Motorola Default Router Passwords

Motorola sold cable modems, the SURFboard line and consumer routers before the home division went to ARRIS. The Motorola records here run across the VT- line.

The admin page on most Motorola units answers at http://192.168.0.1. If that address does not load, the router is whatever your computer lists as its default gateway — ipconfig on Windows or ipconfig getoption en0 router on a Mac will tell you.

SURFboard cable modems present a status page on 192.168.100.1 whether or not the router half is in use.

admin is the username on 5 of the 12 entries. 2 of them ask for no username at all. 2 of them shipped with no password at all.

Where one is set, motorola comes up most often, on 5 entries. 9 of them are reached over a protocol that puts the password on the wire in clear text, so work from a machine on the same wired network rather than across the internet, and change the password once you are in.

There is a recessed reset button on the back or underneath that needs a straightened paperclip. Hold it in for thirty seconds with the unit powered on. Let go when the lights change pattern, and give it a couple of minutes to come back up.

A reset clears more than the password. The Wi-Fi name and key go back to what is printed on the label, port forwards and firewall rules are discarded, and any static addressing is lost. Photograph the settings pages first — it takes two minutes and saves an evening.