Where to look for Wi-Fi password. Recovering your router password

The wireless Wi-Fi network works within a few meters, and residents of apartment buildings in most cases protect it with a password to avoid third-party connections. If you leave the network unprotected, there is a high risk that neighbors or other strangers will eventually connect to it and be able to use the Internet for free by downloading various information. Because of this, the Internet speed for receiving and transmitting data will decrease, which is undesirable.

By limiting access to a Wi-Fi network with a password, there is a high risk that it will be forgotten in a few weeks, months or years. If necessary, connect new computer, phone, tablet or other device, the question will arise how to find out the password for your Wi-Fi, so as not to reset the router settings and not set up a wireless network from scratch. This can be done quite simply in the operating interface Windows systems or in the settings of the router itself.

How to find out the password for your Wi-Fi in your computer settings

The computer is able to remember the Wi-Fi network and work with it for a long time without having to re-enter the password. As soon as the wireless network is in the access zone, the PC will immediately begin to connect to it, minus the password entry procedure. Accordingly, the password for the Wi-Fi network is stored on the computer and can be found if necessary.

To find out the password for your Wi-Fi in your computer settings, you will need to do the following:

In this way you can find out the password for the Wi-Fi network to which the computer is connected, on any version operating system older than Windows 7.

How to find out the Wi-Fi password in the router settings

Another way to determine the Wi-Fi password is to look at it directly in the settings of the router itself. Since there are several thousand router models on the market, depending on installed firmware The instructions on how to view the password for a secure connection will be slightly different. In general, everywhere you need to go to the security settings of the router and find out the entered password in the corresponding item.

Here are general instructions on how to find out the Wi-Fi password in the router settings:

It is worth noting that if you have forgotten your Wi-Fi password and cannot remember it, and there is no device connected to the router, you need to completely reboot the router. On the router case you will need to find a Reset button, which can be pressed without extra effort or using a needle/pin. Press it for a few seconds, after which the parameters in the router will be reset and you will need to reconfigure the Wi-Fi network, accordingly, you will be able to set the password again.

Today we will consider the simplest situation that every user may encounter. Let's say you decide to connect to wireless communication at home new smartphone, but you forgot your Wi-Fi password. Is it possible to somehow find out without resorting to ? It can be done and it’s not that difficult at all!

What to do if you forgot your Wi-Fi password?

If a device, say a laptop, is already connected to the wireless connection, you need to pay attention to the system tray on the desktop. In it you will find the connection icon icon. Hover your cursor over it and click on the right mouse button. A menu will appear in which you need to click on “Network and Sharing Center” shared access».

You will see a page for viewing basic information about the network. Pay attention to the menu on the left side of the window - one of the items is called “Manage wireless networks”. Click on it.

Another window will open. In it you will see a list of the networks that you have used or are currently using. You need to select the network that is currently in use. Right-click on it and a menu will appear. In the menu, click "Properties" as shown in the screenshot.

The properties window for the wireless network you just selected will open. Go to the "Security" tab. There will be several points here. Check the box next to the words “Display entered characters” and your Wi-Fi password will be displayed in the “Network security key” line.

You can use it to connect other devices to your wireless network.

Using the router interface

The above method does not always work. For example, if the router is connected to a computer and you distribute the Internet only to mobile devices. Therefore, using the above instructions will not work. It’s much easier to see the password there.

You will need to find out the address to log into the router interface, login and password. The IP address is usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1, the login is admin, but the password depends on the router model. Additionally, the password can be changed, so you will need to know it to log into the interface. By the way, the same information is duplicated on the back of the router:

After you enter the router interface, find the section that is responsible for Wi-Fi. Here, find the WPA Shared Key or “Encryption Key” type item. Next to this item you will see a password. If it is hidden under asterisks, then check the box next to “Show password”.

As you can see, nothing complicated. But in order not to resort to such searches in the future, it is better to write down the Wi-Fi password in a diary or on a piece of paper.

If you have forgotten your network pass and because of this you cannot connect other devices to it, and you do not have access to your computer, our instructions on how to view the WiFi password on Android will help you.

With their help, you can find out all the necessary information, having only a smartphone or tablet with you. Android control OS.

Method 1: Browse using the file system

Most quick way To find out a code word is to look at it using the system of a mobile gadget.

Please note that this method can only be performed if the smartphone was previously connected to a specific router.

Android works on the same principle as Unix systems. The basis for constructing all system functions are individual configuration indicators, which contain the necessary operating system settings.

All of them are also stored in certain configuration options. Any user whose phone has root rights can view them.

In OS versions without superuser rights, users will not be able to view system configurations. Follow the instructions:

• Go to Explorer. It is recommended to use Total File Commander or ES File Explorer, since these programs are able to display all types of data that are in the device’s memory;
• In the main Explorer window, select “Phone built-in memory” (not SD card);
• Go to the directory data/misc/wifi/;
• In the folder that opens, find wpa_supplicant.conf. In more earlier versions On Android OS, it may have names consisting only of numbers, so just open several objects with the .CONF extension until you find a document with the desired content.

Open the found file. Its contents will appear in the console as follows:

The file contains the network name and all the parameters necessary for the connection.

The “PSK” line indicates the password value. In this case, the code word for connecting to Wi-Fi network WLAN_P6 will be "abcdoorioo".

It will contain the parameters for all routers ever connected to the phone.

Method 2: Using a Browser

This method does not require superuser rights on the smart device.

To complete the task, you only need a browser and a connection to the global network.

This method is similar to how you can view Wi-Fi data on a regular computer.

Follow the instructions:

• Connect to the router you want to access;
• Now open your browser. We recommend using Chrome, Opera or Firefox. These browsers are able to easily display all the features of the settings window of different Wi-Fi models;
• In the address bar, enter the local host address 127.0.0.1 or 127.0.0.0. Various models can use any of two addresses, so enter them one by one until the authorization window appears in the browser (terms “login” and “password”);
• Enter login– admin and password– admin. If the login data pair does not match, look at the required value on the bottom panel of the router and try again;
• After successful authorization in the browser, the settings window will open. Go to the “Security” tab. There you can view the key and change it.

Please note that settings opened in the browser will help you change the existing key and a number of other router settings only using a smartphone or tablet.

Method 3: Using third-party programs

View configuration individual networks can be done using third party programs.

They allow you not to search system files on one's own. All the necessary information about it will be presented in the application and conveniently presented in the form of a table.

WiFi Key Recovery is one such utility. The main window of the application displays information about the name of the smartphone manufacturer and the exact time last update configuration files.

The utility opens information about Wi-Fi automatically. The user can search for a specific connection using the search text field.

Just enter your name required network, so that it rises to the first place in the list of connections.

Each connection is divided into separate blocks, each of which has the following parameters:

• SSID– the name of the previously used router;
• PSK– the required password string;
• KEY MGMT– the name of the type of encryption that is used in a particular network.

Viewing the Wi-Fi key on Android will allow you to quickly find out information for logging into the router’s network.

This way, you can connect other gadgets without using a computer to view the key.

Thematic videos:

As many as five ways to find passwords from wireless networks, to which you once connected.

This method is suitable for your personal router or any other one to which you have physical access. Most modern routers have a unique default network name and password. They are usually printed on a label with serial number and other service information or on a special sticker.

All you have to do is get to the router and carefully examine its back side. If there is nothing there, try looking at the instructions or Googling the router model. You'll probably find what you're looking for.

2. Find out the password from Windows network settings

If you are (or have ever been) connected to the network through Windows, then it will kindly tell you forgotten password. Depending on the Windows versions The names of the menu items may differ, but the meaning is approximately the same.

You need to go to the “Network and Sharing Center” and get to the list of wireless networks. Then open the properties of the desired network and look at the password in the “Network security key” field, not forgetting to check the “Display entered characters” checkbox.

With Mac it's exactly the same. OS X stores the password for every network you've ever connected to, and of course you can see it.

This is done in the “Keychain”, where all your passwords are stored. We launch it through Spotlight or from the “Programs” folder and select the “System” section in the sidebar on the left. Next, find the desired network in the list and click on the “i” button in the panel below. We check the box next to “Show password” and after entering the administrator password we see our Wi-Fi password.

4. Find the password in the router’s web interface

If you have access to the web interface, you can view the router password there. To do this, go to the address 192.168.0.1 (or 192.168.1.1) in your browser and enter your username and password. The menu structure for each manufacturer is different, but the point is to find the Wireless Network section, which has a Security item with protection options. It contains our key, that is, the wireless network password.

The menu we need looks something like this. The password is hidden by default, and to display it you need to click on the Display password button or something like that.

5. Reset your password and set a new one

Nothing can stand against brute force. If the password cannot be obtained, then you need to hack it, that is, reset it. This method is only suitable if you need a password for your home router, but will work on absolutely any router, since each of them has physical button reset. The only negative is that if your provider uses specific connection settings, you will have to configure it again.

So, we take the router out of the closet, from the mezzanine - or wherever it is hidden there - and carefully look at the part of it where the ports and control buttons are located. Look for a small hole with Reset written next to it. This is the reset button. You need to press it with a paperclip or a needle and hold it for a few seconds (if that doesn’t help, then press reset and, without releasing the button, turn off the router for 30 seconds, and then, continuing to hold the button, turn it on and release it after 30 seconds). After this, the router settings will be reset to standard and you can find out the password using one of the methods described above.

Many people have found themselves in a situation where they need Wi-Fi and their smartphone or laptop catches many networks with a good signal, but each network has a password. Of course, we can say that connecting to someone else’s network against the will of the owner is ugly. But what if connecting to the Internet is a matter of life and death? For such cases, there are several working options for bypassing the protection:

• brute force;
• changing mac address;
• hacking programs;
• android applications;
• traffic interception.

Brute force is a banal selection of all possible combinations of characters that a password can consist of. This is perhaps the simplest method that you can think of, since it does not require special knowledge or complex software. But, on the other hand, the complexity of the method lies in the fact that it is quite tedious and the process can take a very long time if the owner has set a fairly complex password.

Automatic selection of combinations

It is not necessary to carry out this operation manually. There are quite a lot of programs that automatically select combinations sequentially. It's much faster and easier for the user. But it is worth keeping in mind that finding a suitable combination can take quite a long time, even if you use special software. A simple password like qwertyui can be cracked in less than a minute, but decrypting /#7&//.’ will take a very long time.

WiFi Crack

One of the programs for automatic selection passwords - WiFi Crack. It is very easy to use.

1. Download the program from any site that distributes similar software.
2. We launch the file and see a simple interface in front of us.

   

3. At the top in the “Refresh” line, select the network that needs to be hacked and activate the program by clicking the “Scan for Access points” button.

   

4. We wait for the network scanning process to complete, click on the active button, in our case “ Wi-Fi WPA", with a list of found networks.

   

5. In the “Select Target Access Point” section, click on the desired network.

   

6. At the bottom of the window, click on the “Browse” button to select a file with a dictionary of possible passwords.

   

   

   The note! Most likely, the program will require you to connect a dictionary, which it will use to select passwords. Typically, dictionaries are included with the program.

7. Having configured the parameters, press the “Wi-Fi Attack” button and wait for the process to complete.

   

8. The end result of the program will be an inscription with a password under the line “Finished” at the very bottom of the window.

   

9. We return to the program interface and click on the “Key Database” button.

   

10. In the open window you will see connection information, including the Wi-Fi password.

    

The note! On average, the program takes 30-90 minutes to crack a password. Since users rarely install really complex passwords, most can be hacked in half an hour. But there are also passwords that can take years to crack. So not every network can be hacked.

Changing Mac address

Passwords are not always used as protection for Wi-Fi. Quite often, users use a filter based on mac addresses. From the device, this network will be detected as open and does not require a password. But connecting to it will not work, since our mac address does not pass filtering. So, the only way out is to change the mac address of the device to a suitable one. But how to do that?

If you have completed these three steps, connecting to your network without a password becomes impossible. More precisely, you can connect, but it will take so much time and energy that any hacker will very quickly understand that the game is not worth the candle.

There are many ways to hack someone else's Wi-Fi. But all of them are aimed at users who have not taken care of connection security.

Video - How to hack your neighbor's Wi-Fi password in 5 minutes