Do you leave your wireless router on?

loulou41

My sky wireless router is playing up and I need to reboot sometimes twice a day. I spoke to CS and he said it should be left on 24/7. I do use the internet couple of hours a day and tend to switch off when not in use. Is he right should I leave it on 24/7? Also router is quite old has anybody got a replacement from sky for free. Thanks

teddysmum

Our router is always on.


People have been able to haggle for a new one , but there are probably lots on Ebay, from people who changed to a new provider and took their router.

TadleyBaggie

If you keep switching off the router, the line monitoring software of the ISP may assume the line is problematic and reduce your line speed.

Pincher

If you keep them somewhere enclosed, with poor ventilation, they can overheat, leading to shortened life, or even catch fire.

I unplug the adaptor when I go away for days, just in case it catches fire, but otherwise it's on 24/7.

prowla

Pincher wrote: »

If you keep them somewhere enclosed, with poor ventilation, they can overheat, leading to shortened life, or even catch fire.

I unplug the adaptor when I go away for days, just in case it catches fire, but otherwise it's on 24/7.

Do you have any known instances of them catching fire

prowla

I leave mine on all the time, with the exception of an occasional reboot if things slow to a crawl.

20aday

I also leave mine on 24/7 unless I'm going away for a couple of days.

As pointed out above turning it on/off regularly leads your ISP to suspecting there's a problem with the line and therefore reducing your broadband speeds.

How long have you been with Sky Broadband for? Might be worth contacting customer service and haggling for a free replacement?

kwikbreaks

20aday wrote: »

As pointed out above turning it on/off regularly leads your ISP to suspecting there's a problem with the line and therefore reducing your broadband speeds.

... because naturally those specifying the DLM functionality plain forgot that sometimes routers get powered off. Make sure they are always oriented North South and keep your fingers crossed when less than 5m from one too.

What can screw up the DLM is yanking the modem cable from the phone socket rather than powering down first. It is just about possible that powering up and down umpteen times in a short period could cause a profile change but powering down overnight isn't going to bring down the wrath of the DLM routines.

That said mine is on 24x7 as I have a couple of applications which upload data to my website 24x7 plus I cba to wait for a router to boot up if I'm struck with a desire to find some snippet of information. I figure on saving maybe £10 a year by conscientiously turning the things on and off is a pretty poor reward for the effort.

Pincher

prowla wrote: »

Do you have any known instances of them catching fire

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/07/tips-for-how-to-keep-your-wireless-broadband-isp-router-cool.html

There are electrical fires all the time, all kinds of things catch fire, for all sorts of reasons. A defective adaptor could catch fire all by itself.

Every time I see routers lying on carpets, I get a creepy feeling.
Lots of people do it under desks. Feel the carpet under the router, if it doesn't scare you, it does me.

kwikbreaks

I have mine on a glass chopping board for the very reasons you mention. It's at the back of the settee which is another reason I leave it on 24x7.

AndyPK

Yeah I was switching my Sky one off, and it dropped the speed right down to a crawl.


Just switch it off when you go on holiday.