Five simple ways to protect yourself

Geep

The advice in the latest Tips email to Switch it off! might be misleading. It is not good practice to switch off broadband if that means switching off a router, since that means you will likely get a slower service! It takes some time after switching on a router for it to get up to speed, that could be hours or possibly a day.

kwikbreaks

Geep wrote: »

It takes some time after switching on a router for it to get up to speed, that could be hours or possibly a day.

No it doesn't - apart from the time to boot up of course. That said I run mine 24x7 anyway serving webcams and other stuff.

Geep

We'll have to agree to differ then.

"switching a router on and off will upset the BT equipment in your exchange. It will see your switching on and off as connection instability and drop your speed to try and stabilise it."

and

"ADSL modems are normally powered by the computer (via Usb/firewire) and when the computer is switched off, the modem automatically switches off too. Unfortunately this will mean that you will get much slower speeds from your ISP as "adaptive rate technology" is used in ADSL Max. This means that because your modem has switched off, you ISP "thinks" that the line cannot cope at the speed it is set, and will change to a slower download/upload speed"

and (advice from PlusNet ISP)

"2. Leave your router switched on

Leaving your router on will make sure you get the best speed and performance from your service.

Don’t switch it off at night! Regularly switching off your router can make it look like your service is disconnecting. If this happens, your broadband speed will be reduced because the exchange thinks your line is unstable and can’t cope with higher speeds. Speed reductions are never permanent, but it can take up to 3 days before your speeds return to normal."

Gratis

Geep wrote: »

The advice in the latest Tips email to Switch it off! might be misleading. It is not good practice to switch off broadband if that means switching off a router, since that means you will likely get a slower service! It takes some time after switching on a router for it to get up to speed, that could be hours or possibly a day.

The advice in the MSE Newsletter wasn't to switch off your router.

It was to switch off your computer when you're not using it.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/free-anti-virus-software?utm_source=MSE_Newsletter&utm_medium=oneliner-one&utm_term=03-Jun-14-v1&utm_campaign=shopping&utm_content=8

Geep

No, it said "At the very least, disconnect your broadband when you're not online.".
And I said, that could be misleading. One way of disconnecting is switching your router off. No more than that. YMMV.

JJ_Egan

Router is not a modem in some cases .
Its switching off the modem that may cause problems at the exchange .
That depends upon many factors including what type of service connection .
I spent five years switching off modem on an ADSL2 connection with no problem once the training period had finished .
With fibre the modem is always on but router off when not needed and no problems .
Yes the switch your broadband off lacked information as to how and why .