# Reboot your router **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 29, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reboot-your-router/815083 "2018-05-29T19:46:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reboot-your-router/815083/1 "2018-05-29T19:46:51Z")
This was just pointed out to me today by a coworker and I’ve seen several other locations posting similar advice: > **[F.B.I.’s Urgent Request: Reboot Your Router to Stop Russia-Linked Malware...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/27/technology/router-fbi-reboot-malware.html)** > > Hundreds of thousands of home and office routers have been infected by the malware, which was created by the same group that hacked the Democratic National Committee. > **[Is the FBI right about rebooting your router?](https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/the-fbi-says-you-should-reboot-your-router-should-you-explainer/)** > > It's a start, but there are other steps you should take. It sounds so crazy “reboot your router to stop Russian malware” but nothing sounds to crazy in this day and age. Also, updating the firmware and changing passwords (especially default passwords) are recommended as well. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reboot-your-router/815083/2 "2018-05-29T22:43:58Z")
I reboot mine about once a month on average. Probably should do it more often. Actually thanks to my terrible power company it does reboot far more often in the summer at least with brief power outages. Never leave your router on a default password, that is pretty much an open invite to be hacked. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reboot-your-router/815083/3 "2018-05-30T00:04:09Z")
Does reboot in this context mean unplugging it and replugging it? Or going to 192.168.0.1/etc. and telling it to reboot itself there? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reboot-your-router/815083/4 "2018-05-30T00:13:27Z")
Here is more information on this: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=855496](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=855496) Unplugging your router, waiting a bit, then turning it back on should be sufficient. You’ll need to install firmware updates as soon as they become available. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reboot-your-router/815083/5 "2018-05-31T01:19:44Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Does reboot in this context mean unplugging it and replugging it? Or going to 192.168.0.1/etc. and telling it to reboot itself there? That’s typically efficient enough, so long as you wait about 30 seconds before reconnecting the power. Most high-tech electronics these days have circuitry that will allow for a second-or-two lapse of incoming power and still continue functioning without a glitch. In this case, you want to wait beyond those fail-safe seconds to make the thing turn completely off, then plug it back in and let it turn on again. And, as others have already noted, the first thing to do when you buy and set up a new router and/or modem (or gateway, as the combo is called) is to go into the administration interface and change the password to something other than the default. If you can change the Admin’s user ID as well, that’s even better. Of course, you won’t remember those credentials in 8 months when you’re trouble-shooting a glitch so find a password-keeper utility and store the database NOT on your main computer. —G! Opinions aren’t like @$$holes. People usually only have one @$$hole, but they have thousands of opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reboot-your-router/815083/6 "2018-05-31T04:23:40Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > Of course, you won’t remember those credentials in 8 months when you’re trouble-shooting a glitch so find a password-keeper utility and store the database NOT on your main computer. For your home computer/network, you’re actually rather safe keeping passwords on a post it note slapped on the wall next to your computer. I’d never do that at work, but at home? My cats haven’t yet evolved thumbs, so I’m good, as long as that note is somewhere the visiting plumber won’t see it.