How to Power Cycle (Reset) Your Modem and Router

How to Power Cycle (Reset) Your Modem and Router

Sometimes when you experience problems booting your computer or problems connecting to the Internet over a high-speed connection, it becomes necessary to power cycle your equipment before it will function properly again. Power cycling all of your equipment is a fast and easy way to get things working again without the assistance of a repair technician. This help article will teach you how to power cycle your computer and high-speed internet equipment properly.




 Following are the steps:

1. Shut Down your computer. If your system is completely locked up, you can press and hold your computer’s power button for 5-10 seconds and the tower will turn off.
   
2. Unplug your desktop computer by removing the cord from the power supply. If you are using a laptop or notebook computer, remove your battery and then unplug the power cord from the unit.
   
3. If you have High Speed Internet, you will have either a cable modem, a DSL modem, or a satellite modem. Whichever you have, unplug the power cord from the back of your modem. If you have a router remove the power cord from this unit as well.
   
   
4. Once you have unplugged all of your equipment, wait 30 seconds for any residual power to drain from your devices. You can help this process by pressing the power button of your PC. Although the PC is not plugged in, pressing the power button will help drain all left over power from the unit’s motherboard.
   
5. Next you will need to reconnect all of your devices in a specific order. First, plug in the power cord for your modem . Wait for the modem to have a solid Internet connection with your internet service provider. This can take as long as 2 minutes. Next, plug in your router Wait for the lights on the router to indicate it has established a good connection to your modem (this could take up to 30 seconds). Plug your computer tower back in. If you use a laptop, insert the battery and then plug the unit back in. Turn on your computer by pressing the power button and allow it to boot fully.
   
6. Now turn on your computer or your gaming console connected to the network. You should now be able to access the Internet.Please note that for power cycling, it’s important that you switch on the devices only in the specified order.
   If you continue to experience problems, contact us or your computer hardware technician for further troubleshooting advice or repairs.