How to restart router: what NETGEAR, Linksys, Spectrum and Epic say

How long to wait, page by page

In the pages we read, a restart means cutting the power and restoring it, and the waits run from 10 seconds to two minutes. NETGEAR’s article for its routers gives two ways: press the Power On/Off button off and on again, or, if the router has no such button, unplug it, wait 10 seconds, then plug it back in. It says the button is on the back of most NETGEAR routers and that it might take up to 2 minutes for a router to reboot after the Nighthawk app step. Linksys says to unplug the power cable, wait for about 30 seconds and plug it back in, and to “Allow a minute or so for the router to reboot and reconnect fully.” It describes the light flashing while the router boots and going solid when it is ready.

The Linksys article treats the modem as a separate step: disconnect its power cable for about 2 minutes, and expect it to take a few minutes to come back online, depending on the model. Epic Games, in its help for players, says to turn off the PC or console, unplug the modem and router for at least a minute, plug them back in, wait until the lights turn back on, and then reconnect the device. It suggests testing with a web page you have not been to in a while. HighSpeedInternet, a site that helps readers find providers, says 60 seconds, and a reboot of 3 to 20 minutes; Nuvera, an internet provider, says 30 seconds to a minute.

Modem or router first

Where a page says an order, it is the modem first. Spectrum’s steps: unplug the modem power cord (and remove the battery if you have Home Phone service with battery backup), unplug the router, skip that if you have a modem and router in one box, wait 30 seconds, reconnect the modem, and “Wait two minutes to allow the modem to connect.” Only then do you reconnect the router and wait two minutes. NETGEAR’s page for its Orbi system turns off and unplugs the modem, then the Orbi router and satellite, plugs the modem back in, waits for the modem to restart, and plugs the Orbi in; it says the Orbi devices take two minutes to restart.

Epic Games does not set an order: it plugs the modem and router back in together. HighSpeedInternet adds a step before any of this: check the lights on your modem or fibre terminal first, because restarting the router while they show a problem does not help, and if they have a connection problem, reboot them first. The existing page on Wi-Fi that has stopped working covers how to tell which of the faults you have.

A restart is not a reset

NETGEAR says a reboot is sometimes all that is needed to resolve basic connectivity issues, and that “All of your WiFi settings are saved when you reboot your router.” It points to a factory reset only for when rebooting does not solve the problem. Kinetic’s blog says to disconnect the power cord from the back rather than just hit the power or reset button, and that the hard reset is a small hole on the back, pressed with a paperclip, that erases the router’s custom settings. HighSpeedInternet separates the two terms: a restart briefly disconnects the device from power, while a factory reset restores the router to its defaults, and none of your devices can connect until you recreate the Wi-Fi network. Nuvera says to press the power button and not the reset button.

Kinetic says to unplug rather than press the power button, while NETGEAR gives the power button as its first method. We did not test either. Kinetic and Nuvera both steer away from the reset control, and NETGEAR and HighSpeedInternet say what a reset costs. If you do reset, the page on changing the Wi-Fi password covers the router’s two passwords.

Without reaching for the cable

NETGEAR’s article gives the Nighthawk app as a second way and, if the router is difficult to access and the app cannot be used, the router web interface. Spectrum’s page lets you sign in to your account, select Restart Equipment next to a device and select it again, and notes that some equipment cannot be reset from your account and must be reset manually. Kinetic says some routers have companion apps that can restart the device remotely and to check the router’s documentation. These routes depend on your make: Spectrum’s is for its own equipment, and NETGEAR’s for its own.

Spectrum’s page sits under outage troubleshooting and says that after power and service are restored following an outage, it can be necessary to reboot the equipment. After the restart, it says your devices should reconnect to the Wi-Fi by themselves, and if one does not, you may need to connect manually. If the connection stays slow afterwards, the page on slow internet starts from what is enough, and the one on a Wi-Fi that keeps disconnecting asks which switch did it.