Hi, I have cable internet and laptops at home and need a new router. Someone has hacked into my home network and it could have been from my crappy Linksys router, and I want something as secure as possible because my ip address was used to send out threatening messages. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Someone had to have recently changed the password on my router since a few months ago it didn't have one and I was not concerned about it, and now I can't access it.
On the back of your LinkSys router is a factory reset button - use it; set a password. All routers are boxed identically, whether without a password or with a standard password - change that immediately. It does not matter what password you use except:
password
secret
linksys
admin
or any other 'cute' password.
If I were a hacker, I would scan for all the router brands I could find then try all the default passwords and I bet I would get into more than 50% of the routers I find. Turn off your routers broadcast and change the damn password to something you can see near your computer like Black&Tan, SilverSkull, TaiChiMaster, MyPassport - anything that triggers your memory but is not obvious. I had a friend with a BeanieBaby collection so when she changed her password she would bring out a trigger-beanie like WhiteUnicorn or BeanieFeverRippedMeOff.
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Posting Maven
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since Feb 2004
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