Small power station for phones, modem and lights (AU)

If all you need through a blackout is the phones, the modem and a couple of lamps, a station of about 300Wh does the job for an evening and a night, as long as you switch the modem off when you go to bed. Get one with AC outlets, because most modems run off a plug pack. We'd pick the EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus: it has a switchover under 10ms for the modem and can take an extra battery later. The Bluetti Elite 30 V2 is a close second.

The specs below come from each maker's Australian product page, linked at the bottom. We haven't used these units ourselves, so the runtimes are sums from those specs, not measurements.

The four we'd look at

Station	Battery	AC output	UPS switchover
EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus	286Wh LiFePO4	600W, 3 outlets	Under 10ms
Bluetti Elite 30 V2	288Wh LFP	600W	10ms or less
Jackery Explorer 300 Plus	288Wh LFP	300W	EPS, time not stated
Anker SOLIX C300 DC	288Wh LiFePO4	None, DC only	Not listed

All four use lithium iron phosphate cells, which last longer and handle heat better than the older NMC type. Our battery chemistry guide has the detail.

Do the sums for one night

Take a typical small blackout load: the modem and router drawing 15W, two LED lamps at 5W each, and two phones that take roughly 15Wh each for a full charge. Those are example figures, so check the labels on your own gear.

If the power goes at 6pm and you keep everything running until 6am, the modem uses 15 x 12 = 180Wh, the lamps 2 x 5 x 5 hours = 50Wh, and the phones 30Wh. That's 260Wh. A 288Wh station, allowing 15% for conversion losses, gives you about 288 x 0.85 = 245Wh. So it falls a little short.

Switch the modem off from midnight and it uses 15 x 6 = 90Wh instead. The total drops to 170Wh, which leaves about 75Wh for the morning. That's enough for the modem for another five hours or so (75 / 15). The 0.85 is our assumption. EcoFlow says the RIVER 3 Plus does better than that with small loads, and Bluetti quotes a standby draw of 4.5W for the Elite 30 V2, so your real figure could land either side. The runtime calculator lets you plug in your own numbers.

Why we'd pick the RIVER 3 Plus

EcoFlow lists 286Wh, three AC outlets with 600W between them (1,200W with X-Boost for heating loads), 4.7kg and a switchover under 10ms. Leave it plugged into the wall with the modem plugged into it and the internet should stay up when the power drops. It charges from flat to full in about an hour on AC and takes up to 220W of solar.

The bigger reason is expansion. EcoFlow sells an extra battery that clips on, taking it to 572Wh with the EB300 or 858Wh with both add-ons. At 572Wh the same sum gives about 572 x 0.85 = 486Wh, enough for the modem for a full 24 hours (360Wh) plus the lamps and phones. So you can start small and grow it if the outages in your street run long.

The others

The Bluetti Elite 30 V2 matches the EcoFlow on battery size and 600W output, with a 1,500W lifting mode for resistive loads, a 140W USB-C port and a 10ms UPS. Bluetti lists it at 4.3kg and says it recharges to 80% in about 45 minutes. It can't take an expansion battery, so what you buy is what you've got.

The Jackery Explorer 300 Plus is the lightest at 3.75kg, which makes it the easiest to carry to the car or the campsite. Its AC output is 300W, plenty for a modem and lamps but not a lot else. Jackery says it supports EPS but doesn't give a switchover time, so don't count on the modem staying up without a blink.

The Anker SOLIX C300 DC has no AC outlets at all. It's built around USB-C (two 140W ports, one 100W, one 15W), two USB-A ports and a 120W car socket. That's fine for phones, USB lamps and a laptop, but a modem with a normal plug pack won't plug in. Only consider it if you already have USB or 12V lighting and don't need the internet.

Keep it safe

Charge it where the Queensland Fire Department says to charge any lithium battery: on a hard surface, somewhere ventilated, with someone home. Don't use a station that's hot, swollen or damaged. Plug devices straight into the station's outlets. Never connect it to a power point or the switchboard to back up the house, since the only safe way to link backup power to house wiring is a changeover switch and inlet put in by a licensed electrician.

One more thing about the modem. nbn says every mains-powered device needs its own backup to work in a blackout, and that even its old battery backup unit only kept the connection box going for about five hours. If you're on fibre to the premises, the connection box needs power too, so plug it into the station alongside the modem.

When to go bigger

A small station won't run a fridge for long. If you want the fridge, a fan and the modem through a full day of a cyclone blackout, our blackout and cyclone season guide works through why we'd start at about 1kWh, and the 1kWh brand comparison covers the stations in that class.

Sources (checked October 2026): EcoFlow AU: RIVER 3 Plus · Bluetti AU: Elite 30 V2 · Jackery AU: Explorer 300 Plus · Anker SOLIX AU: C300 DC · nbn: What happens in a power blackout? · nbn: Fibre user guide · Queensland Fire Department: Lithium-ion battery safety · Energex: Electrical generator safety

Where to buy in Australia

Buying from the brand's Australian store means 230V AU outlets, the local warranty and local support. Prices move around a lot, so check on the day.

EcoFlow RIVER 3 PlusEcoFlow AustraliaSee it at EcoFlow Australia
Bluetti Elite 30 V2Bluetti AustraliaSee it at Bluetti Australia
Jackery Explorer 300 PlusJackery AustraliaSee it at Jackery Australia
Anker SOLIX C300 DCAnker SOLIX AustraliaDC only, with no AC outletsSee it at Anker SOLIX Australia