We’ve had a bunch of router questions this week and I’m happy to answer them.
“How do you turn the router off? Is changing the network password the same as changing the router password? If so, how do you change the router password? Should this be done on a regular basis?”
If your router has a power button, you can simply switch it off and on. If you don’t see one, you can unplug the power cord from the back of your router.
If you’d like to factory reset your router (wipe out all current settings, which means you’ll have to set the whole thing up again. Passwords and all settings will be gone.) Make sure the router is turned on and look for the reset button on your model. It could be either on the back or the bottom. Then find a small pointy object and push down the reset button for about a minute. Remove the pointy thing and wait around another minute for the router to reset.
You change the router password by going to the website for your particular router. You should be able to find those instructions on the manufacturer’s website. You should also be able to do a factory reset from this page as well.
Generally, when people say router password, they’re talking about the network password, but there is a second password for your network that many people don’t often know about. I’ll show you how to change that in an article tomorrow.
As for how often to change the password, if you have a good secure password, I wouldn’t be overly worried. Yes, changing it every month would be ideal, but frequently changing passwords can also lead to confusion and misplaced passwords.