I rebooted my router and busted Reddit’s favourite tech delusion

You all know the one rule of PC possession: In case your PC glitches or isn’t operating at full effectivity, reboot it. However does that trick apply to your router, too?

An entire subset of the web appears to suppose so, together with a number of frequent Reddit threads on the topic. However does it? In response to my testing, there’s anecdotal proof to imagine it does — and combination proof that exhibits it doesn’t do something in any respect.

Granted, I don’t personal your router, so I can’t predict the outcomes of your setup. However something that will increase your router’s throughput cuts down on obtain instances, enhancing productiveness and easily making your complete PC expertise really feel quicker. Nobody can work successfully with an unexpectedly sluggish web connection.

Why do individuals must reboot their router, anyway?

Some individuals use simply their ISP’s web gateway, which may double as a router; others may join a second gaming or mesh router to enhance protection. Both approach, each most likely sit on a shelf or desk, untouched and unnoticed aside from while you change it. Rebooting a router — which could be accomplished remotely, by way of an app, or just simply by unplugging it — isn’t one thing you end up typically needing to do.

As an alternative, most router upkeep entails making certain that its firmware is updated. Updating your router firmware is an train in each PC productiveness and safety: New router firmware can add new options and seal any vulnerabilities that may let in attackers. Living proof: shock vulnerabilities in older Asus routers that may emerge from out of the blue.

However your web connection is one thing of a black field. If it’s operating at regular speeds, you ignore it. If it’s sluggish or uneven, you begin to marvel: Is it my ISP? My PC? The router? Do I would like to fret if my router settings are optimized, or can I simply unplug the rattling factor for a minute or two to get it again on monitor?

That’s what I got down to check.

When you’re like me, you most likely spend your tech {dollars} on telephones and PCs and wi-fi plans and streaming subscriptions, however Wi-Fi expires quicker than you suppose. My Wi-Fi 5 house mesh community nonetheless receives firmware updates, however after Netgear knowledgeable me {that a} secondary community I’d used had moved out of help, I’ve begun replacements. (I additionally use a house gateway provided by my ISP, Comcast.)

My children will sometimes wander into my house workplace complaining that the web is sluggish, and that’s once I want to start out troubleshooting. The simplest step? Merely rebooting the router.

As a result of my house community is “stay,” with gadgets speaking to and from one another and to the web, one check wouldn’t be sufficient. I selected to run seven pace assessments within the early afternoon, sequentially, utilizing Bing’s built-in pace check, powered by Speedtest.internet. (Utilizing Bing, merely kind in “speedtest.” You may also obtain the Speedtest by Ookla app.) I then unplugged the router and gateway, and plugged them again in after 30 seconds, and repeated the assessments.

Mark Hachman / Foundry

(I selected to make use of Bing’s Speedtest website solely due to anecdotal studies that the precise Speedtest.internet website inflates obtain speeds. I don’t know if that’s objectively true, however Speedtest did report considerably quicker speeds than Bing’s pace check did.)

On the suggestion of my editor, who additionally struggles with poor connection speeds, I carried out the identical pace check over Wi-Fi, from my telephone, positioned on a desk. On this case, I used Google’s personal built-in pace check, not Bing. However I used to be involved in testing the throughput earlier than and after rebooting the gadgets, not in evaluating the testing algorithms.

Rebooting the router: Examined!

The outcomes have been decidedly attention-grabbing, as nothing modified…although as a consumer you may be tempted to suppose it did.

The one significant change within the information is the uptick in information throughput within the direct connection between my PC and my router, which labored out to a flat 10 p.c. However the information itself was rather more irregular after rebooting the router than it had been earlier than, with outlying outcomes of 554Mbits/s, 939Mbits/s, 561Mbits/s, and 940Mbits. Previous to rebooting, the info confirmed far much less variation: The outliers have been 724Mbits/s and 568Mbit/s.

Apparently, I’m speculated to be on a 800Mpbs Comcast Xfinity house web plan!

Mark Hachman / Foundry

I additionally checked Speedtest.com (versus Bing’s implementation) to see if it reported quicker scores. As a result of Bing doesn’t report the server it connects to, whereas Speedtest.com does, I couldn’t make a direct comparability. However Speedtest.com did report constant throughput scores of about 930Mbps, a lot quicker than my contracted plan and what Bing’s check reported.

However utilizing Bing’s pace check metric, there was no statistically vital distinction in throughput earlier than and after rebooting my router. However anecdotally, you might actually intuit how a consumer may suppose that they’d quicker throughput after rebooting the router. If I noticed a pace check results of 940 megabits per second, I’d actually suppose so! However once more, statistically, I’d want dozens extra pace assessments to substantiate that I used to be, in actual fact, seeing a significant change.

However, you recognize, I couldn’t depart nicely sufficient alone…so I checked once more at about 6:30 PM, when individuals arrive house from work and my neighborhood’s web might need much more congestion. Would my throughput go down, lastly?

No. It went up. Once more.

Mark Hachman / Foundry

Sure, I ran one other seven assessments. And once more, the outliers have been dramatic: 594Mbps and 938Mbps obtain speeds. I used to be nonetheless fairly assured that rebooting made no distinction, however those that imagine in it have extra proof to level to: an 18 p.c distinction.

Argh!

Are either side…proper?

It’s probably that the entire delusion of rebooting your router emerged from the truth that early Wi-Fi routers weren’t essentially set as much as accommodate a rising family of internet-connected gadgets. The logic, not less than then, was that too many gadgets may lavatory down the router’s out there reminiscence. I can guarantee you that between varied internet-connected TVs, set-top packing containers, laptops, consoles, telephones, and extra, I’ve as many linked gadgets as the everyday family does. I haven’t had as many complaints from relations since I moved to a mesh community, with extra protection all through my house.

Nonetheless, there could also be causes to reboot sometimes. Your router might get your hands on wi-fi channels with out congestion by itself, or together with your guide help by way of an app. Nonetheless, each time you join, your router ought to hunt down an uncongested wi-fi channel. Rebooting might also ship your router off on a hunt for up to date firmware, which is all the time a plus.

However at this level, this GIF just about summed up my mind-set:

I needed to get some readability on the matter. I requested a number of router makers if rebooting a router really advantages customers. The reply? It doesn’t.

“MSI routers are constructed on a mature firmware structure engineered for long-term stability and environment friendly useful resource administration, so periodic reboots merely aren’t essential to keep up efficiency,” Jason Chang, an affiliate product advertising supervisor at MSI, advised PCWorld by way of electronic mail.

“Whereas the GUI does embody an non-obligatory scheduled reboot characteristic, it exists purely as a comfort for customers preferring it, not as a system requirement,” Chang continued. “Personally, I’ve by no means had purpose to allow it. In on a regular basis use, MSI router homeowners can count on persistently robust efficiency, no routine reboots required.”

Netgear’s senior vp of house networking, Jonathan Oakes, agreed.

“Rebooting a house router can assist repair occasional points like sluggish speeds or dropped connections by resetting community exercise, but it surely’s not one thing individuals ought to need to do repeatedly on a well-performing community,” he mentioned in an emailed assertion. “At Netgear, our routers are designed to ship constant efficiency with out routine restarts, so if you end up rebooting typically, it’s often an indication of different elements like interference, congestion, or older gear that must be changed.

“What issues extra is retaining the router updated,” Oakes added. “Netgear routers help computerized firmware updates that ship vital safety patches and have enhancements to assist shield your property community and maintain issues operating easily over time. If it’s not already enabled, turning on computerized updates is the best solution to keep robust, dependable Wi-Fi with out having to consider it.”

But when your web nonetheless feels sluggish, there’s one other resolution: Name your ISP. Assist techs can run distant assessments to find out whether or not there’s work being accomplished in your space, an issue together with your router or cable, or another difficulty. They’ll additionally ship a technician to go to your property and examine your gateway. Even older coax cable — one thing you may’t do something about — might be the issue.

Nonetheless, after some testing and session, I feel I’ve reached a conclusion: This delusion is busted, particularly on newer gadgets. The key to raised throughput? Improve your plan, purchase a more moderen router, or examine with a tech. Rebooting your router alone received’t remedy your issues.

Even when I most likely haven’t satisfied the conspiracy theorists on the market.