How can I successfully change the CR1000A router PW?

[TPerk100]

Can't figure out what forum this should go in.

How can I successfully change the CR1000A router PW?

Are there password configuration requirements for the CR1000A Router? …like no special characters etc.? If so, what are they?

Under Advanced, System Settings, User Settings, using the PW Generator in Bitwarden PW Manager, I changed the PW from the factory default to a more complex one. I applied the changes, then logged out of the router.

Trying to log back in, the router would not accept the new password, NOR would it accept the factory PW. So I had to push factory re-set button on rear of router for 15 seconds. After the router came back up, it would not accept the factory default PW. Tried numerous times. Would not accept my “new” PW either. Not knowing what else to do, I factory re-set the router again. Now is does accept the factory PW.

However, copying and pasting the PW would not work! I had to enter the PW one character at a time. I had not tried this after the first re-set.

How can I successfully change the router PW?

Thanks

 

[tgl]

Quoting from the CR1000A user manual:

7.1b/ HOW DO I CHANGE THE PASSWORD ON MY VERIZON ROUTER UI?
To change the password:
1. On the main screen, select Advanced, then select Users in the Utilities section.
2. Click the Edit in the Action column. The User Settings page displays.
3. Edit the user name and set a new password.

Perhaps this is out of date (my CR1000A is offline so I can't check), but it doesn't square with what you said you did.

As for password contents ... dunno. I've been using a password that has letters and numbers, but no special characters. I wonder whether your super-duper password generator made something that was longer than the router likes.

 

[TPerk100]

Quoting from the CR1000A user manual:

7.1b/ HOW DO I CHANGE THE PASSWORD ON MY VERIZON ROUTER UI?
To change the password:
1. On the main screen, select Advanced, then select Users in the Utilities section.
2. Click the Edit in the Action column. The User Settings page displays.
3. Edit the user name and set a new password.

Perhaps this is out of date (my CR1000A is offline so I can't check), but it doesn't square with what you said you did.

As for password contents ... dunno. I've been using a password that has letters and numbers, but no special characters. I wonder whether your super-duper password generator made something that was longer than the router likes.

 

[TPerk100]

Tgl, thanks for your response.

I have the same user manual and instructions, and attempted to follow them, however they are indeed out of date. There is now no Utilities section under Advanced. Did a net search to find out that one has to use the procedure I described. User Settings is under Advanced, System, System Settings. See Attached Screenshots.

I have 45 devices that I have re-named. I had made some other changes also. Right before changing PW, I did a Router Settings Backup to a local file. I had to use this to restore my settings after the Factory Re-set. Am not too eager to Backup Settings again, and then change PW again until I am sure of what’s going on here.

Get this….Having to type Factory PW character by character was weird. I just now decided to “test” this again. I logged out of the Router, and tried to log back in with Bitwarden PW Manager. ( I have 894 PWs in manager and manager fills them in on 893 sites, as expected ). It would not accept the PW. So, I copied and pasted PW from PW manager and again it would not accept the PW. SO…………I typed the factory PW from PW manager in character by character and it worked!! What the heck is this about? Never heard of such a thing. I bet that if I had typed my “new” PW in, it would have taken it, but I did not think to try this. After the Re-set, I only tried typing factory PW in as a desperate last resort.

When I logged in, I selected, forgot exact words, but it was something like “Keep me Logged In.” So. for the last few days, if I close the browser, I can click my desktop shortcut for the router and it brings Chrome page for Router back up…logged in.

I don’t know how important it really is to change the factory PW. Maybe I will change PW again to something different but not very complex. I don’t want to stay logged in, but I don’t look forward to typing in a 15 character complex PW.

I put this very same post on the Verizon Community, and on another Router Forum 3 days ago. So far, I have received no response other than yours.
Thanks again.

 

[tgl]

Which web browser are you using, and have you tried others? I've seen won't-take-pasted-data occasionally with fields for credit card numbers, but not passwords (and I do copy-n-paste passwords a lot). Not sure about the CR1000A; don't think I've tried it there.

EDIT: I wonder too if clearing the browser's cache would help at all.

 

[TPerk100]

"I can click my desktop shortcut for the router and it brings Chrome page for Router back up…logged in."

I generally use Chrome browser. I just tried it with Edge and it behaved the same exact way. I regularly clear cache. Now what???

Thanks again.

 

[tgl]

Annoying. Apparently some UI designer at Verizon thinks he's improving security this way. You could try complaining but I'm sure this choice stems from a father-knows-best attitude that will cause them to ignore you.

The one good thing about it is that there's no strong reason to log into that router frequently; it doesn't track anything very useful statistics-wise AFAIR. I'd say pick a password that you can tolerate entering by hand, and live with it.

 

[TPerk100]

Annoying. Apparently some UI designer at Verizon thinks he's improving security this way. You could try complaining but I'm sure this choice stems from a father-knows-best attitude that will cause them to ignore you.

The one good thing about it is that there's no strong reason to log into that router frequently; it doesn't track anything very useful statistics-wise AFAIR. I'd say pick a password that you can tolerate entering by hand, and live with it.

10-4 on that.

BUT, the one reason I want to easily access the router frequently is to check for unknown devices, which I have had recently, on my Wi-Fi. It seems on this “new to me” router an unknown device is named just that….…an ”unknown device.” I want to check for them and other new Named Devices I do not recognize and then block them all until someone legitimate claims they cannot access Wi-Fi. Then I will know who owns it and what to name it, I will unblock it, and feel comfortable with it on my System. I realize I could just simply change WI-FI user PWs, but I have at least 45 devices, including 3 access points, that I would have to set up again. Not going there.

I’ve been trying Wi-Fi monitoring software to accomplish this, and other stuff too, in real time. I paid for a FING subscription that, among other things, automatically blocks and notifies me of new devices. But using it has constantly caused periodic serious degradation of Wi-Fi / Internet performance. I will probably try using it again with this new router, after I’ve had a few days of C: image backups completed, and see how it works. But if it still gives me problems, I will not use it. Then I will try another monitoring program OR I will want to log into the router at least once per week to check for new devices.

Any suggestions on how to accomplish this without having to log into the router?

Thanks again for your assistance.

 

[tgl]

TBH ... if you're the kind of person who wants that level of control and monitoring, I bet you're not going to be happy with the CR1000A for long. (No shade intended: I am, and I wasn't.) It's nice hardware, or at least the specs look good on paper, but the software is just really bare bones feature-wise. If I were you I'd be thinking about disabling the CR1000A's wifi and using something else. You mentioned having 3 other APs already --- what is that gear?

Also: I wouldn't get that excited about those "unknown devices". Sure, it's possible that one of your close neighbors has guessed your wifi password and decided to mooch off your internet bandwidth. But what is far more likely is that that's just evidence of devices changing their MAC addresses on a whim. Apple and other manufacturers have bought into this idea that randomly switching MAC addresses is good for privacy, and I've noticed my Apple gear doing it sometimes even though it's supposedly turned off.

 

[TPerk100]

FYI, The CR1000A is brand new and was FREE, and I am a cheapskate. Don’t really want to buy another device, but I might if other device provides wanted functionality. APs are Netgear.

I am not an expert on this stuff. Would another Wi-Fi device manager plug into a current router internet port? Would I have to ID and name my 45 devices again? Can you recommend a device for me to check out? Might be less costly to implement this one time cost device, compared to paying annual charges for software like Fing. Also, I doubt Verizon would give me phone tech support on it like they do with their CR1000A.

Yes, Apple and other devices randomly switch MACs. I require these users to sacrifice a very small amount of security to be on my Wi-Fi. That is, they must set the SSID they want to use in their Wi-Fi settings for a static MAC. It’s easy to do and has worked well in the past.

 

[tgl]

FYI, The CR1000A is brand new and was FREE, and I am a cheapskate.

Mine was free too

APs are Netgear.

I don't know Netgear's product line that well. Are these actually APs (without router functionality) or just consumer wifi routers? If they are SMB-style APs then there should be some way to manage them centrally. The central management thing is what you are looking for, so you don't have to poll all the APs to see what's connected.

I am not an expert on this stuff. Would another Wi-Fi device manager plug into a current router internet port? Would I have to ID and name my 45 devices again? Can you recommend a device for me to check out?

What I'm currently using (happily) is Ubiquiti UniFi APs. I've heard good things about Omada too but have no personal experience. You can settle in for a winter evening's reading about both product lines at Evan McCann's website. It's possible to spend a large amount of money on either system if you buy in hook, line, and sinker --- but I think all you want are 3 or so APs and some solution to control them. In the UniFi world the cheapest controller solution is to download the free "UniFi Network Server" app, which can be installed on your own Windows, macOS, or Linux box. Decent mid-line APs in the U6 series run $130-$200 each; you could buy just one and set it up and see how you like the system before expanding. (Note: I can't recommend anything in the U7 series yet ... they're still getting the bugs out, to judge by all the complaints at UI's community forum.)

Not sure about the "ID and name again" aspect. I doubt you will be able to extract that knowledge from the CR1000A in any useful fashion. You might not need to do much though. IME the UniFi controller software does an OK job of collecting whatever system names the individual wireless clients report; you'd only need to fix up the entries that aren't satisfactory.

Yes, Apple and other devices randomly switch MACs. I require these users to sacrifice a very small amount of security to be on my Wi-Fi. That is, they must set the SSID they want to use in their Wi-Fi settings for a static MAC. It’s easy to do and has worked well in the past.

I set that too, but what I've observed (especially in the last month or twos' round of system upgrades) is that the devices don't honor that totally consistently. Sometimes they'll show up with a MAC you don't recognize for a little while when rebooting, and the "static" random MAC also sometimes changes during software updates.

 

[TPerk100]

Yep...I have a little research / studying to do. Thanks much for your help. Will be getting back to you, hopefully soon.
Tom

 

[TPerk100]

I took a chance. I backed up settings and then changed PW to complex one , and now it works!...with typing it in. Go figure...
On monitoring Net, I am still using FING wth all its problems. Trying to work it out with them.
Thank you again for your assistance.