Leaving your Router/Modem on, Costs ?

singsingsing74

I'm hopping  late on this forum topic. (September 2025...I expect that shows!) I have read the advice about whether to turn off a router while away from home. Being a bit of a worrier about safety stuff, I'm tempted to unplug it. Only away for a week. 
There does seem to be some difference of opinion in the 2022 discussion, about whether switching off leads to problems in speeds on reconnection. 
Any new opinions?

Neil_Jones

singsingsing74 said:

I'm hopping  late on this forum topic. (September 2025...I expect that shows!) I have read the advice about whether to turn off a router while away from home. Being a bit of a worrier about safety stuff, I'm tempted to unplug it. Only away for a week. 
There does seem to be some difference of opinion in the 2022 discussion, about whether switching off leads to problems in speeds on reconnection. 
Any new opinions?

Nothing's changed since 2022.  Routers are supposed to be left on.  Leave it on.

As alluded to earlier in the thread, these things cost peanuts to run.

iniltous

As stated , routers are designed to be left on , but switching a router off and then back on , some hours , or days later is not going to be interpreted as line instability by rate adaptive systems like  VDSL ( fibre to the cabinet ) or ADSL , so it won’t trigger DLM ( Dynamic Line Management) to step in and reduce speed or introduce some sort artificial cap on speed.

FWIW ,  its rapid changes in the line state , or ‘faults’ that chance the electrical coefficient of the ‘line’ that have a lasting impact (earth contacts , battery contacts , high resistance etc ) that get DLM intervention, the occasional on-off-on cycle won’t get the same response ….. so switching off for say a two week holiday will save a very modest amount on electricity costs but it won’t hurt either .

molerat

Much better that I can turn the heating and hot water on from 500 miles away than the few pence I would save from turning the router off.  Plus of course the security lighting, cameras and doorbell which are all controlled over the net.

matelodave

My router uses 8 watts (I measured it).

That's about 70kwh a year which at 25p = £17.52 a year or around 5p a day.

littleboo

If you're a worrier, and have no need to it to be on while you are away, then just unplug it for peace of mind

brewerdave

I have only unplugged the router when going away for more than a week. Not to save money but the " experts" have always suggested that the power supply is a weak link. I have noticed in the past that the PSU can get quite warm - so to reduce fire risk.......
Not sure what to do next time as I have both router and ONT powered now with "full " fibre ....... Decisions,decisions......

QrizB

brewerdave said:

Not sure what to do next time as I have both router and ONT powered now with "full " fibre ....... Decisions,decisions......

I tend not to bother, but I have considered switching off all bar the kitchen & solar circuits off at the consumer units if I'm going away for an extended period.

I'm mostly with molerat though; the convenience of having access to my smart home stuff outweighs the risk of fire or cost of energy.

Neil_Jones

brewerdave said:

I have only unplugged the router when going away for more than a week. Not to save money but the " experts" have always suggested that the power supply is a weak link. I have noticed in the past that the PSU can get quite warm - so to reduce fire risk.......
Not sure what to do next time as I have both router and ONT powered now with "full " fibre ....... Decisions,decisions......

Many PSUs get warm to an extent its now the electricity gets converted to a state that the device can use.  Its when it gets baking hot to the touch and starts to melt you need to worry.  

Anyway "weak link" PSUs are pretty much to be expected when the vast bulk of these devices are budget end of the market, but on the other hand they are designed to be run all day every day so...

Frozen_up_north

Most routers are left on 24/7, mine runs all the time and allows me to remotely access the alarm, CCTV, a camera to watch for post arriving, the home PC runs 24/7 too. The latter cost me just over £4 this month, as my remote switch records power consumption.

I wouldn't be without home automation/monitoring, the cost of buying it is negligible compared to the convenience (a single remote mains adapter is £9.99, for example).