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Unable to update my WiFi network password

Following the instructions in a 2012 Apple post about chnging them, I have tried 3 times and the new ones don't take. I keep having to use the old password to maintain a WiFi connection. What am I doing wrong? There doesn't seem to be any ' check, just an 'OK' which I do every time.save'

iMac 21.5", macOS 10.14

Posted on May 12, 2020 7:50 AM

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Posted on May 12, 2020 9:30 AM

All of that is correct, but the first task is to consult your Netgear equipment documentation to determine how to change the password it uses for the wireless network it creates. Start here: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/R6700V3


Change that password—and then provide it on your Mac, when connecting to that wireless network. Those instructions are here: How to connect to the Internet with your Mac - Apple Support.


It's also quite important to change your Netgear router's user name or password to something other than "Admin". The router device can and should be secured with a unique password—different than your wireless network password—and only you should know what it is. Leaving it set to defaults makes your wireless network a hacker's paradise. That's a disturbingly common oversight.

13 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 12, 2020 9:30 AM in response to bob.m

All of that is correct, but the first task is to consult your Netgear equipment documentation to determine how to change the password it uses for the wireless network it creates. Start here: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/R6700V3


Change that password—and then provide it on your Mac, when connecting to that wireless network. Those instructions are here: How to connect to the Internet with your Mac - Apple Support.


It's also quite important to change your Netgear router's user name or password to something other than "Admin". The router device can and should be secured with a unique password—different than your wireless network password—and only you should know what it is. Leaving it set to defaults makes your wireless network a hacker's paradise. That's a disturbingly common oversight.

May 12, 2020 8:20 AM in response to bob.m

I keep having to use the old password to maintain a WiFi connection.


That tells me you did not change your router's password. That change needs to be accomplished in your router. Consult its documentation.


After changing that password, you will need to provide that new password the first time you attempt to connect to that router with your Mac (or any other device).

May 12, 2020 9:01 AM in response to John Galt

Thanks for your quick response yet it leaves me a bit confused, since I realize I'm less technically apt than I sometimes think I am. When I googled "How to change my WiFi Network password" the first thing that came up was the Apple post (dated 2012 as in 'old') instructing me to to my Network in Preferences/advanced/ then delete (-) the network I ant to change, hit + sign , find Network and give it new PW--all within the Network System Preferences. And I gather from your reply that is wrong--perhaps it was the old way-- and that the change is done entirely on my router, a Netgear AC1750 model. And then I must ask, since I have to different Netgear logins in my PW List, one I call Netgear: routerlogin.net with Admin as the username, and another as my Netgear acct. I presume it would be the former.

May 12, 2020 6:23 PM in response to John Galt

What John says is exactly what u need to do but just one thing, connect with an ethernet cable to your mac and the router or get the ip address of the router and connect via your browser. For example

http://192.168.1.1 (common ip addres for routers) maybe you have luck and the netgear credentials are admin / admin.

Le us know and give it a try!

Unable to update my WiFi network password

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