What Is My Router IP Address and How Do I Find It?

Your router's LAN IP address is whatever your device reports as the default gateway. On Windows, open Command Prompt and run ipconfig — the "Default Gateway" line is your router's address. On a Mac, it appears under System Settings > Network. Most home routers use 192.168.1.1, 192.168.0.1, or 10.0.0.1, but the gateway address shown on your own device is always the authoritative answer — never assume the factory default is still in use.

Two different addresses people call "the router IP"

The phrase "router IP" is used for two different things. Knowing which one you need prevents wasted time.

1. LAN gateway IP — the address the router holds on your home network (for example, 192.168.1.1). This is what you type into a browser to open the admin panel. It always falls inside one of the three private IPv4 ranges defined in RFC 1918: 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, or 192.168.0.0/16.
2. WAN (public) IP — the address your ISP assigns to the router's internet-facing port. This is what websites and remote servers see when traffic leaves your network. It appears on the router's Status or WAN settings page.

This article covers both, starting with the LAN gateway since that is what most people need to reach the admin panel.

Finding the router IP on Windows

The fastest method is the ipconfig command, available on every version of Windows.

1. Press Win + R, type cmd, and press Enter to open Command Prompt.
2. At the prompt, run:

Look through the output for the section matching your active connection — "Wi-Fi" or "Wireless LAN adapter" for wireless, "Ethernet adapter" for wired. The Default Gateway line in that section is your router's LAN IP.

If multiple adapters appear, focus on the one without "Media disconnected" in the status and whose IP falls in a private range. VPN clients frequently add a virtual interface with its own gateway — use the physical adapter's gateway to access the router admin panel, not the VPN tunnel's gateway.

GUI path on Windows 11: Settings > Network & Internet > [Wi-Fi or Ethernet] > Hardware properties. On Windows 10: Settings > Network & Internet > Status > View your network properties. The gateway appears in the properties list without needing a command prompt.

Finding the router IP on macOS

Terminal

Replace Wi-Fi with Ethernet for a wired connection. The output includes a "Router:" line with the IP address. Or query the routing table directly:

The gateway IP appears in the second column on the default route line.

System Settings (GUI)

1. Open System Settings on macOS Ventura and later, or System Preferences on earlier versions.
2. Click Network.
3. Select your active connection on the left.
4. Click Details on Ventura and later, or Advanced > TCP/IP on older macOS.
5. The Router field shows the gateway IP.

Finding the router IP on Linux

The address after "via" is your gateway. A typical output line looks like:

On distributions that still include net-tools, route -n works too — read the Gateway column in the row with destination 0.0.0.0. On systems running systemd-resolved (Ubuntu 18.04+, Fedora, recent Debian), resolvectl status shows per-interface DNS resolvers, but for the gateway IP itself, ip route is the definitive command.

Finding the router IP on iPhone and iPad

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Wi-Fi.
3. Tap the (i) info button next to your connected network name.
4. Scroll to the Router field. iOS labels this "Router," not "Gateway."

This field is read-only in the iOS interface. It reflects the gateway address the router's DHCP server sent when the device joined the network.

Finding the router IP on Android

Android's settings menu varies by manufacturer more than any other platform. The general path on stock Android and Pixel devices:

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to Network & internet on stock Android, or Connections on Samsung devices.
3. Tap Wi-Fi, then tap your network name or the gear icon next to it.
4. Look for a Gateway field under network details or an Advanced section.

On some Android builds the gateway field only appears when you switch IP settings from DHCP to Static — note the value and cancel without saving. If the setting is buried or absent, install Termux (available from F-Droid or Google Play) and run ip route at the terminal. Same command as Linux.

Check the label on the router

Every consumer router ships with a sticker on the back or bottom listing the default admin IP or URL, the default Wi-Fi credentials, and the default admin username and password. Common factory gateway addresses include 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1, 192.168.2.1, 192.168.1.254, and 10.0.0.1.

Canadian ISP-supplied gateways from providers such as Shaw, Telus, Bell, and Rogers commonly default to 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1, 192.168.2.1, or 192.168.1.254 depending on the hardware model — but confirm on the device rather than guessing, since technicians sometimes change the LAN subnet during installation.

Some brands use a local hostname instead of a bare IP. These hostnames only resolve when you are connected to that router's network:

• TP-Link: tplinkwifi.net or tplinkmodem.net
• Netgear: routerlogin.net
• ASUS: asusrouter.com
• Linksys: linksyssmartwifi.com
• Xiaomi Mi: miwifi.com
• Orbi: orbilogin.com

If the LAN IP was changed after setup, the label reflects only the factory default. Use the device commands above to find the current address.

Logging into the router admin panel

Once you have the gateway IP, open a browser and type it directly into the address bar — for example, 192.168.1.1 — with no "www." prefix. If the router's admin UI runs over HTTPS, the browser will show a certificate warning. This is expected because the router uses a self-signed certificate; proceed past it.

Enter the admin username and password. If you have not changed them, check the router's label. If the page never loads, work through these checks in order:

• Confirm you are not connected to a VPN that routes all traffic off the local network.
• Try the IP in an incognito or private browser window to rule out a cached redirect.
• Try appending port 8080 or 8443 — some routers move the admin UI to a non-standard port. Example: 192.168.1.1:8080.
• Try a wired ethernet connection. Some ISP-supplied gateways restrict admin access to wired ports only.

Your router's public (WAN) IP address

The WAN IP is what the rest of the internet sees when traffic leaves your home. To find it, open the router admin panel and look for a Status, WAN, or Internet page. From a terminal on any device on the network:

Most residential plans use a dynamic WAN IP that changes periodically. If you need it to stay consistent for port forwarding or remote access, ask your ISP for a static IP, or configure a Dynamic DNS (DDNS) service that keeps a hostname pointed at your current IP automatically.

Carrier-grade NAT: when the WAN IP shows 100.64.x.x

If the WAN IP shown in the admin panel falls in the 100.64.0.0 to 100.127.255.255 range, your ISP is using carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT) — you share a public IP address with other customers. Inbound port forwarding does not work under CGNAT because there is no path for an external request to reach your specific connection. Options: ask the ISP for a dedicated public IP (often a paid upgrade), or use an outbound VPN or tunnel that provides a fixed public endpoint. CGNAT is common with mobile broadband providers and some smaller residential ISPs.

Common problems and misdiagnoses

Default gateway shows 169.254.x.x

A 169.254.x.x address is APIPA — the device assigned itself an address because DHCP failed and no lease was obtained from the router. The gateway field will be blank or also show 169.254.x.x. Troubleshoot in this order:

1. Check physical connectivity — reseat the ethernet cable or reconnect to Wi-Fi.
2. Restart the router, wait 60 seconds, then reconnect the device.
3. On Windows, run ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew at an elevated Command Prompt.
4. On Linux, run sudo dhclient -r then sudo dhclient.
5. Log into the router admin panel from another device and check the DHCP client list. If the address pool is exhausted, increase the pool size or shorten the lease time to free stale addresses.

Admin panel will not load despite the correct IP

• ISP gateways sometimes restrict admin access to wired ports only — try ethernet.
• Open an incognito browser window; a cached redirect in the regular browser can block access.
• Try port 8080 or 8443 appended to the IP address.
• If the router was recently factory-reset, the LAN IP reverted to the default printed on the label.

Two gateways appear in the routing table

This happens when two network interfaces are active simultaneously — ethernet and Wi-Fi connected at the same time, or a VPN client adding a virtual adapter. The OS routes traffic through the interface with the lowest metric. Use the physical adapter's gateway to reach the router admin panel. Disconnect the VPN temporarily if you cannot tell which gateway belongs to which interface.

Verifying DNS resolution from the command line

After reviewing the router's DNS settings in the admin panel, confirm the router is forwarding queries correctly by querying it directly with dig:

Replace 192.168.1.1 with your actual gateway IP. A valid ANSWER section in the output confirms the router is resolving or forwarding DNS correctly. A timeout or SERVFAIL response means DNS forwarding is broken — open the admin panel, find the WAN DNS settings, and replace the upstream resolver with a known-working address such as 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8. On Windows, nslookup works without any additional install:

To confirm the fix worked: after any DNS settings change, flush the local DNS cache and re-run the query. On Windows: ipconfig /flushdns. On macOS: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache && sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder. On Linux with systemd-resolved: sudo resolvectl flush-caches. Then repeat the dig or nslookup and verify a valid response returns.

Change the default admin password

While you are in the admin panel, change the default admin password if you have not already done so. Default router credentials are publicly documented for every major model and are actively targeted by malware that scans local networks. The setting is usually under Administration, Advanced, or System — look for an "Admin Password" or "Router Login" field. Use a password that is unique to the router and not shared with any other account.

Also verify that remote management is disabled. The option is typically labeled "Remote Management" or "Remote Access" under the Administration section. Most consumer routers ship with it off, but ISP-configured gateways sometimes have it enabled. Disable it unless you specifically need admin access from outside your home network.

2026 notes: IPv6, encrypted DNS, and DNSSEC

IPv6 default gateway

On networks with IPv6 active, your device has an IPv6 default gateway alongside the IPv4 one. It looks like fe80::1%eth0 — a link-local address starting with fe80. View it with:

On Windows, ipconfig /all shows both IPv4 and IPv6 gateways. Consumer router admin panels are still accessed via the IPv4 gateway address in virtually all current firmware — the IPv6 link-local gateway matters for OS-level routing, not for browser access to the admin UI.

DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS on the router

Router firmware released from 2024 onward from ASUS, TP-Link, and Netgear increasingly supports DoH and DoT in the WAN DNS configuration. Enabling either option encrypts DNS queries between the router and its upstream resolver, preventing ISP-level DNS inspection for every device on the network without requiring per-device configuration. Look for "DNS over TLS," "Secure DNS," or "Encrypted DNS" in the WAN or DNS section of the admin panel. Both Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) and Google (8.8.8.8) support these protocols as upstream targets.

DNSSEC

Consumer router firmware varies in whether it passes DNSSEC extension records intact or silently strips them. If you suspect the router is breaking DNSSEC validation, test by pointing a single device directly at 1.1.1.1 and bypassing the router's DNS forwarder entirely. If resolution works from that device but not through the router, the router's DNS relay is the problem — check for a DNSSEC or "DNS Relay" toggle in the admin panel's DNS settings.

OpenWrt and DD-WRT

Third-party firmware does not change how you find the gateway from a client device — ip route and ipconfig work exactly the same way. The OpenWrt admin UI (LuCI) typically runs at 192.168.1.1; DD-WRT uses its own interface, also defaulting to 192.168.1.1. If you have lost track of the current LAN IP after customization, SSH into the router and run:

On OpenWrt, the LAN IP is stored in /etc/config/network and is readable even when the web UI is inaccessible — useful for recovery without a factory reset.