How to change your Wi-Fi password (and name) without locking everyone out
Direct answer first: log in to the router's admin page from a connected device, open the wireless settings, replace the password in the network key field, and apply. On a NETGEAR that is routerlogin.net, then Wireless, then the Password (Network Key) field. On a TP-Link it is tplinkwifi.net, then the wireless settings page for your model. Two minutes, done — and then every device in the house is offline, the printer is sulking, and the smart plugs are dark. The edit was never the job. The job is deciding the name question before you start, reconnecting in an order that keeps you in control, and verifying afterwards that the change actually shut the door you meant to shut.
Two official paths, side by side
| Step | NETGEAR (official path) | TP-Link (official paths) |
|---|---|---|
| Open the admin page | Browser to www.routerlogin.net from a connected device | Browser to tplinkwifi.net, or use the Tether app |
| Log in | User name admin; the password is the one set at first login — case-sensitive | The admin password created for the router; first login asks you to create one |
| Find the fields | Select Wireless (Nighthawk Pro Gaming: Settings, then Wireless Setup) | Wi-Fi, then Main Network on newer models; Advanced, then Wireless, then Wireless Settings on others; in Tether: More, then Wi-Fi Settings |
| Edit | Name (SSID) field for the name; Password (Network Key) field for the password | SSID and Password fields on the wireless page; the password is case-sensitive |
| Apply | Click Apply | Save — a device connected by Wi-Fi is disconnected and must reconnect with the new credentials |
Two things worth knowing before either path. First, the Wi-Fi password is not the admin password: NETGEAR's support article separates them explicitly — the admin password logs you in to the settings, the Wi-Fi password joins devices to the network, and changing one does not change the other. Second, the defaults you are replacing are not secret: a new router's default network name and password are printed on a sticker on the router itself, which is the whole reason this change matters.
Mesh systems that are managed only from a phone app follow the same shape inside the app, so if your router has no working web admin, look for the Wi-Fi settings inside the app that set the system up.
Decide the name question before you touch the password
Keep the same name, change only the password. Every device still recognises the network and asks for the new password; you rejoin each one by hand. This is the gentle option, and the right one when the change is routine hygiene. Its weakness: a device that already knows the new password — or a person you hand it to — is back on, and nothing forces a clean accounting of what is connected.
Change the name as well. The old network simply stops existing. Nothing rejoins automatically, including anything you had forgotten was connected — a borrowed laptop, an old phone in a drawer, a neighbour who was once given the password in its old name. This is the option when the point of the change is to evict, not just to refresh. Its cost is real: every smart plug, camera, and printer must be set up against the new name from scratch, some of them with ladders involved.
Either way, use the same name on every band. Apple's router guidance recommends one network name across all the bands a router supports, so devices connect reliably to the band that suits them instead of stranding on a separately named one.
The change procedure, in order
- Write the new password down before changing it — on paper, stored where the household keeps such things. The device you are working from is about to disconnect itself; a password that exists only in your head, typed once into a settings field, is a lockout looking for somewhere to happen.
- Do the edit from a wired device if you can, or accept that a Wi-Fi device drops the moment you apply. Log in using the path for your brand from the table above.
- While the admin page is open, check the security mode. Apple's recommended settings are WPA3 Personal, or WPA2/WPA3 Transitional when older devices need the compatibility mode — with a strong password either way. If the router is still offering WEP or the original WPA, this visit is when that gets fixed; a strong password on a weak mode is a locked door with a cardboard frame.
- Enter the new name (if renaming) and the new password, then apply. On a dual-band router with separately named bands, make the same change on each band you intend to keep.
- Reconnect in a deliberate order. First the device you administer from, then phones and computers, then the television and consoles, and the fixed smart-home devices last — they are the fiddly ones, and everything learned from the easy devices applies. On any device that loops or refuses the new password, forget the network in its Wi-Fi settings and join fresh: Apple notes that after a settings change a device may need to forget the network so it rejoins with the new settings rather than its stored ones.
- Rejoin the printer and the awkward devices last of all, using their own setup wizards and the written-down password. Budget the time for this step when you choose a quiet moment for the change, not five minutes before a call.
Verify: the old password fails and the device list is yours
What success looks like: pick one device, forget the network on it, and try to join with the old password — it must be rejected. Then join with the new one. Next, open the router's connected-devices list and account for every entry by name; an entry nobody can identify, after a rename, means something rejoined that should not have been given the new details. Finish by loading a page on two different devices on two different bands. Two minutes of verification is what separates “the password was changed” from “the network is now closed to the old one”.
And if the admin login itself is lost — the Wi-Fi password gone and the settings password gone with it — TP-Link's guidance names the fallback plainly: a factory reset restores the label defaults, and it erases every custom setting including the internet connection configuration, so the router is set up from the beginning again. That is a last resort with a real cost, which is why step 1 of the procedure is a piece of paper.
FAQ
Does changing the Wi-Fi password change the admin password too? No. They are separate credentials — the admin password opens the router's settings, the Wi-Fi password joins devices to the network — and NETGEAR's support article treats them as different changes on different pages. Change both if both are still at their defaults.
Will devices reconnect on their own afterwards? No. TP-Link states it directly for its own save flow: a device connected by Wi-Fi is disconnected when the change is saved and must reconnect using the new credentials. Plan the reconnect as part of the job, device by device, and nothing gets forgotten in a ceiling corner.
General information about home networking, not professional IT advice. Router menus vary by model; check the manual for the exact settings paths on a specific device.
— Dex Carter, Tech Writer