Recently, my Netgear router keeps connecting and disconnecting, which causes my Wi-Fi to go in and out at my house. I was wondering if anybody could think of a creative way to cut power to the router and then turn it back on remotely. In other words, power cycle my modem remotely. This sounds counterintuitive if I need Wi-Fi to actually do that task. But I was wondering if anybody knows of any possible way.
Yeah. I created a remote control system using a GSM (cellular) controlled relay to re-boot my cable modem and router. A bit cumbersome, but it works. If you need parts information, let me know.
This is a pretty common use case, and there are a couple of existing threads about it.
Short answer is that there are some devices made specifically to do this. They will ping the Internet, Either a specific URL you select. or on some models just a URL from the company. If the pinging is unsuccessful, then the plug will reboot itself. Some models also allow you to create a timer schedule so it reboots once a day or whatever.
Here’s one of the older threads with links to the devices.
ResetPlug for Modem/Router/Hub - #8 by JDRoberts
That handles the situation where you want it to automatically reboot itself when Wi-Fi is lost.
If you want to be able to force a reboot on demand from outside the house, when your Internet is not working, then you need something like @art_333 mentioned.
There’s an edge driver that can be used to detect if a device on your LAN is online/offline.
With the help of a service that runs on your computer it can detect if an Internet host is online/offline.
Both together and a smart plug could solve your problem.
I had a problem with a previous router messing up our Wi-Fi on a regular basis. It did not loose the Internet connection only WiFi connectivity.
Since I had a SmartThings v2 hub with an Ethernet connection, ST continued to work. So I put a ZigBee plug on my router power supply with a local routine to automatically turn it back on after 30 sec. if it turned off. If I had WiFi problems I could remotely turn off the plug in the ST app and it would automatically reboot the router in 30 seconds.
I would find out about my WiFi problems by getting offline notifications for WiFi devices or a call from my wife saying she had no internet.
Eventually my ISP replaced the problem router.
Just found this:
That specific brand is discussed in detail at the link I gave in my earlier post.
The solution I’m using at two locations is KeepConnect, my SmartThings use case is described here.
I’ve found it very reliable, particularly with the latest version of firmware.
That model was also discussed in the link I previously posted.
As I mentioned, this has been a very popular use case over the years.
Thanks everybody. Lots of ideas here. It turns out my Arris docsis 3 surfboard cable
Modem died after 12 years. I replaced it and everything is working now.
I very rarely lose WiFi connectivity. Maybe 5 times in the last 10 years. So I was in panic mode.