How to keep your router running during a blackout with a Ryobi battery

Released Oct 22, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT

Jonathon Jachura is a mechanical engineer with over 12 years of HVAC market experience who focuses on equating complicated home systems into useful guidance for daily property owners. His background covers technical sales and item management for significant producers, integrated with hands-on experience as a two-time house owner who has actually dealt with whatever from system setups to fixing repair work. Jon concentrates on assisting readers make positive choices about their homes through clear, actionable assistance that conserves both money and time.

Power drops throughout a storm and, within seconds, every phone in your home is on cellular. Your router and modem passed away with the lights. In lots of blackouts, however, the cable television or fiber going to your home keeps working, and neither box draws much, so an 18V pack off the garage rack can keep them running for hours.

I’ve utilized Ryobi’s 150W source of power to make it through an interruption on tool batteries previously, and the router is the next task I ‘d provide it. It works finest with some preparation. You’ll desire rough numbers for your network’s draw and each pack’s runtime, plus a list of what can remain unplugged.

Examine what your router and modem in fact draw

The majority of home networks drink power, however not all of them

Before you get a pack, accumulate what your web depends upon. For a lot of homes, that’s 2 boxes: a modem or fiber ONT, plus a Wi-Fi router. A lot of ISPs deliver one entrance that does both tasks. Anticipate 5W to 20W from a common home router. More recent cable television modems usually are available in listed below 15W, and fiber ONTs frequently require less than 10W.

Ryobi leans on that light load in its own marketing. Paired with a 4.0 Ah pack, its 150W source of power is ranked to run an 8W router for about 7 hours.

Larger setups alter the mathematics. My UniFi Dream Machine, which changed my ISP’s router, notes a 26W optimum. That still sits far listed below the inverter’s 150W limitation, so the source of power can manage it. The catch appears in runtime, and it grows quickly when a PoE switch and more gain access to points share the battery. For a worst-case figure, increase the output volts by the amps printed on each power brick. A plug-in watt meter will reveal the genuine number.

Turn amp-hours into hours of Wi-Fi

Transform the label to watt-hours

The huge number on a Ryobi pack is amp-hours, which’s just half of what you require. Increase it by 18V to get watt-hours. That exercises to 72Wh for a 4.0 Ah pack and 108Wh for a 6.0 Ah.

Not all of that reaches your router. The source of power actions 18V DC as much as 120V AIR CONDITIONER, then the router’s adapter transforms it pull back, and each phase squanders some energy. Intend on getting about 80 % of the label figure. Ryobi’s seven-hour claim lands right around there.

Divide what’s left by your overall load for a ballpark runtime. At 15W, figure on approximately 3.8 hours from a 4.0 Ah pack, or 5.8 from a 6.0 Ah. Bump the load to 25W and those drop to about 2.3 and 3.5 hours. A 40W network navigates 1.4 hours on the smaller sized pack and 2.2 on the bigger.

Because August, Ryobi has actually offered its High Performance loads under a brand-new name, 18V ONE+Lithium. The watt-hour mathematics does not alter with the label.

Practice the setup before the storm

A trial run takes 5 minutes

A blackout is a hard time to find out the modem’s power brick is wedged behind a media cabinet. Trace both cables now and identify the plugs. If you have actually equipment embeded a basement or closet, keep a brief extension cable close by. That lets the source of power sit flat on a rack.

Do a dry run on a typical afternoon. Ryobi’s 150W systems have a single a/c outlet, so plug a little splitter into it and move the modem and router onto that. Start with the modem or ONT, and wait about a minute for it to sync before you plug in the router. Verify the web returns, and keep in mind the length of time the entire procedure took.

Some variations of Ryobi’s 150W system, consisting of the RYi150BG, output a customized sine wave instead of the smoother power a wall outlet provides. A lot of router adapters endure it without grievance. If one buzzes or fumes throughout your test, disconnect it and consult the router maker before you rely on that pairing.

A test just shows your side of the connection. Your service provider’s devices down the street requires electrical power too, so a prevalent blackout can still knock you offline no matter how well your router is fed.

Power just the equipment that keeps you online

Every additional gadget on the inverter reduces your runtime. Smart home centers, Ethernet switches, and mesh satellites tend to ride on the exact same power strip as the router, which entire strip winds up on the battery out of practice. Plug in the modem and router by themselves rather.

Fit together systems take a bit more believed. The primary node needs to remain powered due to the fact that it links to the modem, while satellites can remain off if everybody collects near the primary system.

My own network reveals what cutting appear like. My Dream Machine does not have an integrated Wi-Fi radio; it and a different PoE switch feed 4 gain access to points installed in my ceilings. That switch and its radios include a consistent draw. In an interruption, I ‘d leave the turn off and utilize simply one gain access to point for Wi-Fi gain access to.

Prepare for the battery swap

Pulling the pack reboots the router

The source of power stops providing power the immediate you move the battery off, so the router restarts with every swap. A standard router returns in a minute or more, while a more capable system like the Dream Machine takes longer to complete booting. Time your swaps for when no one’s on a video call, and keep the next pack charged and within arm’s reach.

My extra 18V loads reside in a heated garage held around 50– 55 ° F through the winter season, so they’re never ever cold-soaked when I get one. Leading up every pack as quickly as a storm appears in the projection. A drill can end up a task on half a battery, however a router running over night requirements every watt-hour you can provide it.

Keep one pack reserve for the router

Your modem and router require so little that a single 18V pack purchases hours of web. Include a 2nd, and you’re most likely covered past bedtime. Pick one charged battery to live beside the source of power, the splitter, and the extension cable. When the lights head out, the switchover takes less than a minute, and everybody in your home remains linked. If you’re choosing which loads are worthy of that area, my rundown of every Ryobi ONE+ battery I own covers which capabilities make their cost.

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