HELLO & WELCOME

[WelshPaul]

For new unlocked phones, there are no passwords assigned to the Cisco SPA301, by default. By default, the SPA301 IP Phone will allow you to access all the Basic, Advanced, and Administrative settings without password access. However, once you have configured your IP Phone, it is always a good practice to set a secure admin password to protect your configuration settings.

If you purchased your phone direct from a reputable computer network hardware reseller, then your new phone should be an unlocked version and you will have full unhampered access to its configuration features. However, if you obtained your phone from a VoIP service provider or your company's IT department, there is a high probability that the phone is locked-down and you will need the administrator password to access its administrative features beyond basic user features.

Basic Login Procedure

1. For a brand new SPA301 IP-Phone (unlocked), Login as follows:

• Connect an Ethernet cable between your SPA301 and the LAN side of your NAT-Router.
• Connect the power adapter to the SPA301. Then plug in the adapter to AC power line.
• Determine the IP address assigned to the SPA301 by your NAT-Router's DHCP server.
  - Pick up handset. On the dial pad, press the star (*) key four (4) times. i.e.: ****
  - Enter the IVR code 110 followed by the # key. i.e.: 110#
  - The SPA301 internal IVR system will talk-back the IP address assigned to the phone.
• Using a web browser on a PC that is also connected to your local LAN network, enter the IP address assigned to the SPA301 into the browser address bar and press Enter.

You should now be connected to the SPA301 Configuration Utility window as illustrated below:

By default, you will always land on the Info tab in User - Basic view mode. User Basic view mode has limited functionality. For all Administrator functions you will need to log into the Admin Login view mode.

By default, Admin Login does not require a password to access. However, it is always good practice to set a secure Administrator password. The following procedure explains how to set the Admin password.

How to Set the Administrator Password:

• Click on the "Admin Login" link in the upper right corner of the SPA301 Configuration Utility window. (No password required, by default)
• Click on the "advanced" link in the upper right corner of the SPA301 Configuration Utility window.
• Click on the "System" tab.
• Set your new secure Admin Passwd in the text box labeled: "Admin Passwd".
  
  
• Click the "Submit All Changes" button at the bottom of the window, and wait for the phone to reboot.
• You will then be greeted with a Pop-up login authentication window prompting you to login.
  
  (The actual pop-up login screen you see will depend on the web browser you are using. In my case, I'm using Google Chrome as my browser.)
  
  
• Enter "admin" as the User Name, and then your new secure password in the Password box.
• Click the "Log In" button.

From this point forward, any time you access the SPA301 Admin link, you will need to use your Admin login credentials to access the Administrator features.

Keeping in mind that by default, the SPA301 does not require login credentials to access the basic User features. However, via the Administrator features also located under the "System" tab, the Administrator can, if desired, set a password for the User account.

Note:
If you ever forget your Admin password, you will need to perform a Factory Reset to clear the old password. Of course, all other device settings will also be reset to the factory default values, which means you would then need to reconfigure your IP-Phone from scratch, including a new Admin PW.

I have also noted that my Chrome browser seems to retain my admin login status even if I close the browser window, and then a few minutes later reopen a Chrome window and once again access the SPA301. As there is no "logout" feature, I'm guessing that Chrome is retaining the login status for a "limited period of time". Typically, if I reboot the PC, then the SPA301 will once again prompt for admin login when accessing its Admin features. This does not seem to be the case when using Internet Explorer to access the SPA301.