LINKSYS help. router name help.

Question

i named my router "highspeed". it's been working for weeks now. but then i couldn't connect anymore. i checked the visible wifi signals and it was able to see my router however, with a different name. the name contained special characters and boxes. is there a problem with my router? pls help if you know. thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Are you sure it's your router?  Did you plug in wired and log into the admin page to make sure?

Assuming it is your router, did you enable security and change the admin password?

If you don't enable encryption and change the default admin password people have a tendency to go in and mess with it - these default passwords are widely known and easily found online if they aren't known.  That's probably not the only thing changed, I'd do a hard-reset and start over.  They could have modified the DNS entries to their own server and redirect you to phishing sites if they got into the router's admin page.  Heck, they could have secured it so you can't use your own connection!

Make sure you secure the wireless to keep others from piggybacking and/or monitoring your private information...or in your case s******g with your router:

1. Change the web-admin password of your router (even if it's wired this is good) so not anyone can get into the config page.

2. Change the default SSID (name) and don't use something that identifies you, your location, or your brand of router to outsiders (e.g. "Home", "Cox.net", "My Network", "Wireless", etc).

2. Enable WPA-PSK, WPA-PSK2, or if those aren't supported MINIMUM of WEP128. Refer to the manual or call the manufacturer for directions.

3. Don't hide the SSID. It just makes your life harder and it's easily found out anyways.

4. Don't bother with MAC filtering, if someone can crack your security they probably know how to spoof your MAC address which will circomvent the filtering.

5. Don't use static-IP, it just makes your life harder. Anyone with the slightest knowledge about networking knows how to use a static IP.

The reason you don't want to identify your router's brand/location/owner:

1. Default passwords and settings are available online. Knowing the brand makes it easier to bypass these.

2. Knowing where it is makes it easier to get a stronger signal while staying away. This gives the attacker an advantage of getting a strong signal and being hidden.

3. Knowing who owns it makes guessing your password easier. Most people use names, dates, and other personal info for passwords (bad practice) and if they know you they probably know the things you would use for a password.

I also like to put a piece of masking tape on top of the router and write the SSID and web-config password (maybe encryption key too) so I can't forget them if it's one I don't usually use, or if I'm setting it up for someone else so they can't misplace it.  This doesn't bother me security-wise because if someone can get to the router, they can plug a wire in and use the network without knowing the wireless key...it's not as if I'm posting it for all the world to see.

Answer 2

It is possible your router has been hacked.  This can happen if you have not changed the web page password and you have not secured the wireless connection.

The best thing to do is to press the reset button on the back of the router.  That will reset all settings to what they were when you pulled it from the box.

Answer 3

If you didn't password protect your router administration password, it's possible that a neighbor connected to it and changed the parameters.

Reset it using the reset button (push in for 20 seconds). You'll have to go through the setup again the way you did when you first renamed it "highspeed"

Then put a password on it.