Question about routers

[Dmk222]

What does everyone do with their routers at night ,do you switch off or do you leave on , reason I ask is because every morning I switch on my router It don't work sometimes ,I've gone through 3 routers in the last year 2 Belkin and at moment I'm on a netgear which I got 2 weeks ago and must it's at least 15% faster when I do speed check

 

[Spruijt]

The only time I turn off my router is when we go on vacation. Besides that it runs 24/7.

 

[HERMAN_JELMET]

The only time mines off is when it needs a reboot.

 

[Martok]

Ours is left on 24/7.

Firstly there's less wear just by leaving a machine on (router or otherwise) than by constantly switching them on and off. Secondly it could affect your line speed. A quick Google pulled this up from Plusnet:

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.

Also in our case, we use Internet radio on our alarm clock (Logitech Squeezebox) so need it on to pick up the internet radio signal (if it isn't on, the built-in alarm tune plays instead so we do have a back-up though the tune is annoying).

 

[ColSonders]

I leave my router on 24/7

I also leave my NAS and homeplugs on 24/7

These are basically only turned off if we're gonna be away for more than a couple of days.

Belkin routers in my experience are some of the best out there, but when you initially boot them up it can take several hours for them to settle in correctly and have a nice stable line with nice stable wifi (better than netgear from what i've seen).

They consume very little power when left on and the only real reason to turn them off would be to restrict internet access, for example if you've got kids and you don't want them on the internet after bedtime or whatever, but with any half decent router you can set up time restrictions for certain users.

 

[Jkrohn1]

Once a week I will reset or power off for 10mins and power back up. This seems to keep my router running at full speed, Since i got my Virgin media superhub I seem to be loosing speed very often this is why I do the above.

 

[Slaine]

Mines on 24/7. My wife hates things being left on overnight, but the kids use the net long after we're asleep. Besides, I just didnt want any issues with a reboot in the morning and sometimes its best to leave things running.

 

[Dmk222]

Thanks for all your replies everyone I think I'll leave it on permanently unless there's a problem from now on

 

[Plaxinator]

Yeah, I always leave mine on 24/7 unless I go away for a few days. The boyfriend always switches things off though and unplugs from the socket as well. Does my head in! Whenever I'm at his I have to wait half an hour for the router to wake up

 

[ChrissPeacock]

Mine's on 24/7 but via a remote socket ready for the inevitable emergency reboot. The remote means I don't have to leave the comfort of my arm chair and less risk of having to make a cup of tea "as I'm already up"!!