How to remote reboot my router

July 10, 2006 9:41 AM

Need ideas for a remote reboot of a router.

I travel a lot and access my home network regularly. For some reason, my ADSL router (i'm in the UK) just stops. Its the third one and i cant figure out why and nor do i want to carry on doing so (its been 2 years) and i'm resigned to just rebooting it as it always fixes it. Its totally inaccessible when it goes (it just locks up, i have had 3 different models/manufacturers) and basically i need a method of rebooting the AC power remotely - either by dial modem, SMS or something. Nothing that relies on my internet connection. Ideally I'll dial a modem or something.

I'm not really after reasons why my ADSL router hangs, believe me, everyone and their dog has tried to fix that. A remote AC solution will be fine. If it exists. I dont mind playing around with modems and some wiring but haven't a clue what to do. Any ideas? Thanks!

posted by daveyt to computers & internet (10 comments total)

55 minutes left to bid on this 'Call Activated Power Controller' (currently only $9). Dont forget the us-uk power converter. If this isn't your cup of tea you can also try looking up similar devices by WTI and/or Teleboot.
posted by datacenter refugee at 9:56 AM on July 10, 2006

This depends on your particular device's flakiness, but I once fixed a similar problem with a wireless AP using a $7 lamp timer.

I figured out that it would run for about 10-15 hours before hanging, so I set the lamp timer to cycle the power for 10 mins at noon and midnight. It's been happy ever since.
posted by bhance at 10:03 AM on July 10, 2006

Same things happens to mine and I have to go upstairs and turn it on and off. Sometimes I wonder if it comes because it is left on all the time, 24/7 - you might fit a time switch to turn it on and off for an hour during the night?
posted by A189Nut at 10:04 AM on July 10, 2006

Or what bhance said!
posted by A189Nut at 10:05 AM on July 10, 2006

I set a lamp timer on mine too.

After a few days it always locks up, so reseting every day at 2am fixed it.
posted by voidcontext at 10:26 AM on July 10, 2006

I eventually found out that my wireless router froze because it was trying to remember every connection it made in a cache for 5 days. After a day or so my constant bittorrent connections would max it out and it would become unresponsive.

On the longshot that that's what's happening to you, the answer is to find a router that has better software (which you say you've done twice). The only one I know for sure doesn't have this problem is the WRT54g running linux.
posted by shanevsevil at 11:24 AM on July 10, 2006

If the whole lamp-timer thing seems a little disruptive, and you're already running a machine locally round' the clock, you could always use a CRON script to ping/monitor the router and some X-10 hardware to reset it - The bonus side of this is that, if you plug the main server into the interface unit, you can config the interface's fire-and-forget features as a deadman switch (Program to cycle power in an hour, then in thirty minutes, erase that program and create a new one an hour in advance. If the server freezes, the interface powercycles it within the hour.)
posted by Orb2069 at 12:18 PM on July 10, 2006

Allied to this, is it better to leave my router on all the time, or should I switch it off regularly. Does restarting/powering do more harm than being on all the time
posted by A189Nut at 12:41 PM on July 10, 2006

doh. a lamp timer. Genius. Thankyou. That will work perfectly i think.
posted by daveyt at 1:57 PM on July 10, 2006

A189Nut, they're meant to be on all the time, they don't even have an on/off switch. Unless yours is giving you trouble, don't give it any.
posted by voidcontext at 7:32 AM on July 11, 2006