Do you leave your router on at all times?

securityguy

boliston wrote: »

18,446,744,073,709,551,616 fixed ipv6 adresses
16 fixed ipv4 adresses

i have certainly never been charged extra for them though.

Indeed, but the sort of ISP that gives you a /28 and native IPv6 is unlikely to be offering a free twelve month introductory bargain basement prize.

Valli

My neighbours (a while back) were having trouble with their internet connection and asked me (in the land of the blind...) for advice and I found out they were in the habit of switching the router off. I suggested they didn't and the connection/speed improved.

I too am not an IT consultant.

onomatopoeia99

boliston wrote: »

Just had a look at my router to check how many fixed IP addresses I have and the answer is:

18,446,744,073,709,551,632

made up of:

18,446,744,073,709,551,616 fixed ipv6 adresses
16 fixed ipv4 adresses

i have certainly never been charged extra for them though.

You probably have an IPv6 /48 allocated to your account, though you'll need to go in to the control pages if you want more than the default /64 (which is the number you quoted above) routed to to your connection. At least that's what I have, as well as the /28 of IPv4 addresses.

IDProtected

I always turn it off before going out of the house, or going to bed at night simply because the plug gets very hot. I'm concerned that it could overheat and cause a fire.

neilmcl

IDProtected wrote: »

I always turn it off before going out of the house, or going to bed at night simply because the plug gets very hot. I'm concerned that it could overheat and cause a fire.

I don't turn mine off but I am concerned at just how hot routers can get, not at the plug but the underside of the router itself.

psychic_teabag

neilmcl wrote: »

I don't turn mine off but I am concerned at just how hot routers can get, not at the plug but the underside of the router itself.

Can you raise it (eg pennies under the rubber feet) to improve airflow. Or some models can stand vertically which would allow more airflow over the warm parts.

Peregolf

Yes I leave it on all the time. Not sure I'd save much by switching it off everyday and will probably forget to turn it on again.

neilmcl

psychic_teabag wrote: »

Can you raise it (eg pennies under the rubber feet) to improve airflow. Or some models can stand vertically which would allow more airflow over the warm parts.

Ever since a router took the polish off the side table where it normally resides I now stick a glass coaster or two under the feet. All of the routers I've had in recent years have ran pretty warm regardless of their orientation, the latest Sky Q hub in particular.

elizabethhull

We always leave ours on for the simple reason that a few years ago if the router got turned off (eg I wanted to use the socket for Hoovering) it triggered a loss of password. Then a long phone call to AOL customer-lack-of-service that invariably had us wanting to spit nails. Yes, we got a multi-way plug, but it's left us with an absolute paranoia about the router ever being turned off again !

RumRat

IDProtected wrote: »

I always turn it off before going out of the house, or going to bed at night simply because the plug gets very hot. I'm concerned that it could overheat and cause a fire.

Either change your router or change the power supply if possible. The plug shouldn't be hot or even warm!