Internet Goes Out Every Night At Same Time: Can We Fix That?

When you experience an issue where your internet goes out every night at the same time, then there’s not much you can do but the obvious things. This is generally not an issue we can fix because it’s an electricity issue.

Think about it, the internet going out every night at the same time means that there’s either a power switch that disables your internet in your home, or there’s something wrong with your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

Reasons Internet Goes Out Every Night at the Same Time

Apart from our ISP actually cutting us off because we didn’t pay the bill, or the ISP’s server goes down because of maintenance every night at the same time, there are other reasons this issue occurs. However, if your ISP does maintenance every night at the same time, you should change your ISP. Now, let’s look at the other reasons:

• Power interference: There’s a possibility that something powering on in the neighborhood, like lights, might cause interference with your ISP’s node, and this results in your internet access not working.
• Power switches: There might be a power switch in the apartment, the building, or your house that someone uses to save power every night. This switch might affect your router or modem as well.

However, this is easy to figure out because you can check whether the modem is turned off or not. If it’s off, simply plug it into another outlet, and it’s going to work just fine, or you can flip the switches in your utility box.

• Heavy traffic: Another reason your internet goes out every night at the same time might be heavy traffic during that time. People come back from work and go online, or they surf the web before they go to sleep. Heavy traffic can cause our internet to go out.
• Bad cables: This is the least probable reason our internet goes out every night at the same time because broken cables cause trouble at random times. We can usually have a great connection for a few days until we accidentally move the cable and there’s no internet access.

How to Fix Internet Going Out Every Night at the Same Time

Now that we know why our internet connection goes out every night at the same time, we can fix it. Several solutions might work, and they include reducing the traffic, experimenting with channels, choosing a different ISP, choosing a different package with your current ISP, and rebooting your router.

Reducing traffic

Sometimes, we can fix this issue by simply reducing the traffic from the devices in our homes. You can use a network monitoring tool to identify why there’s congestion in your network. These tools are great for diagnostics.

With these monitoring tools and even with the QoS (Quality of Service) feature in some routers, modems, or gateways, we can prioritize our traffic. We can prioritize the traffic by services, device IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, and by interfaces.

The best way to do it is to reduce your traffic according to services, because you know what people in your household do most online, like surfing social media, streaming videos, and doing many broadband-consuming activities. Try using QoS to improve your connection.

Changing channels

Another thing we can try to fix the connection issues that we have is to change our frequency band or channel. With the 2.4 GHz band, you may find 11 channels for your wireless connection, and with the 5 GHz band, there are 45 channels.

The channels that don’t overlap on the 2.4 frequency band are 1, 6, and 11. If you opt for the 5 GHz frequency band, you need to remain close to the router or modem, because this band provides a faster speed, but it has a limited range.

There are many channels you can choose from the 5 GHz frequency band, and there’s no reason to believe that the channel your router is using automatically is going to overlap with other channels because there are 45 of them.

Opt for a different ISP

The suggestion is always there. If the internet goes out every night at the same time, there’s no reason to remain a subscriber of your ISP. So, to prevent this issue from happening in the future, just get a better provider.

Maybe your ISP is not doing so great because of the way they distribute internet access. Cable ISPs use coaxial cables, DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) ISPs use twisted-pair cables, and some ISPs use optical fiber. Choose the one that requires the least maintenance, and that’s most reliable.

Recommended reading:

• Best Place to Put Router in 2 Story House

Opt for a different package

We can also choose a different service package from our ISP that we know is more reliable. Try getting in contact with your ISP’s customer support team and asking them if this is a common issue and if it would continue happening if you were to switch your subscription package.

Even your initiative will result in better service because no provider wants to lose a subscriber. You’re a paying customer, and you should get the best service there is, especially in times of social media where every experience is shared online with the public. So, one dissatisfied customer can cause many more.

Router reboot or reset

There might be something wrong with your router, modem, or gateway in terms of firmware, or you just haven’t restarted your device in a long time. Turn the device off for a few minutes and power it back on. This usually helps resolve a lot of issues.

If Reboot Doesn’t Work

Well, if the reboot doesn’t work, that means that you might have a faulty or outdated modem, or the cables of your modem are faulty, or just loose. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to check if everything is in order with the cables, and this is usually the first thing we do.

However, if none of these things are causing the issue, ask your ISP to provide an upgrade for you. If they don’t provide an upgrade, get a modem independent from your ISP.

Conclusion

There aren’t many things we can do to fix the problem when our internet goes out every night at the same time. The only actual reasons this could happen are timed power switches, power interference, heavy traffic, and lousy wiring.

We can try to fix it using one of the suggested solutions, but the best thing to do is probably switch to a better ISP, or use a better modem. If none of these solutions work, a good old network reset might do the trick for you.

Recommended reading:

• What Modems Are Compatible With Windstream?
• What Modems Are Compatible With Midco?
• What Modems Are Compatible With Sparklight?

David Rigg

Hey, I’m David. I’ve been working as a wireless network engineer and a network administrator for 15 years. During my studies, I also worked as an ISP field technician – that’s when I met Jeremy. 

I hold a bachelor’s degree in network engineering and a master’s degree in computer science and engineering. I’m also a Cisco-certified service provider. 

In my professional career, I worked for router/modem manufacturers and internet providers. I like to think that I’m good at explaining network-related issues in simple terms. That’s exactly what I’m doing on this website – I’m making simple and easy-to-follow guides on how to install, set up, and troubleshoot your networking hardware. I also review new network equipment – modems, gateways, switches, routers, extenders, mesh systems, cables, etc. 

My goal is to help regular users with their everyday network issues, educate them, and make them less scared of their equipment. In my articles, you can find tips on what to look for when buying new networking hardware, and how to adjust your network settings to get the most out of your wi-fi. 

Since my work is closely related to computers, servers, and other network equipment, I like to spend most of my spare time outdoors. When I want to blow off some steam, I like to ride my bike. I also love hiking and swimming. When I need to calm down and clear my mind, my go-to activity is fishing.