Hi. I'm fairly good with computers and networks. This isn't so much as a "help me" issue as it is a "uh oh, what did I do" issue. First of all, I live in a very rural area, 30 miles from the nearest city, no neighbors for miles. Our nearest neighbor is in his 80's and doesn't have a computer. So nobody can access our network and there are absolutely no networks for us to access other than our own.

So, sometimes our internet get spotty and goes out. Then it will come back. Well lately I've been having trouble sending people files for a job I've been doing. So I changed the channel that my router operates on (sometimes that seems to help). Well I went to change it back, but it wouldn't let me into the router. It was just loading forever, not even bringing up the login page. So I tried entering the internet gateway (or so I thought). Suddenly, my screen shows a completely different login page. I thought, "okay...." and tried to login with my usual password. It displayed "Invalid Credentials". The page that displayed was something called "AirOS", which I googled and learned is a third party firmware. We did not install this firmware, and later I was able to finally get into my usual router page through the local gateway.

Who in the heck did I almost break into? I am thinking it might be my ISP, and I don't want to get into trouble for trying to crack into their network or something. Anybody know what may have happened? Funny thing is, there was almost no delay on the AirOS login screen. It was as if I were on a local network, not the internet.

Most routers have the same ip address. Atleast ones of the same make.
So, It's possible that your computer automatically connected to a different router and that's the reason your credentials didn't give you access.

Thanks everybody. I think it's actually the air fiber thing. In fact, I think that's what type of internet we have. And I think I did in fact attempt to log in to my ISP's hardware. Naughty me, just for kicks I attempted with the default username and password associated with the device, and it didn't work. Hopefully they don't discontinue our service >.< Lol!

I have a history for hacking, but I haven't done it in several years. I got away from it after somebody "bricked" my computer. But this little instance was almost too much temptation. I'm leaving it alone now because it's not worth it. Anyway, thanks again. My first instincts were probably right: ISP hardware. Also, I'll take that suggestion and change my router's login credentials.

The default login information for AirOS is as follows:

Default IP: 192.168.1.20
Default Username: ubnt
Default Password: ubnt

Any time a factory default reset is done on AirOS it will return to these values.

It is Firmware