IfyouusetheInternet,yourhomemostlikelyhasarouter.YouhavepluggedthatrouterinandhaveabasicWi-Finetworkupandrunning.Whatyoumightnotrealizeisthatyourpresetnetworkislessthanideal.Youmightnothaveanypasswordset,oryourWi-Finetworkisnotoptimizedforyouruse.TomakeanychangestoyourWi-Finetwork,youneedtologintoyourrouterusing192.168.0.101.Evenifyourrouterwassetupbyaprofessional,perhapsbytheISP,andyouarehappywithhowthingsare,youmightstillneedtouse192.168.0.101whensomethinggoeswrong.Itisalwayshandyknowinghowtoaccessyourroutersadminpageincaseyouneedtochangesomething,andgettingtothatadminpageisnotashardasyoumightthink.
Ifyoudon'tknowthelogindetailstoyourrouterandneverchangedthem,youcanoftenfindthedefaultlogindetailsonthebaseofyourrouter.Alternatively,theroutermanufacturer'swebsiteshouldhavethemlisted.Ifyouhavechangedthedetails,andhaveforgottenthem,youcanresettherouterbacktofactorysettings.Thelogindetailswillgetsetbacktodefault,thoughyouwillloseanychangesyouhavemadetoyourrouterpreviously.
Withtheabovesteps,youcannowaccesstherouteradminpage.Thenextsteptotakeistochangetheactualsettingstomeetyourpreferences.
Whileinthegeneralsettingsmenu,youcanalsochangetheusernamefortherouter.
IfyouwishtochangeyourWi-Finetworkpassword,theoptionwillbeinthesamemenuastheSSID.SelecttheWi-Finetworkpasswordfieldandtypeinyourdesiredpassword.
YouhavenowsetthelogindetailsforyourrouterandyourWi-Finetwork.Withyourinternetsecured,youshouldexplorefurther.Youcanoptimizeyournetworkorsetparentalcontrols,asjustsomeexamples.
The192.168.0.101IPaddressisalocal,private,orgatewayIPaddress.192.168.0.101isyourrouter'saddressthatcomputerdevicesconnectedtothenetworkwillusetosenddatarequestsovertheinternet.YourrouteralsohasapublicIPaddress.ThepublicIPaddressgetsusedbytheISPandanywebsiteyouvisit,togettheinformationofthewebsiteyouvisit,toyourrouter,withyourrouterthesendingthatdata,backtoyourcomputerscreen,viatheprivateIPaddress.
192.168.0.101isacommonprivateIPaddress,thoughitmightnotbeyours.If192.168.0.101isnotyourIPaddress,youcansearchforyourroutermodelonline,whichshouldrevealthedefaultIPaddressofyourrouter.TheIPaddressmayalsobelistedinthemanualofyourrouter.Ifthosemethodsdon'twork,youcanuseyourcomputertofindyourIPaddress.
IfYourComputerIsRunningMicrosoftWindows:
IfYourComputerIsRunningOnMacOSX
TheonlywayyourprivateIPaddresswillchangeisifyouchangeit.IfyourroutersIPaddressdoesnotmatch192.168.0.101oroneoftheotherdefaultIPaddresses,thensomeonemayhavechangeditbefore.Ifthatisthecaseandyouwishtoresetitbacktodefault,thenyoucanperformafactoryresetonyourrouter,thoughthatwillreseteverythingelseontherouter.
Astouchedonabove,192.168.0.101isaprivateIPaddressthatyourrouterusestodistinguishitselfonthenetwork,andadeliverypointfordatarequestsfromcomputerdevicesusingtheWi-Finetwork.192.168.0.101isnotuniquetoyourrouterasmostroutermanufacturersuseaselectionofprivateIPaddressesacrosstheirrangesofrouters.Withthatsaid,aprivateIPaddressisnotevenuniquetoacertainbrand.Itisdonethisway,astheonlypersonwhoneedstoknowtheprivateIPaddressistheowneroftherouter.
ButhowdoesyourrouterknowwhichcomputerdeviceissendingitdatarequestsWell,yourrouterisnottheonlydeviceonyournetwork,witheachcomputerconnectedtoyourWi-Finetwork,alsohavingaprivateIPaddresssuchas192.168.0.101.ThestringofnumbersthatisyourIPaddresshelpseachdevicecommunicatewiththeother.Anditisnotjustinternet-capabledevicesthathaveanIPaddress.PrintersandstoragedevicesalsohaveanIPaddress,soyourrouterandcomputerdevicesusingthenetworkcanconnectwiththemandusethem.Usually,theIPaddressesofotherdevicesontheWi-FinetworkaredeviationsoftherouterIPaddress,withthelastnumberbeingdifferent.
Asofwriting,whenpeopletalkaboutIPaddresses,theyarereferringtoIPv4.IPv4standsforinternetprotocolversion4andisfoursetsofnumbersseparatedbyaperiod,thoughitisnotjustanynumbers.TheIANAorInternetAssignedNumbersAuthorityhasreservedcertainnumbersforprivateIPaddresses,andtherestcanbeusedforpublicIPaddresses.Thosereservednumbersare:
Thosethreerangesofnumbersallowforabout18milliondifferentprivateIPaddresses.Asstated,theroutermanufacturersusuallyonlysticktotwoorthree.
192.168.0.101isaprivateIPaddressanddirectlyrelatedtoyourWi-Finetwork.Itisthechainofnumbersyouusetoaccesstherouteradminpage.However,asbrieflymentioned,yourrouteralsohasanotherpublicIPaddress.
YourISPwillassignyourpublicIPaddress,andyoudon'thavemuchcontroloverit.YourpublicIPaddresscanbeanychainoffournumbers,notconsistingoftheonesreservedforyourprivateIPaddress.YourpublicIPaddressallowsyourroutertoconnectandcommunicatewiththeinternet.Anytimeyouvisitawebsite,itwillseeyourpublicIPaddress,anduseittosendyouyourrequestedinformation.
AnotherdifferencebetweenyourprivateandpublicIPaddressesisthatyourpublicIPaddresswillmostlikelychange.Asstated,eachrouterintheworldneedsadifferentpublicIPaddress,soISPshavetousedynamicIPaddresses.TheISPdistributesitsavailableIPaddressesonaper-usebasis.Onceauserdisconnectsfromtheinternet,theirpublicIPaddressgetspassedtosomeoneelse.Otherwise,ISPswouldnothaveenoughaddressesforalloftheircustomers.
ItispossibletohaveapublicIPaddressthatdoesnotchange,andthesearecalledstaticIPaddresses.Thesetypesofaddressesareforwebsitesorcloudservers,whichneedtostayonlinepermanently.
Asthenamesuggests,apublicIPaddressispublic.Itisforthatreasonthatthereissomeconcerntowardsauser'ssecurity.ThepublicIPaddresscanrevealtheroughlocationofauser.However,intherighthands,apublicIPaddresscanprovidemoreinfothanthat.AhackercanuseapublicIPaddresstobuildaprofileofauser.
AVPNservicecangiveyousomecomfortifyouareconcernedaboutyoursecuritywhileonline.AVPNservicehidesyourpublicIPaddressfromwebsites.Instead,aVPNprovidesarandomaddressthatcanshowyouinadifferentcountry.SomerouterscomewithaVPNservicebuilt-in.