Do you leave your router on at all times?

ferry

Just curious to how many never bother turning off their routers at any point - also are there any benefits to leaving it on all times?
I assume power consumption is quite minimal

quietness

I always turn mine off when I'm at work or not using it as why pay for electric to keep it on when it's not needed, I realise the cost to run it would be very small but as they say every little helps.

duchy

Yes software updates are usually sent in the wee small hours if your router is turned off you won't receive them, plus turning anything on and off all the times tends to shorten its life span.

Additionally if your BB has dynamic line management (most do) the system will see you turning off the router as your BB coonection dropping and will likely drop your speed to one more suitable for an unstable line.

S0litaire

yup mine is in 24/7 :

I've got one of my Raspberry Pi's sitting as an "Get_iPlayer" DVR + Mail server (just testing and getting to know how to configure the darn things properly!.

Another as an Plex headless server and another as a LAMP + GITWeb server for programming and testing stuff.


*edit*

Check to see if your router has a "sleep mode" or "Sleep timing", some routers will give you the option to go into a low power "sleep" mode at set times during the day. that will keep your connection alive but it turns off the WiFi and other cinternal components saving you on the KW/h

wongataa

ferry wrote: »

Just curious to how many never bother turning off their routers at any point - also are there any benefits to leaving it on all times?
I assume power consumption is quite minimal

Mine is on all the time unless I am going away for a period of time. If you turn your router off when you go out and on when you come back in etc it can look like line issues and your speed can drop. I have seen this for myself. It doesn't always happen though.

DoaM

Is it time again already for this question?

Chino

wongataa wrote: »

If you turn your router off when you go out and on when you come back in etc it can look like line issues and your speed can drop. I have seen this for myself. It doesn't always happen though.

It has never happened to me. Do you have any evidence that turning a router off for a period of hours has caused a problem with anyone's line speed?

Mr.Generous

life is too short to try and save nano pence turning on and off a router, have you removed any light bulbs from fittings by any chance - a 3 bulb lounge light with 2 bulbs for instance?

Roger1

DoaM wrote: »

Is it time again already for this question?

Some discussion at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5511120

Stoke

I've heard that broadband companies can detect routers being switched on and off and if it happens a lot, will drop your speed as it's an unstable line.

beddo

I'm an IT consultant. I turn my router off whenever I'm out of the house. I don't have any devices or systems that need a constant connection (Smart Home etc). I also have my own router, not an ISP one so don't worry about firmware updates etc.

Regarding the comment on line drops, this is known as training. Whenever a new line is provisioned it goes through training to work out the best trade off between speed and stability. If your line goes off and on *in quick succession several times* it can trigger retraining however turning it off for a few hours or overnight won't trigger retraining. They key for ISPs is that the connection goes off and back on, possibly at a lower speed. Most routers will also cycle through different connection settings if they are having stability problems.