Power cycle WiFi router

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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That model was also discussed in the link I previously posted. :wink:

As I mentioned, this has been a very popular use case over the years. :smile:

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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.

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