Fixing the "Remote Administration is on" problem (TP-LINK / Archer C9)

Note: If you cannot fix the problem after you follow these instructions, maybe we can help. Get help from RouterCheck Support.

---

---

Understanding the "Remote Administration is on" problem

Remote Administration is a convenience feature that router vendors provide to facilitate managing your router remotely. Normally, you can access the administration features of the router (such as changing the WiFi password) only from computers that are in the home and connected to the network. The Remote Administration feature enables any computer on the Internet that knows the administrator password to perform administrator functions.

Initially, Remote Administration sounds dangerous, so it's worth considering why anyone would want to enable it. Many people enable it if they're helping a friend or family member set up their computer systems, especially if that friend lives far away. Remote Administration enables someone to fix problems with a friend's router without needing to be at the friend's home. Other people enable Remote Administration so that they can access their router's functions while they're away from home -- for example, at work or on vacation.

However, your good intentions for enabling Remote Administration are certainly far outweighed by the real dangers. Only the router's administrator password stops a hacker from breaking into your network. A trivial password will not stop anyone and even a good password may not stop a determined hacker. That's because hackers can easily use automated tools which can guess thousands of passwords a minute, and very few routers do anything to stop someone from guessing.

What is the risk of not fixing this problem?

Enabling Remote Administration on your router is definitely dangerous. Once you do this, hackers can and will find you, and they will try to break into your router. If you insist on using this feature, then you must use a very strong password. If hackers do attempt to break in, they know all the default passwords as well as the most common ones that people use.

Vendor Documentation

Often, it's a good idea to look through the router's documentation to learn how to fix problems. Go to the vendor's support site where you can download documentation.

---

How to fix the "Remote Administration is on" problem

Step 1: Log into your router

You use a web browser to interact with your router and fix its configuration problems. However, before you can interact with your browser, you must log into it. RouterCheck can give you detailed instructions for logging in to your router.

Step 2: If you log in successfully, your router's home page opens.

Step 3: Navigate to the Administrator page.

Find the page with the administrator settings. The page name may be similar to:

• Administrator
• Administration
• Administrator Settings

Navigate to this page by clicking the appropriate menu items and buttons.

Step 4: If you are successful, your router's Administrator page opens.

Step 5: Turn off remote administration

Look for a check box that enables you to turn off remote administration. This check box may be called something such as:

• Remote Administration
• Administer router from the WAN
• Enable Web Access from WAN

Ensure you leave the check box in a state so that remote administration is off.

Step 6: Re-run RouterCheck.

Now that you've fixed your problem, run RouterCheck again to verify that you have really fixed the problem.