The most important aspect of your router — except for the connection that supplies power to the device — is its Web configuration screen. This is the heart, brain, and soul of your router. It’s the place where you go to set up all sorts of important options, including your router’s wireless networking and security settings, port forwarding for your software apps that need special access to the Internet, and all the special control options that allow you to dictate who/what accesses your network and when.
To access your router’s configuration screen, you need to type your device’s IP address — for D-Link routers, this is most often found within your device’s manual or printed on the underside of the router — into your Web browser’s address bar. That’s it. Easy-peasy.
Depending on the router model, you might also be able to use the device’s NetBIOS name instead of an IP address. In this case, just typing a URL like http://dlinkrouter into your browser’s address bar is all you need to connect up to the Web configuration password prompt. Again, you can find this name printed in your router’s manual or on its underside if your device supports such a feature.
But suppose your router is tough to get to and the last time you saw the manual was when you were throwing it in the recycling bin? Or perhaps you’ve already tried typing the IP address into your browser’s address bar and nothing happened. Never fear, I’ve got a solution.
In this case, access your Windows Command Prompt. In the Start menu, click on Accessories and then on Command Prompt and then type ipconfig into the black window that opens up. The black window will then be populated with information similar to the picture below:
Scroll up to the top of the screen and start looking for the first adapter that’s populated with three fields: An IP address, a subnet mask, and a default gateway. The gateway is the device that connects your system to the Internet — your router — and the IP address you’re looking at is your router’s identifier. You can now type this number into your browser’s address bar to access the device’s Web configuration screen. And from there, you have access to the entire vault: Every possible configuration option that allows you to tweak your security, connectivity, and all sorts of other important options for maintaining an awesome home network.
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