Peplink Balance 20X — login, gateway address and status lights
Open a browser on a device connected to your Peplink Balance 20X and go to 192.168.1.1.
The documented default login is admin with the password admin.
The Peplink Balance 20X is a firewall router from Peplink, in UK use 2020-present. This page covers the four things people actually come looking for: its settings address, how its login works, what its lights mean and how to reset it safely.
What is the Peplink Balance 20X gateway address?
The Peplink Balance 20X settings page is at 192.168.1.1. Type that into the address bar of a browser — not into a search box, which will just search for the number instead of opening the page.
Your device has to be connected to the Peplink Balance 20X itself for this to work — over its Wi-Fi or by cable. On mobile data, or connected to a different network, the address goes nowhere.
Over HTTPS — Peplink notes that "when HTTP is selected, the URL will be redirected to HTTPS by default", so expect a certificate warning. It is worth being explicit about what this address is not: almost every reseller and third-party guide gives 192.168.50.1 for this model, and that is wrong. 192.168.50.1 is genuinely a Peplink default, but for the Pepwave and MAX line — Peplink's own B One manual says so, calling it "the default LAN IP address for Pepwave routers". Because the Balance 20X is built on newer hardware than the classic Balance units, people assume it inherited the Pepwave default. It did not, and Peplink documents 192.168.1.1 consistently across the Balance 20X quick start guide and the Balance firmware manual.
What is the default username and password for the Peplink Balance 20X?
Documented fixed default
The manufacturer publishes a single default login for the Peplink Balance 20X, so we can show it:
- Username
admin- Password
admin
The quick start guide is unambiguous: "default username and password is admin". You have to change it immediately — Peplink states "you must change the default password on the first successful logon" and requires "a minimum of 10 lower AND upper case characters, including at least 1 number", so have something ready before you start. Two things to know before you start guessing: login is suspended for five minutes after an invalid username or password, and the password printed on the label on the bottom of the unit is the Wi-Fi password, not the admin one. That label shows a network name like PEPLINK_ followed by four characters, a password, the serial number and the LAN MAC address, and mixing the two up is a common mistake.
This only works if nobody has changed it. On a unit that has been in service for a while, someone should have, and if they did then no published default will help you.
What do the lights on the Peplink Balance 20X mean?
Here is what each light on the Peplink Balance 20X is telling you, and what to do about it.
| Light | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Statussolid green | The router is ready. | |
| Statussolid red | Booting up or busy. | Normal during a restart. This is also the state you hold the reset button through — release when it goes off. |
| Statusflashing red | A boot-up error. | The unit has failed to start properly. Power-cycle it once, and if it comes back blinking red, contact your supplier. |
| Statusoff | Firmware is being upgraded. | Do not remove power. An off status light during an upgrade is expected rather than a fault. |
| LAN/WAN portsolid green | A 1000 Mbps link on that port. | |
| LAN/WAN portoff green | The link is 10 or 100 Mbps, or the port is not connected at all. | The green light only marks gigabit, so an unlit green light is ambiguous — check the orange light to see whether there is any link. |
| LAN/WAN portflashing orange | Data is transferring on that port. | |
| LAN/WAN portoff orange | No data is transferring, or the port is not connected. | |
| Wi-Fi APsolid | The access point is enabled. | |
| Wi-Fi APoff | The access point is disabled. |
Peplink documents no cellular or LTE status light for the 20X even though the unit has an embedded LTE modem — the comparable Balance 30 LTE does have one. Do not go looking for a cellular light on this model.
How do you reset a Peplink Balance 20X?
What you lose. Peplink puts it plainly: "all previous configurations and bandwidth usage data will be lost after restoring factory default settings. Regular backup of configuration settings is strongly recommended." The admin credential returns to admin and admin, and the forced first-login change applies again.
- A single-stage physical reset on the rear panel, alongside the power input, the USB WAN port and the Ethernet ports. Peplink's procedure: "with a paperclip, press and keep the reset button pressed. Hold for approximately 10 seconds for factory reset (Note: The LED status light shows in RED, until the status light off and release the button)." Release when the status light goes from red to off, and the unit restores its defaults after rebooting. Peplink publishes no graduated hold behaviour for this model — there is no separate password-only reset and no bootloader mode.
- Hold it for About 10 seconds. Release when the status light goes from red to off..
- Release, and give the unit a few minutes to restart before trying to connect.
A reboot is not a reset. A reboot from the web interface keeps every setting. Only the ten-second hold clears them.
What if you cannot get into the Peplink Balance 20X at all?
Yes, but only by factory reset, which returns the credential to admin and admin. Peplink publishes no password-only recovery route for the 20X — the front-panel password reset that exists on larger Balance models needs the OLED menu those units have, and the 20X has no screen. If the device is enrolled in InControl 2, remote web administration through the cloud is an alternative that does not need the local password at all, which is the practical route for a unit you cannot get to.
If that does not work, a factory reset will always get you in, at the cost of every setting on the unit.
Where this comes from
- Peplink Balance 20X Quick Start Guide — Model-specific source for https://192.168.1.1, the admin/admin default, the rear-panel layout and the label showing the Wi-Fi password.
- Peplink Balance and MediaFast firmware manual — Confirms the LAN address for the Balance line, the forced password change and its complexity rule, the five-minute lockout, the reset procedure and the light table.
- Peplink Balance 20X datasheet — The PrimeCare-gated features: hot failover, WAN smoothing and bandwidth bonding.
- Peplink B One series user manual — Used only to show that 192.168.50.1 is the Pepwave default rather than the Balance one, which is the origin of the misattribution.