Nothing fixes problems as quickly as turning a device off and on again. Edward Munn explains how to reboot your router, PC and phone, wherever you are
Reboot your router
Rebooting your router at regular intervals keeps it running smoothly, but if you’re the sort of person who forgets to do this (and we know we are!), you can automate the process so that it happens at the same time every day. Whichever model of router you have, the easiest way to do this is to use a simple timer plug (see below). You can set this to turn the power off for a minute and then switch it back on, forcing your router to reboot. It’s a good idea to buy one with a high power (wattage) rating because you can then run a surge-protected power line from it and reboot your modem, router and any other network devices all at once. A digital power timer should offer the greatest flexibility – some mechanical models only offer settings of 15-minute intervals. For even more control over the process of rebooting your router, including the option to change your schedule while you’re out, try a smart plug such as the TP-Link HS100 (bit.ly/smart417). Bear in mind that these networked devices rely on a connection to your router, so if you set one to switch off the router rather than restart it, you may not be able to switch it back on remotely.
If you have a BT Home Hub, you can reboot your router remotely using the My BT app (bit.ly/mybt417), as well as check your recent bills and the status of broadband in your area. To reset your router using the app, simply open the side menu, swipe up to ‘Restart my Hub’ and press the button to confirm.
If you use a different type of router and you want to reset it without getting out of your seat, you can usually do so from your web browser – provided you know the administrator username and password. Type your router’s IP address (usually http://192.168.1.1) into the address bar of your browser and log in to access its settings page. If you don’t know your admin username and password, try Nirsoft’s dedicated tool (search for RouterPassView at www.nirsoft.net). Settings menus vary from router to router, but you can usually reboot your device simply by clicking the button to Apply or Save changes on its basic settings page. Altering a setting and then switching it immediately back to its original configuration should force this button to appear if it’s greyed out. You need to be on the same network as the router to take advantage this method, but it could still save you having to walk up and down stairs repeatedly if you need to perform multiple reboots.
Restart your PC remotely
If you want to reboot your PC remotely to install the latest updates, the easiest way is to install a free remote-desktop app such as Chrome Remote Desktop (bit.ly/chromeremote417) or Team Viewer (www.teamviewer.com).
Chrome Remote Desktop is our preferred option because it’s so easy to set up and use. Once you’ve downloaded the app, run it and click the Get Started button under My Computers. Next, click Enable Remote Connections, enter a six-digit PIN and click OK. Click Yes when asked to install the Chrome Remote Host service. Confirm your account and enter your PIN to finish the process. Your PC should now appear in the app under My Computers. If you’ve set Chrome to sync apps across all your devices, you’ll now be able to open Chrome Remote Desktop on any of your computers and click your PC’s name from the list to access it remotely.
The app gives you full control over the PC, so you can click the Start button to select Power and Restart to reboot your computer. Best of all, Chrome Remote Desktop is always running in the background, even on startup. This means you can reconnect to your PC as soon as it’s rebooted, even before entering your Windows password.
Chrome Remote Desktop is also available from the Google Play Store (bit.ly/chromea417) and lets you perform all the same actions from your Android device. If you need to reboot your PC while you’re away from it, this is the easiest way bar none.
Schedule your PC to reboot
You can set your PC to reboot to a schedule without having to install any software or apps. First, type taskschd.msc into the Start menu and press Enter to open the app. Click the ‘Create basic task’ button, give your task a name (‘Reboot on Sunday’, for example) and click Next. The window that appears asks ‘When do you want the task to start?’ Choose an answer that suits you from the list, then click Next. Once you’ve confirmed your choice, you’ll see the Action page. From here, select ‘Start a Program’ and click Next. In the box for ‘Program/script’, type shutdown and then, in the ‘Add arguments’ box, enter –r –f –t. Alternatively, if you want your PC to shut down rather than restart, enter ‘–s’ in the place of ‘–r’. Finally, click Next to review your configuration and Finish to complete the setup.
Reboot your phone or tablet
Samsung phones and tablets can be set to restart at regular intervals to ensure they’re always running well. To set this up on your Samsung device, open the Settings menu, tap the Search button and type Auto restart. Tap the top result, switch the feature to On and enter the time and days you want your device to restart. If your Android device is made by a different company and is rooted, you can try installing Power Schedule (bit.ly/powerschedule417) from the Google Play Store. This lets you perform daily reboots as well as setting schedules for Aeroplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and data connection (you don’t need to root your device to use these other features).
WHY YOU SHOULD REBOOT REGULARLY
Rebooting your computer, phone or router refreshes its software, clearing out problematic code and freeing up precious memory. If something stops working properly, there’s a good chance that rebooting will solve the glitch and save you trawling through Task Manager to investigate the cause of the problem. For a PC, rebooting also enables Windows to install important updates, which can fix more persistent glitches. If you’ve ever left your PC running for days at a time, you might notice that it starts to run slowly, and the quickest and easiest way to remedy this is usually a reboot. The same is true of routers. Whatever the cause, when your internet connection starts wavering, a quick reboot of your network devices should make everything work again.