Second: Access the Router's Interface and Lock it Down

The next step involves getting into the router's interface (called by some companies the management console). This is done by connecting a laptop to the router and then accessing the interface via browser. How to do this? Routers ship with a default IP address, administrator account and password. For example, most Cisco/Linksys routers have the default IP address of 192.168.1.1 and the default administrator account is "admin" and the password is "admin." What you want to do is change your laptop's IP settings to match those of the router's to connect to it for configuration. This allows the laptop to communicate with the router, so you can access your router's software for setup via the laptop. Connect an Ethernet cable to one of the LAN ports on the router and the other end to the Ethernet port of your laptop. On a Windows 7 machine that's connected to the router by Ethernet for example, you would go into the Control Panel and click open "Network and Internet" and then "Network and Sharing Center." From the left-hand window, click open "Change adapter settings." Right-click on "Local Area Connection" (not the Wireless Network Connection) and select "Properties." Highlight "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IP v4) and once again, click "Properties." Set the first radio button to "Use the following IP address:" and enter the information as shown in the slide above. Once you've applied the changes, open up a browser and go the Web address of (in our example,) the Cisco/Linksys' interface by typing: http://192.168.1.1 and using the account name "admin" and password "admin." Then you are all set to configure security and other settings. Most router companies use the same default IP address, admin account, and passwords on all their routers. Here's a table of the most commonly used ones, but your router's documentation will tell you the specific IP address and account information. Router Address Username Password 3Com http://192.168.1.1 Admin admin D-Link http://192.168.0.1 admin Cisco/Linksys http://192.168.1.1 admin admin Netgear http://192.168.0. admin password