Forgotten code to connect to wifi

Bric

Just given my daughter a lap top for her bday but forgotten the code to connect hers to the netgear wireless unit.

Is there a way of finding the code or do I have to reset the rest of the network

weegie.geek

There are tools for extracting the code from computers that do know it. http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_key.html

The_Grandmaster

Is it not written on the back of the router?

POPPYOSCAR

The_Grandmaster wrote: »

Is it not written on the back of the router?

Thank for that. I never knew it was on the router so I have learned something today.I have needed it in the past and had to trawl through lots of paperwork to find it and it was there all the time!!(feel quite silly now!)

Oscar_The_Grouch

The problem with original router passwords is that they tend to be hacked quite easily. You are better off changing it to something you will remember. I used to regularly stay in a hotel where their internet was WAP enabled and the passwords used to be advice you'd give to children such as "lookbothways" or "donttalktostrangers".

Paul_Higgins

If you are using the code on the router, it is a factory set code that is freely available to anybody, such as 1234, 0000 or similar. If you are broadcasting your SSID, anybody can use your wireless signal, and to be honest if you don’t know about this you won’t know your router is being hacked. This isn’t just a bandwidth theft issue. It leaves your computer open to anybody with a little technical knowhow. This means passwords, documents- everything.

Anybody could download a keylogger, virus, Trojan, adware etc to your PC. You need to set your own password and your own SSID- the name that identifies your router on the network. If there is no need to broadcast your SSID, then don’t. Reasons to broadcast- people who you let access your network intermittently need to be able to see it to connect. But if it isn’t broadcast, then it is another layer of security and while it can be bypassed, hackers will generally aim for the visible networks available and not search for invisible ones.

An exception to this I know about, having recently changed to Sky broadband is a complex SSID and password set at the factory, leading me to believe sky are issuing different strong passwords for each router. I still changed mine though, just in case!

There is some advice on setting strong passwords here-
http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2006/04/passwordadvice.html
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/passwords/create.aspx
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/08/password_advice.html

to find out how to change passwords and SSID’s, refer to the documentation that came with your router. If you no longer have it, go to your router manufacturer’s website for information. And don’t forget to set encryption.

Each router manufacturer, while they are similar, has different access pages to set encryption, passwords and SSID’s. So trying to advise how to do it could complicate matters. Better take the manufacturers advice.

Good luck and come back if I can help further.

John_Gray

Paul_Higgins wrote: »

If you are using the code on the router, it is a factory set code that is freely available to anybody, such as 1234, 0000 or similar. If you are broadcasting your SSID, anybody can use your wireless signal, and to be honest if you don’t know about this you won’t know your router is being hacked.

I think you are becoming confused between

• the password for administrator logon to the router itself, whose default value for that router type is easily found by an internet search, and
• the wireless connection password, a multicharacter identifier which is unique to that router, and is often printed on a label stuck to the bottom of the router

In both cases the passwords can, and should, be changed, and the highest available level of security should be used - WPA2 rather than the insecure WEP.

The statement "If you are broadcasting your SSID, anybody can use your wireless signal" is also incorrect, since the SSID appears in the wireless packets and can be easily sniffed for, whether it is being broadcast or not. Not broadcasting the SSID - the wireless connection name - is almost entirely irrelevant.

tronator

Paul_Higgins wrote: »

If you are using the code on the router, it is a factory set code that is freely available to anybody, such as 1234, 0000 or similar. If you are broadcasting your SSID, anybody can use your wireless signal, and to be honest if you don’t know about this you won’t know your router is being hacked. This isn’t just a bandwidth theft issue. It leaves your computer open to anybody with a little technical knowhow. This means passwords, documents- everything.

Firstly, in most cases the default wireless key is the MAC address of the router. So it is unique but should be changed to something different.

Secondly, "security by obscurity" doesn't work! It makes no difference whether you hide your SSID or not. You don't gain any security. There are ways to see all wireless networks around you. It only makes it more difficult to troubleshoot problems if they occur.

I think you mixed it up with the admin login of the router. Of course, this should be changed from the default.

Edit: Just to add, the wireless encryption should be set to WPA/WPA2, not the "old" WEP.

dave2

Paul_Higgins wrote: »

If you are using the code on the router, it is a factory set code that is freely available to anybody, such as 1234, 0000 or similar.

Every router that I've seen that's come from an ISP in the last >3 years has come pre-set with a high-strength unique password; some of them even require eithernet or USB connection to access admin settings.

Maybe more likely to be a problem with retail units though...