Hi! I have an R8500 that I've been using for some time. I've changed the web admin username and password some time ago as well. Today I wanted to try out the more advanced parental controls which apparently require installing the genie app somewhere since they don't seem to be embedded in to the webUI. So after installing, it wants me to login to the router. It doesn't seem to use the WebUI login/password since "admin" is hardcoded. I've tried every password I've ever used anywhere with no luck as well as password and admin and no luck there either. I'm curious .. is there a way to modify what is likely the telnet/console password via the WebUI since that seems to be the only method I can get in to this thing at the moment? The alternative, of course, is to do a reset and hope that cures it. But I have a ton of customizations in this router beyond wifi ... DHCP reservations, port forwarding, etc that I would hate to lose. And yes, I could make a configuration backup, but that might bring the password with it .. right? So then I'm back to square 1. Any advice you have would be great! THANKS!

zonearc wrote:Hi! I have an R8500 that I've been using for some time. I've changed the web admin username and password some time ago as well. You cannot change the username for the browser interface to get into your router. At least, not with the official firmware. It is "hard-wired", which is a serious complaint for some people. You can change the details for wifi access. Maybe that is what you did. If you can access the router with the browser interface, maybe you can change the password there. See page 102 in the manual, which is somewhere at the end of this link: >>> R8500 | Product | Support | NETGEAR <<< You can also backup the settings for recovery after a factory reset.

Let's clarify a few things. There's a router login & password used for telnet access to the device. There's a web access login & password used when browsing to your router. There's also applications that Netgear provides, such as Genie, that can be installed on mobile devices and Windows PCs that will configure the router for you and provide access to advanced features. The last one, the Genie applications, have a hard coded username/login of "Admin". You cannot change it in the application (greyed out). In my application, the web username has been changed. When I setup the router the first time using their official application, it prompted me to change the admin username for security purposes. It's a horribly long, complex, randomy mashup of letters and numbers. My hope is that the login the app is using is *not* in fact the web-interfaces username (at which point the application doesn't work because you can't change what it uses!), and it instead uses the routers Admin account. If that's the case, then my next challenge is ... to determine either what the router's admin account password is, OR to change it through the Web Interface somehow since I *do* have access to that. Does that make sense?

zonearc wrote:In my application, the web username has been changed. And which app is that? zonearc wrote:The last one, the Genie applications, have a hard coded username/login of "Admin". You cannot change it in the application (greyed out). It is not the genie apps – even the browser interface also calls itself "genie" – that set the admin username. It is the device itself. The browser interface is also fixed on that username, much to the annoyance of those who would like greater security. You may well have some other app that gets you into the device and demands a different username, but you don't say what that is, so it is hard to know what is going on. zonearc wrote: Does that make sense? Not really. (See above.) From all the stuff I have read here, apart from your application, whatever that is, every other way of getting onto the router is stuck with Admin.

There is a setup CD that comes with the router. When I used that CD initially to setup the router, it had an application that would seek out the router via wireless and then configure it for first use (unnecessary of course, but I thought it was cool and would try it). It created a different username other than "Admin" for the webui. The username is $1$mXSmT1Ly$KKln/O06uKlgJO7iAJrud0 Since I have done that, I cannot use "Admin" to login using the web interface, I have to use the login name above. Now, if I want to use the Genie app on my desktop to configure OpenDNS/Parental Controls, the "admin" name is hardcoded. I suspect thats why it doesn't work since my username is different? Or, maybe web usernames are different than router admin logon names? Is that possible? If not, how do I proceed?

And, maybe we can simplify this discussion, as I may be making assumptions. If I install the Genie app on my Windows desktop and want to use it to change settings on the NetGear Nighthawk R8500 I have ... how do I determine what the login/password is I have to type in to the application? The only login/password combo I have is the logon/password that I use for the web interface which is $1$mXSmT1Ly$KKln/O06uKlgJO7iAJrud0 & a password I set. I cannot enter that in Genie since the logon field is greyed out. If I use my password it fails. If I use Admin/password (which is documented in the R8500 documentation as the default), it fails. How should I proceed?

Nighthawk Admin and password for Genie app?

14 Replies

michaelkenward
Guru - Experienced User
Sep 14, 2017
zonearc wrote:
Hi! I have an R8500 that I've been using for some time. I've changed the web admin username and password some time ago as well.

You cannot change the username for the browser interface to get into your router. At least, not with the official firmware. It is "hard-wired", which is a serious complaint for some people.

You can change the details for wifi access. Maybe that is what you did.

If you can access the router with the browser interface, maybe you can change the password there.

See page 102 in the manual, which is somewhere at the end of this link:

>>> R8500 | Product | Support | NETGEAR <<<

You can also backup the settings for recovery after a factory reset.
- zonearc
  Aspirant
  Sep 14, 2017
  Let's clarify a few things.
  
  There's a router login & password used for telnet access to the device.
  
  There's a web access login & password used when browsing to your router.
  
  There's also applications that Netgear provides, such as Genie, that can be installed on mobile devices and Windows PCs that will configure the router for you and provide access to advanced features.
  
  The last one, the Genie applications, have a hard coded username/login of "Admin". You cannot change it in the application (greyed out).
  
  In my application, the web username has been changed. When I setup the router the first time using their official application, it prompted me to change the admin username for security purposes. It's a horribly long, complex, randomy mashup of letters and numbers.
  
  My hope is that the login the app is using is *not* in fact the web-interfaces username (at which point the application doesn't work because you can't change what it uses!), and it instead uses the routers Admin account. If that's the case, then my next challenge is ... to determine either what the router's admin account password is, OR to change it through the Web Interface somehow since I *do* have access to that.
  
  Does that make sense?
  - michaelkenward
    Guru - Experienced User
    Sep 14, 2017
    zonearc wrote:
    In my application, the web username has been changed.
    
    And which app is that?
    
    zonearc wrote:
    The last one, the Genie applications, have a hard coded username/login of "Admin". You cannot change it in the application (greyed out).
    
    It is not the genie apps – even the browser interface also calls itself "genie" – that set the admin username. It is the device itself. The browser interface is also fixed on that username, much to the annoyance of those who would like greater security.
    
    You may well have some other app that gets you into the device and demands a different username, but you don't say what that is, so it is hard to know what is going on.
    
    zonearc wrote:
    
    Does that make sense?
    
    Not really. (See above.) From all the stuff I have read here, apart from your application, whatever that is, every other way of getting onto the router is stuck with Admin.

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Nighthawk Admin and password for Genie app?