Logging into your router isn’t something you might need to use very often, but if you do, navigating it (to get into the router and configure or check something) can be a bit tricky.
However, all this could change in the future due to a planned switch from ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) to The edge reported (en The register first reported).
Currently, on many routers you can access the administrator login through your web browser by typing four numbers that represent a local address (on your LAN), which is 192.168.xx (and it’s usually 192.168.1.1, but the last two figures may differ in some cases).
This is a bit clunky and archaic, and the differences listed can be confusing, although your router is usually labeled with the correct address (or the instructions contain this information).
Sometimes, though, you’ll fumble around on Google (or your favorite search engine) to determine exactly what to type into your browser’s URL bar to access the router’s configuration menus.
The only thing that might change in the future is that ICANN is going to make it so that all you have to do for each router is type ‘.internal’ and it will give you the login portal in your browser. In other words, no hassle with memorizing series of numbers, all you have to enter is a simple word that is the same for everyone.
Analysis: a happy side effect?
That’s all in theory – and it sounds like a good theory – but this step hasn’t happened yet.
At this point it’s still an ICANN proposal, and even if the plan for ‘.internal’ goes ahead, it will be dependent on routers supporting it. (Of course, some routers offer configuration via a dedicated app anyway, and so are ahead of the curve in that regard, rather than relying on a panel accessed via a browser).
For now and for the foreseeable future, quite a few routers (without apps) will still use the traditional 192.168.xx address to access their device’s settings.
ICANN’s proposal is not really aimed at consumers, but more broadly at companies and their intranets (vast internal networks), and at ensuring the security and stability of the global domain name system.
The use of ‘.internal’ for consumers will be more of a side effect that is useful than anything else, but it will still be very welcome – if this plan becomes a reality, of course.