How can I change my Telus Modem IP Adress?

[NeedingAnswer]

I am a newbie here, so I apologize in advance if I am in the wrong place to ask this question.  This year I have been getting hammered by hacking attempts, and recently some have been successful.  Among the list of a security consultant's recommended changes was to change my Telus Modem IP Address as well as my SSID.  I have already implemented a VPN service, but that is apparently not enough to close pre-existing "back-doors".

QUESTION:  How do I change my Telus modem IP address?  How do I change my SSID?

[Nighthawk · Accepted solution]

This seems odd. How were people trying to "hack" you? Which attempts were successful and how did you know? Security consultant? Are you sure you have not been talking with one of those tech support scammers? Did you let anyone remotely connect to your computer?

The SSID is the name of your wireless network. Changing that isn't going to do much but it's easy enough to do. You'll also want to ensure you're using a strong, complex wifi password. See instructions.

Change your IP? Leave your modem unplugged between two to seven days. If another modem on the network doesn't pick up your IP in that time, you may still end up with the same one back.

If by some long shot one of the devices on your network is actually compromised, changing the IP or the wireless network name won't fix anything. You need to ensure all devices on your network are not compromised by malware by using well known reputable software. This goes for any Android devices as well as PCs.

[NeedingAnswer]

Thank you NightHawk.  My email accounts were hacked, and I have received third-party confirmation of such.  The new security measures I have installed are equal to that of Embassy staff in various countries.  I am simply trying to identify the weak areas in my internet use that need to be tightened up.

[Nighthawk]

@NeedingAnswer - Your email getting "hacked" may very well have nothing to do with anything on your end. Many people have a tendency to use the same password for multiple services, including email, so all someone has to do is get the password and they'll have access to all the accounts that share that email and password combo.

I'd recommend looking at https://haveibeenpwned.com/ . It will show if your email has been compromised as part of one of the many hacks and breaches that have affected businesses and service providers. They even have a rather long list of many sites that have been breached and the information taken from each. 

[xray]

For residential accounts you can't directly change your external IP address because it's assigned by Telus. You might get a different IP address of you reboot your router but it's not predictable where it will or not.

You can log on to your router to change the SSID. Credentials are on the sticker on the side of the t router. It's not your SSID that is the problem, it's the weak password. Change your password to be longer than 15 characters and make sure to include a mix of numbers, upper case and symbols. Use an obscure phrase or combination of unrelated words then substitute or add the numbers, casing and symbols.

[xray]

Further to @NFtoBC comment about how you know you've been the target of hacking, do not believe any message from a web site that says you've been hacked or that you have a virus. 100% of the time it's from scammers or hackers. If you see these messages close the browser and never go back to that site.

[NeedingAnswer]

I agree with you completely.  In my case, my email content ended up in the hands of people in my community, confirming there had been a breach. 

[xray]

@Nighthawk, @NFtoBC Sorry I tagged the wrong user in my post above. The pop-up to select tags doesn't work on mobile version of the Web page so I have to type them in.