Power router on and off remotely

[CV350]

My system is in a remote location and sometimes I need to power the router on and off to fix or isolate a problem. I am setup to reboot the router and power on and off other devices remotely but powering the router on and off is an issue (or at least for my limted knowledge).

I accept that one solution is just to have the system power up and down using a timer but I dont want to go this route unless its the only option as it means it is offline for a few minutes at the same time every day and it also means I potentially have down time between a random failure and the next timer power down/up (albeit this doesnt happen that often).

The internet connection is fibre optic and I am in the process of changing from a Huwaei router/ modem combo to a Huwaei GPON ONT and ASUS router. The Huwaei ONT device has the option for multiple LAN ports (depending on the model) and I was wondering whether I could have a second router in stanby mode to handle the cycling of the power on the main device using a wifi switch such as sonoff. Or is there a better solution and I am on the wrong track?

 

[munkiep]

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/setting-up-tp-link-smart-plug-reboot-wireless-router-2163076/
maybe you could use a smart outlet to achieve remote restarts?

 

[pozzello]

assuming you you only need to power-cycle the router when you can't reach it,
that kind of makes a smart outlet also unreachable and thus not useful...

don't modern UPS devices have some sort of feature to powercycle a connected device when they are not reachable from the internet? IE if the UPS cannot reach a configured pingable IP address, it reboots the router...

 

[bp2008]

@pozzello No consumer-priced UPS that I'm aware of can do that. I have a lot of Web Power Switches (http://amzn.com/B0765NCB2L) and use one to automatically reboot the modem and router if internet connectivity is lost. But I don't like buying these devices. I have had a lot of them fail over the years and they have only gotten more expensive over time. At the same time I don't want to depend on some dirt-cheap wifi outlet from China either, even if I could find one that detects internet outage and automatically power cycles the connected device.

 

[pozzello]

see the bottom of this thread for implementing such a thing with a Sonoff/Tasmota switch, available for $10 or less...
Router Auto-Rebooter · Issue #3075 · arendst/Sonoff-Tasmota

then again, if your router is really that flakey that it needs to be rebooted to work, just get a new router...

 

[tangent]

I'd use a zwave switched outlet and your choice of home automation hub or software (like smart things, vera, openhab, domoticz)

 

[bp2008]

then again, if your router is really that flakey that it needs to be rebooted to work, just get a new router...

Yeah, I firmly agree, however often it is the ISP-provided modem that has the problem and you don't really have a choice.

 

[CV350]

assuming you you only need to power-cycle the router when you can't reach it,
that kind of makes a smart outlet also unreachable and thus not useful...

don't modern UPS devices have some sort of feature to powercycle a connected device when they are not reachable from the internet? IE if the UPS cannot reach a configured pingable IP address, it reboots the router...

Agree. That is the (my) problem - most of the smart type switches or automation hubs generally dont work because you cant reach the switch after a power cycle knocks out the connection.​

@pozzello No consumer-priced UPS that I'm aware of can do that. I have a lot of Web Power Switches (http://amzn.com/B0765NCB2L) and use one to automatically reboot the modem and router if internet connectivity is lost. But I don't like buying these devices. I have had a lot of them fail over the years and they have only gotten more expensive over time. At the same time I don't want to depend on some dirt-cheap wifi outlet from China either, even if I could find one that detects internet outage and automatically power cycles the connected device.

Thats a nice solution bp2008. It works exactly the reverse of how I was trying to analyse the problem . It seems to have a number of smarts albeit as you say they dont last forever.​

see the bottom of this thread for implementing such a thing with a Sonoff/Tasmota switch, available for $10 or less...
Router Auto-Rebooter · Issue #3075 · arendst/Sonoff-Tasmota

then again, if your router is really that flakey that it needs to be rebooted to work, just get a new router...

Will have a deeper look at this as it seems like a cheap workable solution - actually I am using a number of sonoff devices now and I find them very reliable. As for the router, I have had this problem over many years on different routers, and as part of this upgrade I will purchase a new ASUS.​

Munkiep and tangent - I appreciate your responses. Thanks

 

[Frankenscript]

If it's just the router you need to reboot, that's the easy part. Enable remote administration, log in, and click the button:


But as others have said, if the cable modem / ONT is the problem, you won't be able to get to it from outside the network.

For what it is worth, I've had fiber with a Nokia brand ONT, and the ONT has been rock solid after configuring it initially.

The web power switch bp2008 is probably your best bet for handling the ONT going down.

 

[CV350]

Thanks Frankenscript but remote reboot cant help me here.

When this problem evolves it is the IP address and the connection between the router and the ISP that has been lost. Typically the router is on, dyndns is showing an old IP and a ping doesnt achieve a response. So the current IP and connectivity between the device and my ISP has been lost resulting in that the ISP asks me to power down the router. As I cant do this remotely all support then stops until I access the property (300+klms away) and power cycle the router. THowever once I power cycle the router typically the IP address fires back up again. Over the years I have had this problem with different routers and router modem combos but never with the ONT modem. It only happens randomly and around once a year (the only exception being when I had a bad TPLink router and it was happening monthly). Its more a huge inconvenience than anything and if I happen to be overseas working I have lost all connectivity during that period.

I agree with the solution bp2008 and yourself are promoting, as that is the solution that deals exactly with the problem. If connectivity and the IP is lost, the Digital Loggers Web Power Switch will power cycle the router and, if the UPS happens to be exhausted because of a short term power outage, it wont be sending multiple scripts and clogging the router because it will have lost power itself. Thanks for your input and advice.

 

[Frankenscript]

Ok, I understand your problem better and you have identified the right solution. One further thought: do you have the option to purchase a static IP address? Eliminating the need for dynamic IP assignment and the reboots associated would be worthwhile.

In my case with Metronet in the US, I pay $10/month for a static IP. I wouldn't bother with it, but Metronet uses carrier level NAT so many people have the same public IP, and neither home-based VPNs nor port forwarding work unless you pay for a unique and static IP. But, it solves the problem.

Good luck!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

 

[CV350]

Static IP is an option but it’s very expensive here (three times the price of the standard service) so I have shied away from that path, albeit it would help. Dynamic IP works ok when it works. Just got to wait a while for the IP to be updated on the dns server and then access is back.

The web power switch offers a lot of other features I can also use (been studying the manual) so that’s the way I will go. Thanks again for your help.