How To Access Your Router’s Parental Controls

Many modern routers have an app that you can download, making them much more user-friendly and their settings easier to access. Typically, when your router has an app, you just need to go into it and tap on the settings options — in this case, the feature will usually be labeled as parental controls. It’s worth noting that not all routers have parental controls built-in; sadly, there’s not much you can do about that outside of buying a new router. If your budget doesn’t allow for that, you can try to enable parental control options individually for all of your devices instead. Most devices have robust parental control options, such as the iPhone and iPad, both of which pack Apple’s Screen Time app that features parental control and content restriction options.

For more traditional or older routers (and sometimes even modern routers), you’ll need to enter the router’s IP address in your web browser in order to access its settings. That IP address varies by the router model but can typically be found on the router itself or its original box; it’s usually a variation of 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1, or 10.0.0.1. From there, you’ll need to provide your username and password. Those should also be printed on your router somewhere, but the info may instead be on the box it came with. Most routers’ default username is “admin” and the password is typically either “admin” or “password” — though, in some cases, the password is blank and you can simply hit the Enter key after entering the default username. Of course, for security’s sake, we recommend you change the password from its default setting once you’ve logged in.