192.168.1.1 After changing the WiFi password, your home gets disconnected? Don’t reconfigure each device first. Each of the four types of equipment has its own rescue methods.

192.168.1.1 Comparison of rescue methods for four types of devices that lose connection after changing the WiFi password

I did a stupid thing on May Day this year. I thought the WiFi password was too weak, so I checked in at ten o'clock one night 192.168.1.1 In the background, I changed the password to a new one and clicked Save. At that moment, more than 20 devices in my home went offline. It's easy to use on mobile phones, laptops, and TVs. It only takes two minutes to re-enter the password. What really tricked me until midnight was the living room camera, the doorbell, the sweeping robot and the row of smart light bulbs - they would not pop up a box for you to enter a new password, but would foolishly connect to the old password. If they couldn't connect, they would go offline and the app would all turn gray.

That day, I went from station to station and reconfigured the network until 12:30. I complained to a friend the next day, and he woke me up with one sentence.: More than half of the devices do not need to be reconfigured at all, so my work was in vain. Later, I changed the password for my mother-in-law's family again. The whole process took 40 minutes and the work was over. Most of the equipment that was offline had not been reset. This article will break down the issue of "My home was disconnected after I changed my password.": Each of the four types of equipment has its own temperament, and the rescue methods are completely different. If the order is wrong, it will take an extra two hours.

Let’s figure one thing out first: What the device remembers is the name and password, not the router itself.

Many novices think that the device and the router are "tied" together, and they have to start over once the password is changed. In fact, every time the device connects to WiFi, what it does is knock on the door with the combination of "WiFi name + password". The name has not changed but the password has changed. When I knock on the door, I don’t get the code and I am turned away. The name has changed, the password has not changed, and I still can't connect. Therefore, the action of changing the password is the same as "changing WiFi" in the eyes of the device. It cannot tell that you just changed the password.

This explains two things. The first is why it is enough to re-enter the password after the phone is disconnected. The phone knows which name to connect and only lacks a new password. The second reason is why smart devices are so miserable - for devices without screens such as cameras and doorbells, the only way to enter the password is to go through the network configuration process in the App. They have no way of knowing the new password. I later checked the device details in the Mijia App and saw that the offline camera displayed "Connection timeout". In fact, it kept trying again and again with the old password. If it failed, it remained gray, especially the axis.

By the way, before changing the password, think about whether you want to change the WiFi name as well. My suggestion is not to change them all at once, but only move one variable at a time so that problems can be easily investigated. Changing the name and password at the same time is equivalent to giving two questions to all the devices in the house at the same time. When checking, you can't tell which one has the wrong password and which one has the wrong name. I wrote an article before Rules for changing WiFi name , it is matched with this article, you can take a look before making changes.

Category 1: For mobile phones, computers and tablets, just re-enter the password and you’re done. Don’t make simple things complicated.

Mobile phones and computers are the easiest to worry about after changing passwords. After disconnecting, click on the WiFi name, fill in the new password in the password box that pops up, connect and call it a day. Let me talk about the three pitfalls in advance.: First, some Android models will automatically use the old password to connect repeatedly when the old password is still cached. You will see that it keeps connecting but cannot connect. At this time, don't wait, manually click "Forget this network" and then reconnect. It will be done once. Second, dual-band routers often have two WiFi names: 2.4G and 5G. If you only change the password of one of them, you don’t need to reconnect to the other one. This happened to my mother-in-law’s family. She shouted, “Why is the iPad okay?” In fact, the iPad was connected to 5G, and she changed the password to 2.4G. In the background, dual-band is a matter of two setting boxes. I Changed settings don’t take effect There were five pitfalls written in that article, and dual-band only changed half of them and ranked first.

Third, after entering the new password, the Apple device occasionally "goes around in circles for a long time." Don't think that it is not connected and then enter it again. Just wait. It does certificate verification in the background. What you have to do is to take a look at the WiFi icon after entering the password. If it is confirmed, don’t bother anymore. If Windows makes a mistake on the computer, it will prompt "Unable to connect to the network." It's not that the network card is broken, just forget it and try again. I've seen people reinstall the network card driver for this, just to scare themselves.

What you really need to pay attention to is the mobile phone of the elderly at home. The automatic reconnection logic of the elderly model is old. After changing the password, there is no one to help him enter it, and he does not know how to enter it. The result is that "the network at home is broken" and calls you. When I went to my mother-in-law's house, she messed with the WiFi list on her phone, connected to the neighbor's WiFi, and told me that "the Internet speed has slowed down." When changing the password for an elderly person, you should either have someone in front of you or take him with you step by step on the phone. Don't leave after changing the password.

Category 2: Most TVs and TV boxes do not need to be reconfigured. Cut off the power first before making any conclusions.

Equipment such as TVs and boxes are what my friend calls “the worst hit area of wasted work.” The night I changed my password for the first time, the Xiaomi TV in the living room also fell off. My first reaction was to go into the TV settings and delete the WiFi and reconnect. In fact, not at all. The TV system also stores "name + password", but when many TVs cannot connect, they will pop up the password input box. You can just fill in the new password. There is no need to delete the network or rescan. I deleted it first and then connected it that night. I took two extra steps in vain and also deleted the other WiFi memorized on the TV.

A more trouble-free trick is to cut off the power and restart it. When the TV and box are powered off for 30 seconds and then powered on again, it will connect with the old password once during the boot process, but it cannot be connected. Some models will automatically enter the state of reconfiguring the network and directly pop up the password box. This trick is especially useful when you don’t have a remote control to find the settings - scrolling through the settings menu "Network Settings → Wireless Network → Select Network". The old man couldn’t explain it clearly on the phone at home, so asking him to unplug and plug it in again got it right in one step. and Devices collectively go offline after power outage The same idea in that article: Give the device a chance to recover on its own first, and don't change the configuration immediately.

IPTV set-top boxes are another species. It uses a dedicated line, not your home WiFi (unless you specifically connect it to wireless), and changing the password has nothing to do with it. That night I looked at the set-top box and studied for ten minutes why it didn't drop the line. Later I remembered that it was plugged in with a network cable. The way to judge is to see if there is a network cable from the back of the set-top box to the router or optical modem. If there is, don't worry about it.

Category III: Cameras, doorbells, sweepers, these really need to be reconfigured, but there is a labor-saving sequence.

Smart devices without screens are the real victims of password changes: Cameras, video doorbells, sweeping robots, and smart sockets are all connected to 2.4G. What they have in common is that they must go through the network distribution process, and there are no shortcuts. But with the right sequence and techniques, you can avoid many detours.

My order is: First the doorbell, then the camera, then the sweeper, and lastly the socket. The reason is very simple. The doorbell is installed at the door. You have to run over and press the reset button. Running back and forth is the most annoying thing if you can’t finish it at once. Concentrate on getting it right first. ； The camera is installed in a high place. Moving the ladder and moving the stool is a physical job. Put it second. ； The sweeper is on the charging stand and can be operated while squatting on the ground. Place a third ； The socket is not in a hurry. It will not perform scheduled tasks at most if it is offline for one night. This sequence was summed up by me until midnight. On the first night, I started with the sweeper. After finishing it, I found that the doorbell still had to go out. I pressed the reset button at the door for a long time, and a mosquito bit my leg.

There are three general points in the technique. First, before resetting these devices, confirm whether it is connected to 2.4G or 5G - most cameras and doorbells only recognize 2.4G. Changing the password on the 5G end has nothing to do with them. Don't mess around in the App for a long time and find out that this is not the case at all. Sweeper network distribution failed This was discussed in detail in that article. Second, before entering the network configuration process, connect the mobile phone to the 2.4G WiFi. The network configuration of many devices requires that the mobile phone and the device are in the same frequency band. When the mobile phone is connected to the 5G network configuration, eight out of ten times it will be stuck in "Connecting device". Third, if one device is successfully connected to the network, rename it and make a note in the App, such as "Living Room Camera - New Password". Otherwise, if any device loses contact later, you won't be able to tell which one belongs to which house when you look through the device list.

There is another lazy trick that works: Some devices support "batch migration" or have a "Network has changed, help me reconnect" entry in the App. Some Mijia and Tuya devices have similar functions. Before changing the password, look through the App to see if there is such a button. If you click it, you can save more than half of the reset. If not, just let the stage match you honestly. There is no universal way to do this.

Category 4: Most of the smart light bulb switches and speakers do not need to be reconfigured and can be restored by turning off the power and turning them on again.

Smart light bulbs, smart wall switches, and smart speakers are the main ones that my friends say “most of them don’t need to be reconfigured.” Their rescue methods are rough: Power off and on again. The principle is that many of these devices will save the network configuration status. After powering off and restarting, you can connect with the old password once. If unable to connect, they will enter the "waiting for network configuration" state. Some will issue hotspots on their own and wait for you to connect. But here's the key point - for quite a few light bulbs and switches, as long as the WiFi name on the router does not change, they will take a "quick reconnect" route after retrying for a period of time. You only need to re-trigger the network configuration in the App, select the same router and enter a new password, and the device does not need to be physically reset or removed.

As for the specific operation, my family’s process is: Turn the light switch off and on again (equal to a power outage), wait ten seconds, and click "Reconfigure Network" on the device in the App or follow the prompts. The light bulb will flash a few times to enter the network configuration state, fill in a new password in the App, and connect in 20 seconds. The entire process does not require unscrewing the bulb or touching the distribution box. I didn't know this on the first night, so I unscrewed and re-screwed the lightbulb in the entrance hall, and almost fell off the ladder. The next day, my friend told me that most of these devices did not require touching the hardware at all. I was so angry that I couldn't say anything. The speaker is even simpler, just plug it in and out, call it, and reconfigure it in the app, and it's done in five minutes.

There is a category of exceptions to be mentioned separately: Vintage Zigbee light bulbs and sub-devices. They are connected to the gateway, not WiFi. Changing the router password has nothing to do with them. At most, the gateway itself will go offline and the entire batch of sub-devices will be grayed out. The way to tell is to see if the device has an independent "gateway" hardware. After the gateway has been reconfigured, the dozens of sensor bulbs hanging underneath will all come back automatically without having to move them one by one. I'm here Lost connection after changing router I wrote about it once in that article. That time, forty devices were rescued by changing their WiFi names. The scenario of changing the password this time has the same idea.: Find the "center" first, and the center will do the rest of the work.

Spending two minutes before changing your password can save you a whole night of trouble

After two experiences, the third time I changed the password for a friend's house, I did four things first and zero reset in the whole process. List these four things and follow them next time you change your password.:

The first thing is to count the “screenless devices” in your home.」: Record the number of cameras, doorbells, sweepers, light bulbs, and sockets in the memo on your phone. After changing the password, check the list one by one. Don't guess from memory that "there seems to be another one."
The second thing is to change the password during the day. Don’t do it at ten o’clock in the middle of the night like I did. If the device loses contact and you want to move the ladder or go out and press the doorbell reset button, it will be inconvenient in the middle of the night. What you finish in half an hour during the day can be delayed until two o'clock in the middle of the night.
The third thing is to see if your router and App have functions such as "one-click migration". Xiaomi's Changkuailian and Tuya's network change wizard are both included. If so, your smart device will be almost imperceptible if you use this channel. Didn't give a second thought to manual.
The fourth thing is to set the password correctly. Don't use those with special symbols. Those symbols on the TV remote control and camera configuration page can kill people. 12 pure alphanumeric characters are enough for everyone. I am here. Does the password require special characters? It was settled in that article.

Finally, explain clearly the finishing sequence after changing the password.: First put the mobile phone (you must have the tools to connect to the Internet), then the old man's mobile phone (telephone remote control), then the TV box (power outage and restart the method), then the camera doorbell (leave a whole block of time in the hardest-hit areas), and lastly, the smart light bulb socket (they are the most durable and can be left on overnight). After completing each category, check it off on the memo. The third time I did this, it took a total of fifty minutes to change the password and finish at my friend's house, of which forty minutes were spent on two cameras and a doorbell, and the remaining equipment was returned at basically zero cost.

Changing the password itself is a five-minute job. You can see how to change it. Mobile phone connection 192.168.1.1 Change WiFi password That process. What really takes up time is the aftermath. By disassembling the aftermath according to the four categories of equipment and doing it in order, it will change from a "disaster scene" to a "routine". I no longer panic about changing the password on the router. The only thing I'm still a little worried about is that my mother-in-law called and said "the network is broken again" - it's probably not about the password, it's because she connected the neighbor's WiFi again.