Power outages in Western Canada are rarely long, but they are common enough to matter: prairie wind storms, spring ice loading, wildfire-related shutoffs in the BC interior, and the occasional transformer failure in a growing subdivision. When the power drops, most people expect the lights to go out. What surprises them is that their internet goes out too — even though their laptop is fully charged and their phone shows a signal.
Here is why that happens, and how to keep a working connection through a two-hour or two-day outage without buying a generator.
Why your internet dies the moment the power does
Your home connection depends on a chain of powered equipment, and every link has to be alive:
- Your modem or ONT (the box where fibre or cable enters the house) — plugged into your wall.
- Your router or WiFi access points — also plugged in.
- Neighbourhood equipment — cable amplifiers, nodes, and cabinets on the street. Most carry battery backup measured in hours, not days.
- The provider’s network core — this has generators and is almost never the problem.
In practice, the first two links are what fail in your outage. Fix those and, in most short outages, you still have internet.
Fibre has a quiet advantage
Fibre optic lines carry light, not electricity, and there is generally no powered equipment between your house and the exchange that depends on your neighbourhood’s grid. Put your ONT and router on a battery and a fibre connection often stays up through an outage that takes the whole street dark. Cable networks rely on powered amplifiers in the neighbourhood, which have their own batteries but typically run for a few hours at most. If you are choosing between technologies, this resilience difference is worth knowing — our fibre vs cable comparison covers the rest of the trade-offs.
The single best fix: a UPS on your network gear
An uninterruptible power supply is a battery in a box. Your modem and router plug into it; it plugs into the wall. When the grid drops, it takes over instantly with no reboot and no dropped video call.
How to size one properly
Home network gear draws very little power. Typical figures:
- Fibre ONT: 5–10 W
- Cable modem: 8–15 W
- WiFi router: 10–20 W
- Each mesh satellite: 8–12 W
- Network switch (8-port): 5–10 W
A full setup usually lands between 25 W and 50 W. A common 600 VA / 360 W consumer UPS costs roughly $110–$180 in Canada and will run a 35 W load for something like 4–8 hours. A 1000–1500 VA unit ($200–$350) can stretch a small load past 12 hours. That covers the vast majority of outages in Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan.
Two practical notes. First, do not plug a space heater, kettle, laser printer, or fridge into the same UPS — it will drain in minutes. Keep it to network gear and maybe a laptop charger. Second, look for a pure sine wave model if you can; some simulated-sine units make cheap power supplies buzz or misbehave.
Where to put it
In the same place as your modem — often a basement utility room or a mechanical closet. Keep it off the concrete floor, out of a sealed cabinet, and away from anything that gets damp. Test it twice a year by pulling the plug and confirming your WiFi survives. UPS batteries are consumables: expect to replace them every three to five years.
Backup option two: your phone as a hotspot
Cell towers have their own batteries and generators, so mobile data often survives when your street loses power. Tethering one laptop to a phone is perfectly workable for email, banking, and messaging.
The limits are real, though. Tethered speeds during a widespread outage are often degraded because everyone nearby is doing the same thing. Data buckets go quickly — an hour of HD video streaming runs about 3 GB, and a video call about 1–2 GB per hour. And your phone becomes the thing you need to keep charged. Know your plan’s hotspot allowance before you rely on it.
Charge banks beat generators for most households
A 20,000 mAh power bank ($40–$70) will recharge a typical phone three to four times. A larger portable power station in the 250–500 Wh range ($250–$600) can run a 35 W network setup for 6–14 hours and recharge phones and laptops — which makes it a more flexible buy than a UPS if you want one device for camping, outages, and the garage.
Backup option three: keep a copy of what you need offline
The cheapest resilience is planning. Before storm season:
- Download offline maps for your region in your maps app.
- Save a few series or movies to your phone or tablet for offline viewing — invaluable with kids during an evening outage.
- Keep a printed or offline note with your provider’s support number, your account number, and your utility’s outage line.
- Make sure at least one household member’s phone has a working data plan and a hotspot enabled.
- Store important documents locally, not only in cloud storage that needs a connection.
Rural and acreage properties: plan for longer
Restoration times are usually longer at the end of a rural line than in a city subdivision. If you work from a property outside Red Deer, Grande Prairie, or a BC interior community, size your backup for a day rather than a few hours, and consider a larger portable power station. Cell coverage can also be weaker rurally, which makes hotspot fallback less reliable — an outdoor cellular signal booster is sometimes the missing piece. Our rural internet guide goes deeper on connectivity options outside city limits.
What to do when the power comes back
Restored power sometimes comes with a surge or a few brief flickers, which is exactly what confuses network hardware.
- Wait two or three minutes before touching anything — the grid can flicker again.
- Power up in order: modem or ONT first, wait for its lights to go solid (60–90 seconds), then the router, then switches and mesh units.
- Check the lights, not the WiFi icon. If your modem shows no signal or a red status light, the problem is upstream and no amount of rebooting your router will fix it.
- Confirm it’s not just your gear. Test on a wired device and on your phone over WiFi with mobile data off.
- Still down after 15 minutes with a healthy modem? Contact support — neighbourhood equipment sometimes needs a reset after an outage. If everything looks fine but feels slow, our slow internet troubleshooting guide walks through the next checks.
Surge protection is worth mentioning here: a decent surge-protected power bar for your network gear costs $30–$50 and is cheaper than replacing a modem, router and switch after one bad restoration event. Most UPS units include surge protection already.
A simple tiered plan
- Under $80: surge-protected power bar, a 20,000 mAh power bank, offline maps and media, hotspot enabled and tested.
- $150–$250: add a 600–900 VA UPS on the modem and router. Covers most outages completely.
- $400+: a 1500 VA UPS or a 500 Wh portable power station, plus a cellular booster if you are rural. Effectively a full day of connectivity.
Most households are well served by the middle tier. It is a one-time purchase that quietly turns an outage from a work stoppage into an inconvenience.
Start with a connection worth backing up
Battery backup only helps if the line into your house is solid to begin with. If your connection already drops in bad weather or crawls in the evenings, backup power will not fix it. Get Wifi offers fibre and cable plans across Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan — you can check availability at your address in a couple of minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Does internet work during a power outage?
Not usually, because your modem and router need household power. If you put them on a battery backup, fibre connections often keep working; cable connections depend on neighbourhood amplifiers that typically have a few hours of battery.
What size UPS do I need for a modem and router?
A 600 VA / 360 W UPS is enough for most homes. Network gear draws only 25–50 W total, which such a unit can typically run for 4–8 hours.
Will my phone still have service in an outage?
Usually yes for a while. Cell towers have battery and generator backup, though speeds can slow when many neighbours switch to mobile data at once.
Is fibre internet more reliable in a power outage than cable?
Generally yes. Fibre carries light and needs no powered equipment between your home and the exchange, so a battery on your ONT and router is often enough to stay online.
What order should I restart my equipment after an outage?
Modem or ONT first, wait for solid lights, then the router, then switches and mesh units. Wait two to three minutes after power returns before starting.
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