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The router is the box that connects your home or office to the internet, and everything else connects through it. It is also the device people are least likely to touch. Most are still running the settings they left the factory with, and some of those settings are unsafe. These six are worth changing on any router, and none of them needs any technical knowledge beyond finding the settings page.
Getting to the settings
Look for a label on the router. It usually gives an address such as 192.168.1.1 or a name such as routerlogin.net, and a username and password. Type the address into a browser on a computer or phone connected to the router. Newer routers and mesh systems are managed from an app instead, and the same settings are in it.
If the login on the label does not work, someone changed it, and the router can be reset with the small recessed button on the back. Resetting it wipes every setting, including the Wi-Fi name and password, so only do that if you are ready to set it up again.
1. The admin password
This is the password for the settings page, not the Wi-Fi password. On many routers it is "admin" or "password" or printed on the label, and anyone on the network can sign in and change anything. Set it to something long and store it in your password manager. You will need it once a year at most.
2. Automatic updates
Routers have software with holes in it like any other device, and the maker fixes them with updates. Find the firmware or update setting and turn on automatic updates. If the router has no such option and its last update is years old, it is time to replace it, because it is no longer being maintained.
3. The Wi-Fi security type
Under the wireless settings, the security type should be WPA3 or, if the router or an old device cannot manage that, WPA2 with AES. Anything called WEP, WPA (without the 2), or "open" is not secure and should be changed. If a change locks out an old device, that device is the problem, and it should not be on your network in any case.
4. Remote management, off
Some routers can be managed from the internet, from outside your home. Unless you know you use this, turn it off. It is the setting attackers look for first, because it puts the router's login page on the public internet.
5. WPS, off
WPS is the button on the router that connects a device without a password. The idea is convenient; the implementation on many routers is weak enough that the Wi-Fi password can be recovered through it. Turn it off and type the password into new devices instead.
6. UPnP, off if you can
UPnP lets devices on your network open doors in the router's firewall for themselves, without asking. Game consoles and some cameras use it. It also lets malware do the same. Turn it off, and if a device stops working, turn it back on for that reason, knowingly, rather than leaving it on by default.
While you are there
- The Wi-Fi password. If it is the one printed on the label, it is fine as long as nobody who should not have it has seen the label. If it has been given out widely, change it, and use a guest network for visitors from now on.
- The Wi-Fi name. Change it from the default, which often reveals the router's make and model, to something that does not identify you.
- A list of what is connected. Most routers show every device on the network. Look through it once. Anything you do not recognise is worth investigating.
When the router is the internet company's
The router supplied by the cable or fibre company has the same settings, usually in its own app, and the same changes apply. If the company's router cannot be set up the way you want, a router of your own can sit behind it and take over the Wi-Fi.
When to replace a router
A router more than six or seven years old is likely to be past its updates, slow by current standards and missing WPA3. If it is the reason your Wi-Fi is poor, a current Wi-Fi 6 router or a mesh system is a worthwhile upgrade, and our guide to mesh Wi-Fi versus an extender helps choose.
If you would rather we did it
A network check for a home or a small office covers these settings, the guest network, what is connected and whether the coverage is right. It takes about an hour.