How to find the IP address of your router on different Operating Systems
Finding your private IP address on the Windows system with the Terminal tool
One of the most useful tools for the Windows system is the Windows Shell or the terminal (which you might know it as the Cmd tool)
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- Step 1: Navigate to the search bar if you are using windows 10. Type in cmd and press Enter.
Remember that on some machine setup, you need to be the administrator for some command line to work. (by right-clicking on the cmd option and choose “open as the administrator”)
However, we only need to view the IP address for the default gateway, which does not require administrator access on the terminal.
- Step 1: Navigate to the search bar if you are using windows 10. Type in cmd and press Enter.
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- Step 2: Once the terminal is open, you should see a black interface with white text and no graphical interface.
It is designed that way to save the memory and to make sure that the terminal will take minimal processing power to run at the maximum speed.
Type “ipconfig” on the terminal
- Step 2: Once the terminal is open, you should see a black interface with white text and no graphical interface.
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- Step 3: You should now see all the information about your specific network on your system, including the private IP address for your local network (the last line of the information)
- Step 4: Enter that IP address in the browser (such as Firefox or Google) to access the router’s main homepage. You will be asked for a username and password.
If you do not know what the default username and password for your router is, do not forget to check the section of the most commonly used username and password of all the commercial router.
Find the private IP address with the “Control Panel” setting on Windows 10
Another useful and more simple way to find the private IP address is to use the Control Panel.
It is the graphical tool with many features that will let you control your Windows and PC entirely. We will use it to figure out what is the IP address that is assigned to our system.
- Step 1: On the search bar (if you use Windows 10), type in Control Panel and hit Enter
Your Control Panel should now be open with all the different sections and categories. The one that we want to navigate to is called “Network and Internet.” - Step 2: Right under the Network and Internet section, you can see the option that says “View the Network status and tasks.”
Click to choose this option. - Step 3: In the right corner of the “Network and Sharing Center,”select the right name of your network connection.
Navigate to the “Ethernet” option on the page. Ethernet is how your router connects to the internet via cable. - Step 4: After clicking on the “Ethernet” option, you will see an “Ethernet Status” windows. Click on “Details” option.
You will see your private IP address under the “IPv4 Default Gateway” line.
How to find the private IP address of your router with Mac OS X
Similar to the Windows system, there are two different methods that you can use to figure out what your private IP address is.
Using the terminal
- Step 1: Navigate to “Utilities” then choose “Terminal.”
- Step 2: When the Terminal completely loads up, type in netstat -nr | grep default
- Step 3: Now you should see the IP address under the default section on the terminal (something like 192.168.0.1)
Using Network Interface
Again, if you do not like to work with the command line, using the network interface is more convenient since you can navigate between different options.
- Step 1: From the main menu, find the “System Preferences” and click to open it.
- Step 2: Choose the section that reads “Network References”. This will open the main windows with all the graphical commands for your network configuration.
- Step 3: If you are using LAN (with ethernet cable connection) select LAN option; if not then choose Wi-Fi instead. Click on the “Advanced” option then navigate to TCP/IP
- Step 4: Now you can see the IP address next to the “router” line. Is it simple right?
How to find the router IP address on the Linux system
If you already use Linux as your primary operating system, you must have worked with Terminal before as the Linux system is heavily terminal based.
- Step 1: You can open up the Terminal by clicking on “Applications” then “System Tools” and then “Terminal.”
- Step 2: When the Terminal loads up, type in
IP route | grep default - Step 3: Your private IP address of the router is right behind the default line.
What is the default password and username of your specific router?
By now you should be able to find out your router’s private IP address.
After entering the IP address in your browser, you should be asked to enter the default username and password for the gateway page.
Still confused and do not know what to enter?
Do not worry, we’ve got you covered.
The list below contains all the most common default password and username of different types of router.
Login | Password |
---|---|
admin | password |
admin | michelangelo |
user | password |
sitecom | admin |
user | user |
root | (none) |
root | root |
administrator | (none) |
administrator | administrator |
What is the router?
The router is the center of your home local network. The router allows the users to control the internet traffic and everything that is related to the network, including default password and username.
The primary method for the network administration is the default login page of your physical router. It is the main default gateway that you can always access via the web portal.
Router and IP address
The router at your home or the small business will use a private IP address (such as 192.168.0.1 or 10.0.0.1)
They are the unique IP address that is assigned to the local network automatically. If you enter these addresses in your favorite browser, the chances are you will be taken to the administrator page.
There are also other methods that you can use to find out about these IP addresses. In the main section of the article, we will discuss all the options that you can use on various PC system to find your private IP address.
It is important to remember that:
On the Windows system, the administrator page can be called the “default gateway.” On the system that uses MAC OS, it will be called “router.” Lastly, the Linux system can refer to it as the “gateway.”
They are the similar terminology to address the same login page of your private router.
In the next section, you will learn how to find your IP address with your specific system.