# Belkin N+ Wireless Router Password Missing **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 15, 2010, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belkin-n-wireless-router-password-missing/539518 "2010-05-15T05:25:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NOLA\_Cajun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea666f/32.png) [@NOLA\_Cajun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NOLA_Cajun)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belkin-n-wireless-router-password-missing/539518/1 "2010-05-15T05:25:57Z")
I’m currently residing with friends and just for the heck of it logged on to their wireless router to see what kind of settings were there and noticed there is no password set for the admin. The system is set up as a secure connection in order to access the internet but I’m wondering if that in itself prevents someone outside just logging on to the router and wiping all the security settings. I realize hacking a secure connection is possible but is it possible to log on to the router ip without doing that? ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belkin-n-wireless-router-password-missing/539518/2 "2010-05-15T08:35:07Z")
On my Netgear ADSL firewall router you have to enable the Remote Management option (found under Advanced Settings) to be able to do this - there is a stern warning to be sure to change the router’s password to a very secure one if you do this. I would hope remote management is usually disabled by default. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belkin-n-wireless-router-password-missing/539518/3 "2010-05-15T14:12:14Z")
Same with my D-Link 628 wireless router. > [@Dlink Administrator Settings Helpful Hints](#): > > Enabling Remote Management, allows you or others to change the router configuration from a computer on the Internet. and that option is off by default. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belkin-n-wireless-router-password-missing/539518/4 "2010-05-15T15:22:31Z")
.\_. removed -redundant ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belkin-n-wireless-router-password-missing/539518/5 "2010-05-15T21:40:59Z")
If you are limited to only using one computer to access it, an admin password isn’t that big a deal. If someone has physical access to your computer, you’re already screwed. Making a password in that case would be more akin to encrypting all you data, and keeping the encryption key with you. Not something most people do, although it is technically more secure. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belkin-n-wireless-router-password-missing/539518/6 "2010-05-16T15:26:35Z")
If you’re using a less-secure wireless encryption method (i.e., WEP or WPA+TKIP instead of WPA2 with AES), there’s a chance people can crack your key, connect to your router, and access the admin interface that way. Chance of it happening in real life? Probably small for the average home router. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belkin-n-wireless-router-password-missing/539518/7 "2010-05-16T16:58:08Z")
WEP = 30 seconds to crack WPA2 = 2 minutes Physical access, your screwed.