The ResetPlug made by MultiNet seeks to rescue consumers from the need to power cycle their network equipment to fix it with a simple Internet of Things solution that monitors WiFi and then takes action when it goes offline.

Ever had your WiFi network suddenly go down and then, after some head scratching and calls to your ISP, ended up just resetting your modem and router by pulling the power and plugging it back in again? This $60 peripheral will do that for you when it detects your WiFi has gone down.

ResetPlug is a $59.99 smartplug made by MultiNet that sits between the wall and a WiFi modem/router and resets the device should WiFi fail. The device is available from Amazon.com or its own website.

Many customers may already be familiar with the old computing canard: “Have you tried turning it off and then back on again?” When calling for tech support at the local Internet Service Provider (be it cable or DSL) the first thing that most support agents will do is ask the homeowner to power cycle the modem and router. The ResetPlug takes this step by itself.

According to the ResetPlug FAQ the device attempts to check the Internet connection every minutes by pinging the company website at MultiNet.io once per minute. If that fails, the plug then tries Google, Inc.’s servers, Bing, Hurricane Electric and Speakeasy and several other Internet hosts. According to answers given by the company on the plug’s Amazon.com page this cannot be changed by the user.

The ResetPlug uses 802.11n WiFi technology but can also connect to 802.11g and 802.11b routers, which covers the majority of routers. The plug can also be used with 802.11ac routers, as long as they are configured to connect with 802.11n (which is default).

It works great with modem/router WiFi all-in-one devices; but it can also be coupled with a power strip in order to reset multiple devices. For example a modem and a WiFi router could be power cycled at the same time.

Photo: Linksys WRT 1900ac; Linksys and Belkin International, Inc.

Pros and cons of a $60 smartplug

The benefits of such a device are obvious: if a consumer has a router that is faulty and sometimes just needs to be reset in order to get working again the ResetPlug will save some frustration.

However, at $60 this is an extremely expensive solution. Especially when a large number of Internet modem/router devices run between $30 and $150 (the higher end of that price range is relegated mostly to gaming routers with specialized services).

A WiFi modem that needs to be reset occasionally is a common problem for many Internet users; but any modem that has hit the point where it needs to be reset regularly would need replacement. And at $60 that’s most already most of a potential replacement cost.

Users willing to spend the coin to buy this smartplug will likely be those who run a great deal of Internet-connected devices in their homes and want to be certain they won’t go offline just because of a modem malfunction. In the era of smart homes every Internet of Things device in the house relies on a working Internet connection and the ResetPlug would be a reasonable addition to make certain everything is running smoothly.

Featured image credit: courtesy of MultiNet