Penny says, “Help, my router has been hijacked!”
My system has been hacked via the Linksys router, and I’d like to know if you folks can fix that and set me up more securely so it won’t happen again. Talked to Linksys Tech Support today, and they offer a “never-get-hacked-again” for $99. Right now I can’t get into the 198.168.1.1 page because the culprit has changed my password on me! grrr! Thank you guys!
Our answer
I have never heard of anything like this and it sounds like some kind of support scam. Are you certain you were on with a rep from Linksys? They don’t offer anything like this as it is not even possible and/or necessary of a service. All you have to do is set up your router with WPA pass; Linksys gives free support on their routers when you purchase them, or if it is an older one, you can still access FAQ from their site an easily set up WPA password.
I am guessing you may have contacted the fake company at this site: http://www.linksyssupport247.com/ (People: DO NOT CLICK THAT). They are not part of Linksys, and they have no association or affiliation with them. I typed in Linksys support and this is the first thing that came up; so be careful when doing searches as there are a lot of crooks out there. This is a scam.
Not to be too complicated, WPA is just a way to set your security on your router, and is basically a longer pass/encryption and all routers offer the option to set up WPA security.
Here is the Linksys support and warranty info: http://support.linksys.com/en-us/linksyswarranty
If this is an older Linksys, the free support period would be over.
(Penny wrote back) “Thank you so much Darcy! You’re right, I got into the wrong page! They need a patent on their Linksys name! The Real McCoy will help me for $29.97. You’re an angel! Can’t thank you enough! 😉 😉
So far, all routers that I have owned (Linksys/Cisco, Netgear) have a factory reset button which also resets the user name and password back to the factory default. And if you forget the factory defaults, you can go to the manufacturers website and get everything you need for logging back into your router and setting it back up. Just be sure to use at least WPA encryption and a good password.
The factory default for Linksys is to leave the user name blank and use “admin” for the password.