I just wanted to see what other selfhosters backup emergency plan is if the primary internet router goes offline but the internet isn’t out (ie a router reboot would fix the problem), leaving you without access to your stuff even via vpn.
the options I’ve considered so far:
- cellular smart plug to reboot router
I tried a ubibot smart plug (SP1) that is supposed to work with cellular, but the device or sim is bad. I’m currently troubleshooting. The problem with this one is it requires a proprietary cloud service, it’s supposedly self hostable, but it’s a pia to setup and their app port can’t be changed easily allowing for a reverse proxy setup on VPS.
- the other option I am considering is cellular wifi router and a wifi smart plug connected to that device to reboot router
what other options have I overlooked? Also, specific models of devices would be helpful info from others doing this already.
TIA!
Edit: also just thought of possibly a cellular internet backup on my opnsense box, but from everything I’ve read that’s also very involved to setup
Edit2: I’ve setup a homeassistant automation to reboot a zigbee smart plug if 2 external hosts are down for 15 mins, will try this out for a bit. I still need tp troubleshoot why the device goes down in General. Thanks for all the responses and ideas!
For me I’d just say oh well, gotta fix it when I’m home again.
Otherwise I’d probably write some script on the server, which reboots my router when the server either doesn’t have internet anymore or can’t ping itself.
I buy better gear that doesn’t regularly require a reboot
My mikrotik has not NEEDED a reboot ever, except when I run upgrades. Everything is set up to auto recover when disconnects happen, and power up properly if there’s an extended power failure that causes UPS shutdowns.
I will never understand why people think rebooting their router regularly is a normal thing. That just means your gear or setup is crap.
My Mikrotik routers and switches also reboot in seconds (even for upgrades), which I’ve never seen consumer gear do!
Even my Ubiquiti switches seem to take a minute or so to start forwarding traffic after a reboot; whilst my Mikrotik switches reboot faster than any of my unmanaged switches start up.
Cisco, HP, and many other “Enterprise” switches will take a minute or two to start forwarding frames after boot.
Doesn’t really excuse Ubiquiti but that’s what they’re trying for.
It didn’t happen in more than 5 years…
For critical equipment you need to spend the extra dollar to minimize this kind of stuff
I don’t understand this comment? Your router hasn’t gone down in 5 years, is that what you’re saying?
Yep, at least for their own internal mistake. I rebooted them a few times in that time because updates and important config updates. Even for power outages (2 iirc) they are resilient, they are set to automatic boot up when the power is back.