Your Router IP address is important in so many ways more than you can ever imagine. Having a WiFi or router is more than just connecting your smart devices to it. You will need the IP address to your router whenever you want to make changes to the wireless or wired device such as when you want to change the name of the router, change the router’s password when you want to do a hard reset and restart the router other than just using the soft reset option on the router hardware, and even when you want to set a new APN you will need to sign in to the router’s admin account with the router’s IP address.
And without knowing the IP address to access your router admin page what we listed as part of the importance of the router will not be accomplished.
Here in this article, you will get to know how to find router IP address using different techniques that you wouldn’t know it’s even possible to follow to find the IP address of a router.
What is a Router IP Address?
You need to know what a router IP address is all about before you talk about how to access router settings on a phone or computer [Windows and Mac]. Even though you can access your router settings from your phone you will need to have the router’s IP address.
So, what is the router IP address and why is it so important that all routers have IP addresses?
An IP address is an ACRONYM for Internal Protocol address which is unique and contain numbers to identify devices on the network. So, this IP address allows a network to know which device is connecting to or through them.
And of course, there are two types of IP Addresses for routers. These are:
- Public IP address
- Private IP address.
Public IP Address
A public IP address is the type of IP address that users get from internet service providers [ISP] such as AT&T, Airtel, MTN, and many other internet service providers in your region.
Private IP Address
A private IP address on the other hand is the type of IP that allow smart devices, internet-enabled devices, streaming devices, smartphones, computer, and many more to communicate with each other over a private network.
The private IP address can be likened to an encrypted IP address where you can only communicate privately.
So, for a private IP address to connect to a public IP address an external device that will cover the bridge such as a modem is needed to enable a private IP address device to connect to a public IP address.
Static Vs Dynamic IP Address
Just like the way we have a private IP address and public IP address we also have a static IP address and dynamic IP address. Even though most Router IP address is static IP address that doesn’t mean that a router’s IP address cannot be dynamic.
However, a static and dynamic IP address is explained in detail below
Static IP Address
A static IP address is a type of IP address that remains the same over time no matter want. And this is the type of IP address most routers use. However, a router has the power to transmit an IP address from static to dynamic such as the IP address router uses on a modem, it is mostly static but the router can change it from static to dynamic.
Dynamic IP Address
A dynamic IP address is a temporary IP address that changes over time and mostly these are the type of IP address the ISP provides. And of course, if your dynamic IP address is not in use for quite some days it can be assigned to a new user and you would have to take up a new IP address, unlike a static IP address that is assigned permanently to you.
How to Find Router IP Address on Windows
There are various methods that can be used to find a router IP address as it all depends on the knowledge you gather on how to find your router’s IP address.
Therefore, here we will discuss all the possible methods that can be used to find a router IP address that will benefit you.
You can however find your Router IP address on the following devices using the techniques that we will share with you here.
- Find router IP address on Windows using command
- You can find your router IP address via the Control Panel
How to Find Router IP Address on Windows using Command
The steps here require using a command prompt on your Windows via the command prompt [cmd] to display your router IP address. And here we will quickly take a look at how to achieve that on your Windows.
- Press and hold the “Windows” key and “X” simultaneously
- Select “Windows Terminal” from the pop-up.
- Click on the drop menu beside the “Windows PowerShell.”
- Select “Command Prompt.”
- Type “ipconfig” without the quotes click on the “Enter” button on your Windows keyboard.
- Scroll down until you see “Default Gateway.”
Then your Router IP address should be contained right in front of the default gateway. With this, you can use the command prompt to find the IP address of your router once you are connected to the router on your Windows 10/11.
How to Find Router IP Address via Control Panel
Alternatively, you can find your router IP address on your Windows computer via the Windows control panel.
- Go to your Windows Control Panel. You can do this by searching for “Control Panel” using your computer search box.
- Click “View network status and tasks” under “Network and Internet.
- Select the option to “view network status and tasks” under the “Network and Sharing centre.”
- Click on “WiFi” with the name of the router you connected and a pop up will appear instantly.
- Under the “WiFi Status” click on “Details…”
- And now the router IP address will popup in the default gateway just under the IPv4 DCHP server.
There you go. Although the point where you choose WiFi might be Ethernet if you are connected to the router using the cable.
How to Find your Router IP Address on Mac
Just like the Windows OS, there are two methods that can be used to find your router IP address via WiFi or Ethernet on a Mac computer. Therefore, here in this part of the guide, we will discuss how to find router IP address on Mac using both methods.
- How to Find Router IP Address with System Preferences on Mac
- How to Find Router IP Address with the Terminal App on your Mac
And here we will walk you through the steps to take to find your WiFi or router IP address via your Mac computer system preferences and terminal app.
How to Find Router IP Address on Mac via System Preferences
Quickly through your Mac system preferences, you can find the router or WiFi IP address your computer is connected to.
- Click on the “Apple Menu.”
- Choose “System Preferences.”
- Find and select “Network.”
- Find WiFi in the left panel and select it when you find it.
- Click on “Advanced” to the bottom right.
- Click on “TCP/IP” on the WiFi navigation.
- Locate “Router” under “Subnet Mask”
This is made possible only when the IPv6 is set to automatic when enabled to nake the Mac computer fetch the connected router or WiFi or Ethernet IP address automatically.
How to Find Router IP Address on Mac using Terminal App
Just like what we did on Windows using the device command prompt to find our router IP address we can do the same on Mac using the Mac terminal app.
- Open your Mac computer “Terminal App.”You can do this in this direction. Open your Mac “Application folder” >> Utilities folder >> Terminale App.”
- Type this Mac command without the quotes “netstat -nr|grep default”
- Just look for “Default” and the router IP address you should be right in front of it.
How to Log into your Router IP Address
Now that you already know the IP address of your Router. How then can you log in or sign in to your admin dashboard?
- Type the router IP address you got following the techniques in this guide into your browser and click on the “Enter” button.
- Enter your router username and password.
- If the router username and password are still default you can use admin for both.
- And in case you ran into the site isn’t secure just hit the advanced tab and choose the option to proceed to unsafe site.
That is all you need to know about how to find Router IP address and log into your router admin page.
How to Change Router Password
Most router password is defaulted to admin which you can decide to change or leave. However, should you decide to change your Router password below are the steps to take to accomplish this?
- Sign in to your Router admin dashboard via the IP address as discussed above.
- Click on “Settings” >>Wireless >>WLAN Settings.”
- Set the “Security Mode” to WPA2-PSK.
- Type your new security password into the password column.
- Click on the “Save” tab.
If you have a comment on how you can find your router IP address on Windows or Mac kindly leave a comment below.