 192.168.254.254
• 192.168.31.1

You can also find your router’s login IP (default gateway) on a connected device itself using the Command Prompt. See here for how to do this, but you can often just quickly guess it using the common values listed above.

Once you enter the correct router login IP, you’ll know it, because that’s when the username/password boxes pop up, like this:

 

2. Some common router usernames/passwords:

• Username/Admin – The default router admin is often just admin or administrator. Try also large A at the front.
  
• Password – The default router password can sometimes be just password or password1, but is often something else nowadays for security reasons, like the router serial number. This can often be the sticking point – you can guess the router login IP and admin, but can’t guess the password. But admin and password (small case) can sometimes work.
• Sometimes the admin and password are BOTH ‘admin’ (common) or BOTH ‘password’ (less common), so you can try this as well.
• Sometimes ‘root’ is also used as the username and password, but much more rarely.
• Try also your ISP or router brand in small case for the password.
• Sometimes routers either don’t require a username or password, or require that you leave one of the two blank.
• Bottom line – “admin” and “password” are two values that will commonly work for the username/password.

The US market is the biggest, so we’ll list the major 4 router logins here:

• Comcast/Xfinity – The default router login IP is 10.0.0.1, the username is “admin” and the password “password”. Alternatively, the username may be “XFSET” and the password “become”.
• Verizon – The login IP tends to be 192.168.1.1, and on Fios packages, the username is generally “admin”, and the password “password1”. On DSL packages, the password is often “password” instead.
• AT&T – The default login IP  is 192.168.1.25, and the username is “admin” and the password field is often left blank, or else varies and can be found on the back of the router itself.
• Spectrum – As a general rule, the login IP for Spectrum Gateway routers is 192.168.1.1, and both the username and password are “admin”.

And here’s links to guides on default router login for major ISP’s (internet providers) in the major English speaking countries:

• Default router login details USA ISP’s (Biggest 13 covered)
• Default router login details UK ISP’s
• Default router login details Canada ISP’s
• Default router login details Australian ISP’s

If your router is not a bespoke ISP one, and is instead a specific third party brand (eg. Netgear, TP Link etc), then see here for our guide on default logins for them.

Remembering Custom Router Login Credentials

It’s a bit of a long shot, but here’s some quick possible suggestions about what you could have changed your router  administration login password to if you’ve forgotten it:

• Your name or something really obvious, but with either your year of birth or the current year you set it added on the end.
• Holidays or holiday destinations
• Pets
• Inside jokes or phrases
• Partner name
• Family members
• Favorites (bands, sports stars, movie stars, food, celebrities)
• Same password as your email
• ISP name (eg. Comcast), either on it’s own or with something else like your name, year, DOB, “password” etc.
• Something more obvious like “routerpassword” or “loginpassword” or “adminpassword”

Always worth trying some different password to see if it jogs your memory. Sometimes it can suddenly come back to you what set it to after trying a few different passwords for a while.

Hacking Custom Router Password Credentials

If using the defaults, or trying to guess router admin/username/password details isn’t working, there are some software programs you can use to potentially “crack” or “hack” these details, but only in a somewhat limited way.

Disclaimer – only use these methods to access YOUR OWN router settings page, and not anyone else’s. It is legal to hack your own devices in most cases, but unauthorized hacking of someone else’s device is at the very least unethical, and in many cases illegal.

Router Password Kracker – Simple free software that runs a dictionary of around 3000 potential common password phrases until it “cracks” the correct one. Pretty basic tool that will likely not work if the password has been changed to something really personal and customized, but can crack common default passwords if you weren’t able to guess them using the steps above.

 

Here are the general steps to use:

1. Download the software here.
2. Enter the IP address of the router into the interface.
3. Enter the router username/admin (you do need to already know this)
4. Then click Start Crack, and the program will run through a database of several thousand common router passwords.
5. If it finds the correct one, it will display on the interface. You’ve successfully cracked your router login password!

However, there are a couple of problems with this method:

1. The Kracker can only hack custom passwords, NOT usernames or login IP. If you can’t remember or don’t know the username, and can’t guess it, you’re pretty much stuck without factory resetting the router.
2. Even with the password, it’s only got a template dictionary of common password phrases. If your router’s custom login password is something really custom and personalized (strange words also mixed with numbers/symbols etc), then it won’t be in the dictionary and the program won’t crack it.
3. All in all, this program is better for finding default router login/admin passwords, and perhaps simple custom passwords. It’s worth a try, but it’s less likely to find complex custom login passwords.

Therefore despite the disruption, your better option in a lot of cases is going to be to hard reset the router, which is what we’ll cover next.

Factory Resetting Your Router To Restore Default Login Credentials

Whilst it does cause some inconvenience for all users on a network, and can take a bit of time, if you can’t hack a custom router administration username/password that you’ve forgotten or don’t know, the best way is just to factory reset the router, which will restore all username/passwords to the defaults indicated on the sticker, so you can use them again.

Many people are reluctant to do this because a) it can seem daunting and they’re worried they’ll lost some important data, or their internet service, and/or b) it disrupts connections for everyone in the house.

But it’s actually quite easy. The disruption issue is real, but if you try and find a time when no one else is in the house/apartment to do it, or do it late at night when no one’s on the network, you can usually get the whole thing done in 10 minutes or less. All users then have to do is re-enter the default wireless username/password to reconnect their devices.

Most routers have a default reset button or hole somewhere on them, something like this:

 

Pushing a bent safety clip or other sharp object into this hole for 5-30 seconds until something flashes/blinks is what does the factory reset.

Sometimes there’s a single reset button that doubles up as both a quick and hard reset button – quickly pressing it initiates a fast reboot (no data lost) whereas pressing and holding this button for up to 20 seconds is what does the factory reboot (all custom details wiped and reset)

On other routers, there isn’t an obvious reset button or hole, and you instead need to do the factory reset from the menu instead. A bit of catch 22 when you can’t access the router settings anyway, but see here for help on this anyway. You’ll have to either plug in via LAN cable and hopefully guess the login details, or contact your ISP for help.

Either way, it’s usually obvious once a factory reboot is underway. You then need to wait up to 10 minutes for everything to reset and come back online, and from there, all router login details should be restored to what they are on the sticker on the back.

However, also be aware of what a factory reset does:

• All custom Wi-Fi SSIDs/usernames and passwords to access the network will be lost and reset to the defaults indicated on the sticker on the back of the router. So any users who need to reconnect will need to find the router again on the network list and re-enter the default password to use the Wi-Fi.
• If you have also set custom values for the router login admin/password (to change settings), these will also be reset back to the default values indicated on the sticker on the back.
• If any gamers have set a static IP for their console on the router, this will be deleted and they’ll have to do it again.
• Any other custom settings that were configured on the router (eg. QoS, DNS settings, DMZ) will be lost and need to be reconfigured.
• All logs and stored browsing history will be wiped off the router.
• Factory resets can sometimes also take longer than quick resets, with a disruption of connection for sometimes several minutes.
• See our article on resetting your router for more on this, plus how to get settings back to how they were if you need to.
• See here if your internet doesn’t come back on after factory rebooting a router, even after waiting a while.