Quick answer: Across 374 named models reported for 2024, the median router, modem or gateway draws 8.22 watts — just above what EU law allows. Wi-Fi router watts for a unit you buy run 1.85 to 26.10. The gateway your provider rents is the expensive one: median 14.20 W, worst 26.87 W — $43 a year, or £61.
Your router never switches off, and it is the one appliance nobody prints a wattage on. That is why it sits in our appliance wattage chart as a range rather than a number. The sticker on its adapter says 12 V, 2 A; people multiply those and conclude 24 W — the mistake we took apart in how to read an appliance label. An adapter rating is a ceiling the supply must survive, not a draw the device produces.
For this one appliance there is a way out. Because a router is always on, regulators went after it directly, and on both sides of the Atlantic somebody is now obliged to write a real figure down: in Europe by law, in the United States by an audited industry agreement that names individual models.
Wi-Fi router watts for 374 named models, printed next to them
Since 2015 the American broadband industry has run a Voluntary Agreement on the energy efficiency of small network equipment. It is not law: providers and makers commit that 90 % of the boxes they buy or sell each year will meet an agreed level, and an independent administrator audits the figures and lab-tests one model per signatory. Appendix A then lists every model by part number with its reported watts; the providers signing it serve roughly 91.3 million American homes. We pulled out all 375 rows for 2024.
| What it is | Models | Lowest | Median | Highest | A year at the median (US) | UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-in-one gateway from your provider | 51 | 6.00 W | 14.20 W | 26.87 W | $22.81 | £32.48 |
| Cable or fibre modem on its own | 14 | 7.24 W | 8.52 W | 11.00 W | $13.69 | £19.49 |
| Wi-Fi router you buy yourself | 269 | 1.85 W | 7.40 W | 26.10 W | $11.89 | £16.93 |
| Ethernet switch or Wi-Fi extender | 40 | 0.60 W | 3.42 W | 12.73 W | $5.49 | £7.82 |
| Router, modem or gateway, no switches | 334 | 1.85 W | 8.22 W | 26.87 W | $13.21 | £18.80 |
Two things jump out. The spread inside one category beats the gap between categories: a Wi-Fi router can be 1.85 W or 26.10 W, both current. And the box you did not choose is the one that costs you: the provider’s gateway has almost twice the median of a retail router. Left plugged in all year, the highest of them — the Verizon Router (CR1000B), at 26.87 W — uses 235 kWh. Our figures for a chest freezer run from 201 to 347 kWh a year.
In Europe there is a legal ceiling, and it is 8 watts
European law treats routers as a category of their own. Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/826, applying since 9 May 2025, calls them equipment with high network availability, or HiNA: equipment whose main functions are those of “a router, network switch, wireless network access point, hub, modem, VoIP telephone, video phone” and nothing else. Its rule is one sentence:
The power consumption of HiNA equipment or equipment with HiNA functionality, in networked standby shall not exceed 8,00 W.
From 9 May 2027 the same sentence drops to 7.00 W. Anything networked that is not HiNA equipment faces a much harder 2.00 W. The regulation’s own benchmark annex records that the best equipment already manages 3 W, so the ceiling sits at nearly three times what good designs achieve. Britain kept the older European text: Regulation (EC) No 1275/2008 as retained in UK law has imposed the same 8.00 W since 1 January 2017, with no step down in 2027.
How to find the number for your own box
The same regulation is why a figure exists. It obliges makers to publish, in the manual or on a free-access website, “the power consumption of the equipment in networked standby if all wired network ports are connected and all wireless network ports are activated”, in watts to one decimal place. That is a router doing its normal job with everything switched on. Search your maker’s support site for the model number plus “networked standby”; if the box came from an American provider, look up its part number in Appendix A instead. The two systems measure slightly differently, and the annual report does not print its test procedure, so treat a gap of a watt or two as noise.
Wi-Fi router watts have not moved in a decade
The report also tracks a weighted average, and it runs against the usual narrative. In 2015 the average new box drew 11.36 W. In 2024 it drew 11.37 W. Ten years, one hundredth of a watt. Not quite a failure: over the same decade broadband speeds rose more than ninefold, so per megabit delivered the boxes became 89 % more efficient. But in the unit your meter understands they stood still, and in 2024 went the wrong way — up 7 % on 2023 as Wi-Fi 7 arrived. Tier 4 levels applied from 2026, so 2024 may prove the peak.
One related guess is wrong. A separate modem plus router ought to waste power against one combined unit, and on the medians it does — 8.52 plus 7.40 is 15.92 W against 14.20 W — but that is 1.72 W, about $2.76 a year. Choose on the model, not the arrangement.
In a blackout it is the cheapest thing you own
What makes a router annoying in normal times — always on — makes it trivial to back up. A 1,024 Wh portable power station would carry a 14.20 W gateway for about 72 hours. The same station runs a 1,500 W space heater for 41 minutes. Router and modem together sit in the same bracket as a CPAP machine.
The catch has nothing to do with watts. Your router only produces internet if the equipment upstream is running: the cabinet, the node, the exchange. Providers back those up, but not forever. Powering your own gateway often works, but it is no guarantee, which is why a charged phone belongs in the same plan.
Use the supply that came with it. Network equipment runs on low-voltage DC from an external adapter, and the voltage, the current and the plug polarity all have to match. A supply that fits the socket is not one that suits the device.
If someone in the house depends on a connection for a medical alarm or telecare, tell your provider and your electricity supplier while preparing before the power goes; both keep registers. And a generator lives outside, well away from windows and doors, because carbon monoxide is odourless and kills quickly.
Frequently asked questions
How many watts does a Wi-Fi router use?
The median of 269 retail Wi-Fi routers reported for 2024 is 7.40 W, with a range of 1.85 to 26.10 W. An all-in-one gateway from a provider is higher: a median of 14.20 W.
Can I use the power adapter rating to work out the watts?
No. Multiplying the volts and amps gives what the supply can deliver, not what the device takes. A 12 V, 2 A adapter reads as 24 W; the router under it usually draws well under half that. The same trap applies to every appliance label.
What does a router cost to run for a year?
At the 7.40 W median and 18.34¢/kWh, $11.89 a year in the US and £16.93 in the UK. A 14.20 W gateway costs $22.81 and £32.48. The worst reported model, at 26.87 W, costs about $43 and £61.
Is there a legal limit on how much a router can use?
In the EU and the UK, yes: 8.00 W in networked standby, falling to 7.00 W in the EU on 9 May 2027. In the United States there is no legal cap, only the voluntary agreement, and 176 of its 374 reported models sit above 8 W.
How long will a power station keep my internet up?
About 72 hours for a 14.20 W gateway on a 1,024 Wh portable power station, or 138 hours for a 7.40 W router. The limit is rarely the battery; it is how long the provider’s own equipment stays powered.
This article is general information, not an installation guide and not a substitute for a licensed electrician. Electrical work on a service panel, a transfer switch or a utility connection is regulated in most jurisdictions and normally requires a permit and an inspection. Fuel-burning equipment produces carbon monoxide and must never be run indoors, in a garage or near an opening into the home.
