In this article, you will learn how to reset your TP-Link TL-WA500G back to factory settings. A router reset is a much bigger deal than a router reboot. Every time your router loses power it reboots. This is different from a reset because a reset completely erases all settings from the router.
Warning: Make sure that you fully understand the following before resetting your router. When you reset your router, the following will happen.
- The router's login and password are reset to factory defaults.
- Your WiFi login, password, and network name are reset.
- Your ISP username and password will be reset, and you may have to contact your ISP.
- Any firewall settings, parental controls, and port forwards that you have configured will be removed.
A router reset is the last step you should take in recovering your router's password. Make sure that you have tried to recover your router password using our Router Password Finder first.
Other TP-Link TL-WA500G Guides
Use a VPN Instead
Have you considered using a VPN instead of forwarding a port? For most users, a VPN is a much simpler and more secure choice than forwarding a port.
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- Check that your VPN will not affect your speed.
- Verify that your VPN provider uses WireGuard as the underlying protocol.
- Many people prefer a VPN provider that is not based in the United States.
This is the list of requirements that we used when we were shopping around for a VPN provider. There are lots of free, shady VPN providers out there that we looked at and dismissed.
Based in Panama, using diskless servers, and with over 6,100 servers in 61 countries, we can safely say that NordVPN satisfies all of these requirements.
Once you've set up your NordVPN account on multiple computers and enabled Meshnet, you can seamlessly access all of your devices as if they were on the same network. You don't even have to log in to your router. It's very simple.
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This is the reset router guide for the TP-Link TL-WA500G. We also have the following guides for the same router:
Recover Password in TP-Link TL-WA500G
Instead of resetting your router back to factory settings, you may want to try running our Router Password Finder first.
Router Password Finder can save you a ton of time by recovering your lost or forgotten router password instead of doing a full router reset.
Router Password Finder - Automatically Recover Lost or Forgotten Router Passwords
Only after you have tried to recover your missing router username and password should you perform a full router reset.
Reset the TP-Link TL-WA500G
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Most of the time you can find a small reset button located on either the back or the bottom of a router. Look for something that looks like this:
Your reset button may look different, but usually they are very small. If you find a pinhole on the back of the router then that may be the reset button. You will need a paper clip to push it.
Hold the reset button down for about 10 seconds while watching the lights on the front of your router. After a few seconds the lights should blink differently. When this happens, the reset is complete. You cannot hold the button too long, and it will not hurt the router to hold the reset button down for longer than 10 seconds.
Remember, this will totally reset your TP-Link TL-WA500G router.
Only take this last step of fully resetting your router after you have exhausted all other troubleshooting options, such as running our Router Password Finder software, which can recover a lost router password for you.
Login to the TP-Link TL-WA500G
Now that you have finished resetting the router, you need to login to the router interface using the default username and password. You can follow the TL-WA500G Login Guide to find everything that you need to log in.
Change Your Password
After logging in to your router for the first time, you need to change your router's password. It is a huge security risk to leave your router's password set to the factory default. Our Choosing a Strong Password guide talks about choosing a strong password for your router.
Tip: Write your new password down on a note and tape it to the bottom of your router for future reference.
Other TP-Link TL-WA500G Guides
We have collected a lot of information about the TP-Link TL-WA500G router. You can find some of our additional content here.
This is the reset router guide for the TP-Link TL-WA500G. We also have the following guides for the same router: