So my mom just ordered a WiFi smart plug so she can restart the router when the WiFi is down

Just thought I’d share

14 Likes

So, how do you control the WiFi smart plug if your WiFi is down? Or, do you mean when the Internet connection is down?

1 Like

I think @frmWink2Hubitat was pointing out the irony of the Catch-22 that you described.

7 Likes

A lot of people conflate "WiFi" with the "Internet".

My uncle does this a lot:
him - "there is a problem with my WiFi - it's not working!"
me - "is it showing as connected on your laptop?"
him - "yes full bars."
me - "your internet is down NOT WiFi....."

Having a WiFi plug could be useful if you had some sort of server that could detect an internet outage and then send a reboot to the router via the plug. Assuming that is the real issue of course. I haven't had to reboot my "router" device in a very long time even through internet outages.

3 Likes

Ok, I get it. I guess I needed to have another cup of coffee to wake up!

3 Likes

They make those, smart plugs that auto restart when there’s no WiFi

1 Like

Who was it that in the last couple weeks announced "Rebooter" or some variation of that name. I think the idea was that you'd need wi-fi to trigger the power off but not the power on a minute or so later. Or maybe it detected loss of Internet connectivity.

I may be married to your uncle! Oh wait, that's my wife and I having the same conversation.

3 Likes

:rofl:

1 Like

It is kinda cute... :slight_smile:

On the other hand, neither my wife nor my mother care about or even know what a Wi-Fi smart plug is. My wife probably could not point to the router if asked, and would simply poke me (rather than the router or cable modem) if she lost Wi-Fi or the internet. My mom is 90 so I definitely cut her a lot of slack, but my wife just willfully ignores this stuff.

So from my perspective you have a pretty impressive mom. Please tell her I send kudos her way for thinking about this and trying to be independent and proactive! :slight_smile:

4 Likes

i have kasa wifi plugs (tplink) they are one of the few i found that restore to last state on power failiure..
also for my wifi routers etc. i have them on a separate wifi throuigh an at&t access pt. that costs me 20 extra per month so i can reboot the main cable etc. Obviously I also have the kasa att access pt on one but on th emain wifi network.

Perhaps she upgraded to a Zigbee based hub and it was a Zigbee smart plug. Food for thought.

The initial situation is pretty funny.
But on a "There is a solution" note, the Zen25 Zwave outlet does have a feature that it can automatically turn itself on after a preset time if it is turned off. This could be used for the situation your mom was trying to solve for - With the automatic "turn back on" configured for, e.g., a minute, you would turn off the plug to the router, a minute later it would turn itself back on and the router would then restart.

I really laughed at this.

People are funny.

2 Likes

I have an early version of this one. If it can't ping a well known site, it restarts the modem/router. Haven't used it much lately.