This tiny smart plug will solve almost all your Wi-Fi connection problems
I've owned plenty of home Wi-Fi routers over the years, and I'm continually dumbfounded why manufacturers make it so hard to perform a simple reset. Whenever I have a connectivity problem, 98% of the time turning the thing off and on again does the trick, but many routers either don't have reset buttons or make them hard to find, so you typically need to get up off the couch and go through the hassle of an unplug-replug just so you can go back to streaming Game of Thrones to your Chromecast.
This is clearly a frustrating and unnecessary problem in need of an easy fix. Enter the ResetPlug (surfaced on Product Hunt) -- a smart power outlet for your Wi-Fi router that has exactly one job: Monitor your home's Internet connection and cycle the power if there's a problem. The best part is it works automatically -- no alerts, no app to log into and launch, and no need to get off the couch.
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The ResetPlug monitors your home Internet connection and cycles the power if there's a problem.
You set the device up through a web app, and you can manually set the time it will wait before performing a reset in the event of an outage. It uses 802.11n tech and monitors the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band, meaning 5GHz routers will still work with the ResetPlug, but you can't use the 5GHz band exclusively (it'll also eat up an extra 60MB of data every month). The product's FAQ page recommends connecting both your modem and router to the plug, so it can reset both if there's a problem.
The bad news is the ResetPlug costs $59.99 -- pretty steep as smart plugs go. But even if you don't think eliminating most connectivity frustrations is worth the price, consider that the more smart-home devices we connect our home networks, the more we depend on our Wi-Fi connections being continually reliable. If you can't rely on your network to let you remotely control your Nest thermostat, Samsung smart fridge and August smart lock, what's the point?
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Pete Pachal was Mashable’s Tech Editor and had been at the company from 2011 to 2019. He covered the technology industry, from self-driving cars to self-destructing smartphones.Pete has covered consumer technology in print and online for more than a decade. Originally from Edmonton, Canada, Pete first uploaded himself into technology journalism at Sound & Vision magazine in 1999. Pete also served as Technology Editor at Syfy, creating the channel's technology site, DVICE (now Blastr), out of some rusty HTML code and a decompiled coat hanger. He then moved on to PCMag, where he served as the site's News Director.Pete has been featured on Fox News, the Today Show, Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC and CBC.Pete holds degrees in journalism from the University of King's College in Halifax and engineering from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. His favorite Doctor Who monsters are the Cybermen.
