It’s completely normal to reboot your router and modem occasionally, and some routers even have a reboot schedule feature that can take care of this for you. Although problematic network equipment may need to be replaced, adding a smart plug to your setup can save you effort and even automate the entire process.
Buy the right smart plug
Restarting your router usually means turning off the power for about 10 seconds, then turning it back on and waiting for everything to return to normal. While you can do this by physically walking up to the router, it’s more convenient to be able to do it remotely.
To enable this feature, you will need a smart plug. However, it can’t be just any smart plug. After all, smart plugs that rely on Wi-Fi will stop working if the network goes out. Instead, you should choose a smart plug that uses a different type of wireless communication.
Which one you choose depends largely on the smart home platform you’re using. For Home Assistant users, anything is possible. As long as you add the necessary adapter to your setup, such as a Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 for Thread or Zigbee and a ZWA-2 for Z-Wave, you’re all set as long as your server is up and running and the outlet has power. You can also use Bluetooth smart plugs to achieve the same result.
Apple Home users may choose Matter devices over Thread, especially since modern Apple hubs like the HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K function as Thread edge routers. The same goes for certain models of Amazon Echo and Google Nest devices. Of course, you’ll also need to pair these devices with smart plugs using the Thread protocol.
Google and Amazon have been slow to adopt local control of smart home technology, which is why I advocate for alternatives.
Limits to know
Keep in mind that when your router goes offline, so will your primary means of communicating with your smart home dashboard. This is true for all smart home platforms, meaning that while you’ll be able to turn your outlet off manually, you won’t necessarily be able to turn it back on.
Home Assistant users can work around this issue by creating a script that restarts their router, pairing basic on-off functionality with a Zigbee (or similar) remote, or creating an automation that detects connectivity issues and restarts the router or modem.
If you don’t use Home Assistant, you’re out of luck when it comes to manual reboots, although you can explore other options.
Perform reboots manually
If you want to restart your router or modem manually using Home Assistant, go to Settings > Automations & Scenes and click “Scripts” at the top of the page. Now click “+Create Script” and add a device action for the socket you want to disable (or add two, if you have separate network equipment) to disable. Add a delay, then turn your network equipment back on.
You can now add your script to a dashboard of your choice or run it using the Scripts menu at any time.
Alternatively, you can use a remote and create an automation so that the remote runs the script you created (perhaps with a long press) or binds the buttons accordingly so that they control your smart plugs. This eliminates the need to manually turn on your outlet using your Home Assistant dashboard (which is inaccessible if your network goes down).
Some brands of smart devices can be linked so that they don’t need a hub. For example, IKEA’s Tretakt socket can be linked to a Rodret remote control by holding the pairing button within range until the light flashes.
Schedule regular reboots
My TP-Link Archer AX72 modem includes a “reboot schedule” that restarts the modem at a time of my choosing. I don’t use it, mainly because I have a smart home to do the heavy lifting. My router is only about a year old, so I’m hoping to get a little more life out of it before it regularly starts to give up the ghost.
That said, there are good arguments for restarting your router regularly. If you find that your router is regularly crashing, a weekly reboot may be the solution you need until you can replace it.
You can program this basic functionality with most smart home platforms. Home Assistant makes this easy with its advanced automations, but you can get around the limited automation possibilities of a platform like Apple Home by creating two automations (one to turn the outlet off, another to turn it on, one minute apart) provided you’re using Thread and not Wi-Fi.
Get better and restart automatically
By far the best solution is to restart your router only when you need to. You can use Home Assistant to monitor your home Internet connection and initiate a restart only after a set period of no connectivity. Check out our complete guide on how to do this.
Smart home platforms from Amazon, Google and Apple do not have the capacity to create this type of complex automation. Some smart plugs can connect to an ecosystem-dependent app that allows you to program them, but this will depend on exactly what you have.
If you’re looking for another solution, why not try the Keep Connect Network Equipment Smart Plug. This is a specially designed device that cuts power to your network equipment only when the Internet connection is lost.
Rebooting your router can fix all sorts of networking problems, but you should really consider replacing networking equipment that’s constantly letting you down. Check out our top router picks.
