We are surrounded by so many gadgets with a thousand and one little lights that we often tend to ignore them, so that our brains do not explode. But when it comes to the router , the device that brings Internet and happiness to our home , we should pay a little more attention because the lights sometimes give us clues that there may be some kind of problem.
So, we are going to tell you what each of the lights on your router means , although their placement will depend on the model you have at home since no standard is followed. Let’s see what each of them does and what it indicates , so that you can identify problems with your connection. Or, on the contrary, that you can check that everything is going as it should. At least when it comes to the device itself, of course.
These are the most common lights on any router on the market
- Power or the power light:the meaning of this light seems quite obvious. Usually labeled with the name ‘Power’ or perhaps ‘PW’, it is the light that tells us that the router is correctly receiving power from the socket and that it is connected. Whether it’s on or not doesn’t mean anything about our connection. Just that the router has power . Have you checked that the router is turned on? Exactly, it is the one that serves to answer that question.
- Internet:here we enter the operation of your connection as such. Usually labeled ‘Internet’, sometimes ‘Network’, this is the light that indicates the router is receiving a signal from the outside. That is, it receives a connection, be it fiber, ADSL or any other type depending on the model. If it lights up, there is a line. If it doesn’t turn on, we have a problem. Houston, Internet is down.
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What to keep in mind to know if you have a good router
- WLAN/WiFi/Etc:Another light that is quite important since it is the one that indicates that the WiFi network of our home (or office) is working. It does not tell us if there are devices connected or not, only that the WiFi network works. In some routers, yes, this light does not turn on until there is at least one device connected, this must be taken into account. It is usual, by the way, for this light to blink as it receives and emits information , and not for it to be a fixed light. This flashing can give us an idea of the load supported by the internal network, since if it flashes at full speed it means that we have intense traffic. If this happens and we have almost nothing connected to the Internet, they may be stealing our WiFi connection . It’s worth checking out.
- LAN1, LAN2 and vice versa:Not everything in a router is wireless or has to do with WiFi. The models usually have at least one physical port, one for Ethernet network cables to which we can connect televisions, computers, consoles, a PLC network system, etc. If we have these physical ports present, it is normal for the router to have at least one light for each port, and they are labeled LAN1, LAN2 and vice versa. Each of these lights will turn on if we have a device connected and broadcasting, and will work in the same way as the WiFi light, blinking depending on data traffic, emission and reception. It is the one that will tell us, for example, that our console is correctly connected to the Internet if we have it hooked up by cable and not by WiFi.
Some router lights only indicate if the function you touch is operational or not, others blink to indicate the level of activity.
- PHONE/Tel: Not all routers have a connection for telephones, but if ours does have one, we will have a light on the front that bears this label. Either ‘PHONE’, or ‘TEL’, or the icon of a telephone. This light will turn on to indicate that the phone connection port is operational and working properly.
- USB: As in the case of other option lights depending on the model of our router, if we can connect a device via USB to the one we have at home, this light will be present. Its function is to indicate that there is something connected to the USB port, and it should not flash depending on the data transfer. It is simply a pilot indicating that something is connected. Be it a printer, a hard drive or a flash drive. If something is connected, it should turn on.
- WPS: The last of the standard lights that we can find on a router is the one that indicates that the router’s WPS function is active. We are talking about a function that is activated with a button and that allows you to connect to the router without using the key. For this reason, the usual thing is that when pressing the WPS button this light is activated but it turns off after a minute, or maybe less. During the time it is on, we can connect any wireless device to the router. If we see that it is on for too long, or when we don’t need it, we will have to see if the button does not produce a temporary effect. We may have to press again to ‘close’ the router and restore previous security.
For all of these lights, it is common for all of them to light up bright yellow or green. It is the universal code for them. Colorimetry can also tell us that something is wrong , for example, and its meaning is also usually standard. Here are the standard colors:
- No light:the function is off. Either the router because it is not connected, the Internet signal because we have not connected the cable or any of the LANs because we do not have any network cable plugged in. No light = off.
- Bright yellow or green light –everything is going as it should. This is where the blinks come in, which we have described above.
Orange light, red light = bad.
- Orange or red light:something is happening. Perhaps the router needs to be restarted because there is a software error, and it reflects it by showing an orange light in the ‘Power’ section. Perhaps there is a problem with the Internet connection, the one that comes from the operator that we have contracted, and then the one that will turn orange will be the ‘Internet’ light. In some models the light is not orange but red. Its meaning is the same, that something happens. And that is never a good sign.
