Q: I’d like to change the password on our wireless router-modem, a Zyxel Communications Corp. model PK5001Z. How can I do that?

Dennis Crowe, Plymouth

 

A: There are two answers, depending on whether you want to change the modem’s access settings (administrator name and password), or its Wi-Fi settings (network name, also called SSID, and password.)

To do either, go to the modem’s web address by typing 192.168.0.1 in a browser (this works for certain brands, including yours). Close any error message. Type the “administrator username” and “administrator password” printed on the bottom label of the modem. Click “login.”

To change the modem’s access settings, choose the heading called “advanced setup.” In the resulting list, look under the “security” heading and click “administrator password.”

Under the heading “set the administrator username and password state” check “enable.” Then enter the new “administrator username” and “administrator password” that you want to use.

Write down the new username and password and save them, because without them you can’t change anything on the modem later. (You can choose whether to check “hide password,” which will make your password appear as a collection of dots when you type it in.)

Click “apply” to save your changes.

To change the Wi-Fi settings, choose “wireless setup” rather than “advanced setup.” In the resulting list, look under “basic settings” and click “wireless security.”

Under “select the SSID (network name),” change the default name to whatever you’d like it to be.

This is the name that will appear when anyone in your neighborhood looks at a list of nearby Wi-Fi networks.

Don’t change the settings for “select security type” (it should say “WPA-WPA2-Personal”) and “select encryption type” (it should say “Both”).

Under “enter security key/passphrase,” check “use custom security key/passphrase.” Type in the password that you would like to use; it will become the password you type in to access your Wi-Fi network from your wireless devices. Click “apply”

Note that any computers or smartphones that have stored your existing Wi-Fi password won’t be able to connect to your network once the new password is set. But after you use those devices to log in with the new password, they’ll remember it.

 

Q: How can I can retrieve my FlipShare videos?

Mary Goldstein, Minnetonka

 

A: The videos you took with your Flip video camera and uploaded to the online FlipShare service are no longer available.

The Flip camera was made obsolete by cellphones that could take videos, which first appeared in the United States in 2009.

As part of ending production of the Flip camera, its manufacturer announced in mid-2011 (see tinyurl.com/y6uvk2jj) that customers had 30 days to download their existing FlipShare videos or lose them. The FlipShare service ended in 2013. However, you should check to see if copies of those Flip videos were also stored on your computer.

 

E-mail tech questions to steve.j.alexander@gmail.com. Include name, city and telephone number.