One of the most popular pages on Technically Easy is the post titled Securing Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router. In that post I outlined the steps needed to secure these particular wireless broadband routers.
The one problem I didn’t mention is how to reset the router back to the factory defaults. You may need to do this if you forget your router’s password or made a mistake and you can’t connect to the router. In this post I’ll outline two methods you can follow to reset your Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G router.
Reset Button
Note:
Resetting the router to the factory defaults will delete any changes you have made to the router, including any security settings. This should be used as a last resort.
The first method involves simply pressing a button located on the back of the router. The image below (courtesy of Linksys) shows where the button is located.
Linksys WRT54G Reset Button Location
To reset your router, use the following steps:
- Press the reset button for 30 seconds.
- Open up your Web browser and enter “192.168.1.1″ in the address bar.
- For the login, leave a blank ID and enter “admin” as the password.
The settings should now be returned to the factory default settings, meaning any changes you had made would be deleted.
The router has now been reset. Follow the steps in Securing Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router to secure your router.
Through the Web Administration Pages
The second method involves logging into the Web administration pages of the router. Use the following steps to reset the router using this method:
- Open your Web browser and enter the IP address of your router. By default, the address is “192.168.1.1″.
- Enter your user ID And password when prompted. Hopefully this has been changed, but if it hasn’t, the default is no ID and “admin” as the password.
- At the top of the Web page, click “Administration” and then “Factory Defaults”.
- Beside “Restore Factory Defaults”, click “Yes”.
- Now click the “Save Settings” button at the bottom of the Web page.
Your WRT54G wireless router should now be reset to the factory defaults. Ensure you follow the steps outlined in Securing Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router to secure your router.
Summary
This post has provided two methods you can use to reset your Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G router. If you are having problems with your router, try resetting the router to the factory defaults, and then make the changes again and see if the router starts working again.
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I have a Linksys Wireless-G WRT54GS!
Great! I made it to the admin pages, are there any particular setting that I need to set in order for my PC to recognize my router? Because I just plugged my modem into my router and it my laptop didn’t show any wireless networks.
There shouldn’t be anything you need to do to detect your wireless network. Some laptops can turn off the wireless adapter with a switch, and if your laptop has such a switch, ensure that it is turned on. Another thing you can try is restarting your laptop to see if it picks up your network after the reboot.
Okay, my laptop has the switch & it is on. So I’m going to reboot my laptop and PRAY that this works! I REALLY appreciate your help. I’m now able to get the admin pages, which I wasn’t able to do before, so I really do appreciate it
Okay so I rebooted my laptop, and when I connected the router the my modem again it shows my router under the available wireless networks but beside it; it says: “The settings saved on this computer for the network do not match the requirements of the network” with a red X beside it. So I’m unable to connect to it.
Paul, I got it! Thanks so much for your help. And thank God I finally got everything working correctly
You’re awesome.
Glad to hear you got it working.
Can you put the modem on through a laptop, for a example, plug it in through a cord, and then make it wireless, but the default control computer. Would that be able to work? Cause I’m working on trying to reset my router and changing it so the controls can be on my laptop.
- Thanks
You can connect and control your router from any computer that you connect to it.
I reset my router and now can’t access the http://192.168.1.1 site and my router is not detected anymore. I get this message: “The settings saved on this computer for the network do not match the requirements of the network” with a red X beside it. So I’m unable to connect to it.
What should I do?
Did you re-secure the router? Once you reset it, the passphrase you entered previously will no longer work. It looks like your router isn’t expecting a passphrase (because of the reset), but you are supplying on when you attempt to connect to the router. The best solution is once you reset the router, connect to the router using a network cable instead of wirelessly.
hey paul, i tried following your router resetting instructions, but the wireless connection still does not work. i have a laptop next to me, and it can find our network name, but it still is not able to connect to it… and another thing is that, i reset the router for 30 secs, and tried going on the IP adress online…. but also, that did not come either. please help!!
What message are you getting back when you attempt to your network name? Are you prompted to enter a passphrase to connect?
After you reset the router, what is the address of your router? You can find out how to find out the address of your router using this post: How to Get the IP Address of Your Router.
When putting your router on, cause you set it up from a Laptop? or does it need to be connected by cord?
You can connect to any wireless router without the ethernet cable. It may be easier to configure the router with a cable, though, as some settings will disconnect your computer if it connected wirelessly to the router.
I have a Linksys WRT54GS v.4 and it has always worked great.
The only thing about it now though, even though I can go through it, and use the wireless portion of it to connect to the Internet, etc., I can’t connect to it directly to change any of the settings like I used to be able to do.
I can’t even get the return to factory defaults to work, as when I press the reset button for 30 seconds or more, nothing happens, and I tried other methods that I read about also, can’t remember what they were now though, but even pressing on the button on the front of it, for the secure easy setup does nothing.
I used to connect to it and I could even view other wireless networks with it because I flashed it some time ago with OpenWrt software, and I tried accessing the WRT54GS both with Windows and with Linux.
Anyway I can’t connect to it and trying a reset to factory defaults won’t work, maybe because it had been flashed with OpenWrt.
It still works fine, and I am using it right now, it’s just that I can’t connect to it to change settings, can’t view other wireless networks, or use any of the OpenWRT features and can’t do any factory resets either, but mainly if I could connect to it, then I could use it, but no luck connecting directly to it.
I am using the WRT54GS with a set of 7Dbi Gain Linksys antennas by the way.
Have a Great Day,
Bernard
I have thought about using other firmware besides the Linksys default firmware, but I haven’t switched because of the problem you have identified. Maybe when I get a new router, I’ll play around with this router just to see what I can do with it.
Thanks…Yes, I went to the OpenWRT site and clicked on the forum button, but my system gave me the message,
“This Connection is Untrusted
You have asked Firefox to connect
securely to forum.openwrt.org, but we can’t confirm that your connection is secure.
Normally, when you try to connect securely,
sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are
going to the right place. However, this site’s identity can’t be verified.
What Should I Do?
If you usually connect to
this site without problems, this error could mean that someone is
trying to impersonate the site, and you shouldn’t continue.
Technical Details
forum.openwrt.org uses an invalid security certificate.
The certificate is not trusted because the issuer certificate is unknown.
(Error code: sec_error_unknown_issuer)
I Understand the Risks
If you understand what’s going on, you
can tell Firefox to start trusting this site’s identification.
Even if you trust the site, this error could mean that someone is
tampering with your connection.
Don’t add an exception unless
you know there’s a good reason why this site doesn’t use trusted identification.”
So I don’t know if I should allow the exception or not, but I am thinking of allowing it, as I was using the OpenWRT software, or should I say firmware(LOL), and it worked fine, just one day I could no longer connect directly to it.
So I don’t know if the DHCP servers are causing a problem, as the DHCP server function or feature in the Linksys router was turned on I think, and my DSL Cable-Modem that allows me to connect to the Internet also has a DHCP server in it, and I even tried turning that off, thinking that maybe it was giving my computer a different IP address than the usual one for the Linksys, but that results in the DSL Cable-Modem giving the Cable-Modem a static IP address, and it didn’t seem to have an affect on connecting to the Linksys.
I wonder if the DHCP server got turned off in the Linksys somehow, and whether the Linksys router has ended up getting a different IP address from the DHCP server in the cable-modem.
Anyway, the reset button won’t reset the router, and when pressing it, even for a couple of minutes, the router’s lights stay lit Green, plus the usual light on the front of the router is off all the time now and nothing happens when I press it, which used to start flashing and I think that I got a message telling me to turn on my device, or something like that, but that light stays off, so I suppose that maybe it’s with the OpenWRT firmware.
I used to be able to connect to it though, whether I used Windows or Linux, and used to be able to see other wireless clients with it, but now I can’t connect to it.
I suppose that I could just use the wireless in the DSL cable-Modem, but I have that turned off, as that is only 54Mbps, probably half-duplex, as it only has one short antenna, and the Linksys is full duplex and 100Mbps, plus I had replaced the two shorter antennas with 7Dbi Gain Linksys ones, so I’d kind of like to use the wireless in the Linksys router instead of the wireless in the DSL cable-modem.
I also have a Roku M1000, upgraded to M1001, Soundbridge, which can be used either by Ethernet connections, or wireless, and I use that mainly to listen to the almost 19Gbs of music I have on the hard drive, connecting the Soundbridge to the stereo in the living room, whereas the computer is in the bedroom, or I may even connect them to a portable that I take outside, so I use the wireless in the Linksys. I sometimes listen to Internet radio stations using the Roku Soundbridge through the wireless in the Linksys.
I am getting by though, and it’s not real important that I connect to it directly, as I am able to use it as it is, just that I can’t change any settings, and can’t view the other wireless clients anymore.
Anyway don’t worry about it…thanks anyway….Have a Great Day…
Bernard
When I try putting in the default password, nothing happens. It takes me back to the login screen… SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!
If you are using Windows, try accessing the administrative pages using Internet Explorer.
I have been using Internet Explorer. I tried to reset my wireless router again and now when I put in the IP address it takes me to a page that says “Management Mode Firmware Upgrade” and is asking me to browse for a file name. Any ideas?
Have you upgraded your firmware recently? If not, try holding the reset button for 30 seconds to see if that fixes the problem. If you are still having problems, you can download the latest firmware from the Linksys WRT54G web site. Click on the Downloads link and then select your model number.