Wireless approach: Russians began to buy WiFi routers due to Internet blockages

Russians have started buying WiFi routers due to the increased blocking of mobile Internet. The demand for these devices doubled in June and July compared to the same period in 2024, sellers and operators told Izvestia. Unlike in large cities, not all residents of the regions have home Internet and WiFi. Small and medium—sized businesses also buy routers - they transfer cash terminals and various kinds of IT systems to WiFi. At the same time, disabling the Internet is one of the ways to deal with drones. Authorities and businesses are currently discussing the introduction of rules to reduce such communication restrictions.

How much sales of WiFi routers have increased in Russia

Sales of WiFi routers have increased in Russia, their sellers and broadband access operators told Izvestia. Thus, their sales on Wildberries this summer increased by 112% compared to June – July 2024, the marketplace's press service estimated.

— Interestingly, the dynamics of wired devices for home Internet, with sales growth of 134%, significantly outstripped mobile routers (they "grew" by 85%), — the company noted.

In terms of sales, mobile routers are more than 1.5 times inferior to stationary ones, they added.

A source close to another trading platform said that in June – July, sales of network equipment (modems, routers and components) on the platform increased by 9% compared to April – May 2025.

— Modems and routers have been bought more often by 6% over the past two months. Year—on-year, we record an 11% increase in sales of network equipment," the source told Izvestia.

Sellers and communications specialists note that the growing demand for routers is associated with increased mobile Internet outages in the regions, which allows both private and corporate users to stay connected during lockouts.

"The situation with periodic restrictions on mobile access has highlighted the competitive advantages of fixed Internet and WiFi, including data transfer speeds and the absence of traffic limits,— the Rostelecom press service said.

In recent months, the company has noted an increase in the number of requests for home Internet connection by an average of 12-15% year-on-year, and in some regions the dynamics is higher.

Rostelecom also reported a significant increase in the number of applications from business segment customers (especially small and medium-sized enterprises) for fixed Internet connection, including WiFi — in June – July, their number increased 2.2 times compared to the same period last year. Such clients need it to connect their information systems, cash registers and distribute the Internet to visitors, the company said.

At Megafon, average monthly router sales increased by 15-20% in the summer compared to spring. At the same time, the company points out that seasonality leads to an increase in sales — in the summer, Russians tend to buy such devices both for vacations and for remote work in the country. The reason may also be the desire to use a higher Internet speed, which is provided by broadband access.

However, not all retailers are seeing an increase in demand for routers. For example, the commercial director of Refrigerator does not see such demand in the first half of summer.<url>" Alexey Pogudalov. The proportion of users who use exclusively mobile Internet at home in Russia is relatively low — most have wired Internet connected, and the equipment is usually provided by the provider for free or for rent, which reduces the need for independent purchase of devices, he argues.

— In addition, the router itself is not an Internet source — it only distributes an already connected channel. Therefore, even against the background of temporary interruptions in mobile communications, interest in such devices remained stable," the expert added.

Who needs additional Internet access and why

Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Finance.

Meanwhile, in order to streamline and reduce mass outages, the agency and business are discussing the introduction of rules for disabling mobile Internet, a senior federal official and a top manager of one of the cellular companies previously told Izvestia. The number of attacks using drones has recently begun to grow. From the beginning to the middle of July 2025 alone, about 1.5 thousand Ukrainian aircraft-type UAVs were destroyed and intercepted, according to reports from the Ministry of Defense.

Disabling mobile communications is one of the ways to deal with drones. This is a standard practice in preparation for various mass events. However, now the relevant orders are being given by local authorities, regional departments of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, other officials and organizations, and often the requirements are chaotic, market participants interviewed earlier by Izvestia noted. Perhaps a single government agency responsible for this will be identified, and an alert system will be created, Izvestia's interlocutors did not rule out.

According to Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group, sales of WiFi routers doubled in the first half of summer 2025 compared to the same period last year. He confirms that demand is really growing amid massive outages of the mobile Internet.

— It should be noted that WiFi in the regions is still not available in all apartments of apartment buildings: the computer is connected directly by cable, mobile gadgets have until recently been integrated into cellular networks, which in the current conditions is fraught with their disconnection from the Internet, — says the expert.

According to him, private and corporate users also have a need to buy new routers instead of the old, less productive ones.

Until now, many people have used mobile routers, they were often enough to work during self-isolation, and to watch videos on gadgets, said Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily. But now, according to him, mobile Internet is not available everywhere and not always, so people choose WiFi.

In addition, small and medium-sized businesses are also stocking up on WiFi routers — small kiosks and shops, which are now forced to post ads "accepting payments in cash only," are switching from mobile payment terminals to WiFi devices, Eldar Murtazin concluded.