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Anobody knows about any wifi routers that have a button (or switch) to turn the wifi signal off?

BTW: there are a few reasons I can think of why one would want to do this but not turn of the complete router:

  • save energy / gain security, when no one is home, but you still want your wired network to be operational to have access to e.g. a NAS
  • turn off the wifi signal when you go to bed because the basestation is close to your bed and you're are worried about too much RF signals slowly destroying your brain
  • make sure children upstairs can't access the internet instead of doing their homework

The whole point of having a button instead of a software solution would be that anybody could do it, including your non-technical wife for example.

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  • I have not seen one of these in a long time. Is there a reason you don't want to turn off the whole router, just Wifi? Sep 9, 2009 at 12:49
  • 3
    Maybe he's got some machines connected via wire.
    – Rook
    Sep 9, 2009 at 12:53
  • Given the tag "energy" (much appreciated!) I wonder if switching of Wifi actually saves energy for all such devices.
    – Arjan
    Sep 9, 2009 at 12:57
  • I do have weird dreams of surfing the internet when my wireless is on - maybe that's that.
    – caliban
    Sep 9, 2009 at 12:58
  • 1
    @Rabarberski : Have you considered the alternative thinking that your kid might gain a few IQ points because of that? :P
    – caliban
    Sep 9, 2009 at 13:17

3 Answers 3

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Some versions of the Linksys WRT54G have a button on the front (under the Cisco logo), initially used by the Linksys firmware for SES (easier setup of wireless security).

Using the alternative DD-WRT firmware, the button can be remapped to switch on/off the wireless radio.

Unfortunately I'm not sure it's possible with the DD-WRT "mini" that you have to install as of the versions 5+ of the WRT54G (due to the smaller ROM/Flash they put in them).

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  • Refer: dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/SES_Button. SES -> Linksys, AOSS -> Buffalo, EZ-SETUP -> Asus. Not an off-the-shelf solution since you have to install DD-WRT, but it's an option.
    – hyperslug
    Sep 9, 2009 at 14:37
  • Only the first few (i think v1, v2) versions of the WRT54G has the SES button... the rest does not have that feature anymore.
    – caliban
    Sep 9, 2009 at 20:12
  • I have a v5 and it has the SES button.
    – Snark
    Sep 9, 2009 at 20:44
  • WRT54GL has the SES button as well. More info on this can be found on the dd-wrt website though... Only issue I have with it so far is that my SES button stays on whether the wifi is on or off... which is confusing. Edit: You can put cron jobs in the DD-WRT firmware to turn off your signal at night if you want to.
    – Malachi
    May 12, 2015 at 13:52
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Back before (nearly) all home routers had wifi built-in I had a setup that let me do exactly this.

A (4-port+external) ethernet router connected to my broadband and a separate wireless router plugged into one of the ethernet ports on the back (that just passed DNS/DHCP through to the main router).

Any non-technical person can then switch off the wireless box, or even just pull the plug out of the wall to disable the wireless.

In your case, if you've already got a router, just permanently switch off the WiFi on that, and then plug a cheap, dumb wireless AP into it.

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  • 1
    +1, @Rabarberski, since you're considering buying hardware, this might be the easiest way. An AP + disable wireless on the router.
    – hyperslug
    Sep 9, 2009 at 14:41
  • In addition to this you can also buy a digital 'timer' that will turn on/off your wireless router at set times. For example, you can have it turn off at 9pm and turn on again at 6am.. My timer actually has 2 on and 2 off settings. I think I bought 2 digital timers on ebay for $15 a year ago or so.. just FYI.
    – Malachi
    May 12, 2015 at 13:51
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I came across this feature in some Netgear wireless routers before... let me search...

There ya go : the DG834G has it. Under Features :

"WiFi on/off switch to turn off wireless signals"

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  • ...would have been nice if that stated "to save energy". Some (or all?) Netgear routers have this flashing Christmas-tree-like LED lighting that makes me feel they don't care to much about saving energy...
    – Arjan
    Sep 9, 2009 at 12:59
  • This "christmas-tree-like LEDs" can be turned off in the settings. After that, it's nice and quiet. Even quieter than my current router (a Zyxel, which illuminates the whole room...)
    – Wolf
    Sep 9, 2009 at 20:08

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