NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
ORBI Router password
I have an extremely strong password on my Orbi network, likely unhackable. Does that protect my router as well as my network? Therefor, how important is my route password?
Daru wrote:I have an extremely strong password on my Orbi network, likely unhackable. Does that protect my router as well as my network? Therefor, how important is my route password?
"Important" is a loaded word. You are correct that an extremely strong WiFi password will make it unlikely that someone will connect to your WiFi without you telling them the correct password. (It is also unlikely that anyone will try in the first place, unless your Orbi is installed at someplace with "secrets to protect.")
Anyone with physical access to the Orbi router or satellite can plug in an ethernet connection and totally bypass the WiFi security. So, leaving the Orbi with a "dumb" administrative password is not a good idea. ("password" anyone?) However, how likely is it that someone will gain physical access to the Orbi? (and, have malicious intent to go along with their access?)
So, while I think a super complex password is not "IMPORTANT", one might want to consider maintaining decent computer practices across the board and not slip into a habit of "not considering risk" when a password is required. 8-10 characters is plenty. (Mine is 22!)
"It is also unlikely that anyone will try in the first place"
No, very likely. A person who writes code for one of the biggies hacked me. I Had computer problems for a long time. They ended a couple weeks ago with a new, long, random character password. If my router is not protected by my WiFi password, it won't be long before he'll be in it again. But physical access is impossivble.
I agree. 22 random is strong. My SSID is several times longer... So I think I'll be okay with 8-1 intrernally.
You'll be fine.
Oh, my goodness. That's just tacky. My guess is you are now "reasonably secure". The risk, it appears, is not from someone attempting to directly log in, but in someone capturing the encrypted password and then using software to crack it.
Allowing for 70 possible characters in a random password (lower case, upper case, digits, and some special characters), my 22 character password has 3.9 e+40 possible combinations. Even at several thousand attempts per second, it will take years to crack.
I remember when we used to leave the keys in the car and went on vacation and left the house unlocked. (I'm old, and from Oklahoma.) The world is now a very scary place.
