do ye leave your modems on all the time?

breadbin

my mam just got broadband and was wondering if she should turn the modem off every night or what? i can't help her cos i have mobile and didnt know to be honest.

seanybiker

I never turn mine off. Its been broken the last week and its still on lol. Dont think I ever turned it off in all the years I have it.

PCPhoto

you are supposed to disconnect it every now and again to kind of refresh connection to the network - but it normally doesnt matter.....I try to turn mine off one a month or two (if I remember it)

ynotdu

breadbin wrote: »

my mam just got broadband and was wondering if she should turn the modem off every night or what? i can't help her cos i have mobile and didnt know to be honest.

I have left mine on for three years !If she is using eircom she can check her usage at the eircom.net site.I check it every now and again and if the usage is way off it will be obvious that somebody is freeloading from the connection.

You did not say if she is using ethernet(yellow wired connection) which is safest ,or wireless.?

wireless easier to hack but eircoms latest routers use wpa encryption as safe as it gets at the moment,combined with a good firewall and security suite,not a lot more can be done to protect.

If she has a yellow Eircom icon on the monitor you can acesss the software on Your router and change settings(disable wireless if using ethernet if You are not using her broadband for your labtop.)

If no icon,the isp can give you Your routers address,type it into your browser and save it to favourites,then a port(hole)in the firewall can be opened for filesharing or games,best to disable an open port when not needed.

Cabaal

Mine's on all the time unless I go away for a few days

barnicles

Cabaal wrote: »

Mine's on all the time unless I go away for a few days

Same here

Kensington

The only time mine is ever off is during a power cut.

Sierra Oscar

I cycle it ever now and then, but it is usually always on.

Baldie

I only turn mine on when I need it. What's the point in leaving it on? It's just a waste of electricity. I know it's not much, but every little helps...

Richard Dower

Baldie wrote: »

I only turn mine on when I need it. What's the point in leaving it on? It's just a waste of electricity. I know it's not much, but every little helps...

I agree, i always turn it off when not in use, not just for wasting electricity...but it also costs money + i feel the life of the modem will be extended and less chance of something burning out if you turn it off. Some of those routers/modems produce alot of heat due to the internal chips that run very hot and most don't have any heatsinks inside.

Now while it may run for years without a problem i tend to air on the side of caution

Shiny

On all the time.

2qk4u

Shiny wrote: »

On all the time.

+1

watty

PCPhoto wrote: »

you are supposed to disconnect it every now and again to kind of refresh connection to the network - but it normally doesnt matter.....I try to turn mine off one a month or two (if I remember it)

No, the ISP can do that if they need.

Ours is only off when the UPS dies and generator not up.

I have a mail server (only our own email, but with forwarding) and two phone lines (one Fax) running on the modem. We have no physical phone lines (saves a lot!) so have to have it running.

Family members away from home use the VPN. Allows secure use of email and web via public WiFi etc

Koloman

Baldie wrote: »

I only turn mine on when I need it. What's the point in leaving it on? It's just a waste of electricity. I know it's not much, but every little helps...

Same here. It seem pointless to leave it on when it is not in use. Those things can get pretty hot sometimes and I could not sleep soundly knowing it is on.

pmsurveys

Study was done which identified that with average usage if you turn your modem off you will save €48 per year on electricity costs. Particularly if you have wireless enabled. I have the modem on a remote control switch along with my tv, amp and PS3. Remote control units cost €18 for 3 so worth it I would I say. Only one remote and works on rf frequencies so line of sight not needed. You can also pair up to 16 sockets to one remote.

sexmag

i only turn it off if i wana change my ip address haha

parasite

I used to turn it off most nights, but lately it takes several repowerings to establish a connection

DigiJem

I turn it off at night, with the tv, sky box, etc. Turn it on in the morning and start PC to check email. Its just a habit at this stage.

I turn everything off when they aren't in use.
One of the last times I was to the tech support at eircom, the guy gave out to me for doing this.
He thought I might mess up some settings or something.
I've been doing it for years and no problems. ~shrug~

ynotdu

Richard Dower wrote: »

I agree, i always turn it off when not in use, not just for wasting electricity...but it also costs money + i feel the life of the modem will be extended and less chance of something burning out if you turn it off. Some of those routers/modems produce alot of heat due to the internal chips that run very hot and most don't have any heatsinks inside.

Now while it may run for years without a problem i tend to air on the side of caution

reading My previous post and then you guys reminding Me about the green energy side of things has made Me feel guilty:)

I spent what I could afford on cfc bulbs,I spent what I could afford on insulation and draftproofing this fridge I live in,I switched off nearly everything on Earth day,when I cook I do so in bulk so as not to have to use gas for cooking everyday,so please forgive Me My sin about the router:)

There are two practical points to be made:
1)If more than 1 person using the router to get broadband it would be ignorant to switch it off when it suited Me!

2)All electrical items life expectancy is lowered by the amount of times they are powerd up and down.

So I would have the problem then of disposing of electrical items more often to be even greener

Hell its so hard to do the right thing now:D

animaal

pmsurveys wrote: »

Study was done which identified that with average usage if you turn your modem off you will save €48 per year on electricity costs. Particularly if you have wireless enabled.

This doesn't take from your point, but I've measured the power used by all the stuff I have "under the stairs", and it doesn't quite come to that.

I've the following plugged into a power-measuring thingy:

- DSL Modem
- Separate wireless router
- Cordless phone
- NAS (nearly always in low-power mode)
- Laser printer (nearly always in low-power mode)

The total power usage is 28W, which I've fed into the ESB online calculator, which reports €7.63 every 2 months. I expect it to be lower after my move to Bord Gais is complete, and even lower afterteh expected price cuts

Edit: Sorry, just to clarify, all that stuff together expends uses the figure quoted in the study, so I expect a wireless router by itself would use less.

ongarite

pmsurveys wrote: »

Study was done which identified that with average usage if you turn your modem off you will save €48 per year on electricity costs. Particularly if you have wireless enabled. I have the modem on a remote control switch along with my tv, amp and PS3. Remote control units cost €18 for 3 so worth it I would I say. Only one remote and works on rf frequencies so line of sight not needed. You can also pair up to 16 sockets to one remote.

Thats complete bollocks.
A standard router uses 12V power supply at 1A giving 12W usage per hour maximum. That is the most power the device can draw, can never go higher with wireless enabled, etc..
Doing the maths, that gives 105kW usage per year if left on 24hr/365 at ESB rate of 16.4c per KWh giving a total cost per year of €17.24

dunworth1

leave mine on all the time

n0fX

What's the point leaving it on all the time?

It's wasting electricity (not much, but still).

They get very hot (unlikely to start a fire, but still risky if there's a slight electrical fault).

If you have WEP, people can crack your encryption and retrieve the key (can't be done when the router is off).

24/7 exposure to radiation of 2.4ghz can't be healthy, I know this is unproven but I'd rather just err on the side of caution.

It doesn't "damage" the router to plug it out.

What benefit is there to leaving it on, why not just leave everything on all night aswell?

hightower1

n0fX wrote: »

What's the point leaving it on all the time?

It's wasting electricity (not much, but still).

They get very hot (unlikely to start a fire, but still risky if there's a slight electrical fault).

If you have WEP, people can crack your encryption and retrieve the key (can't be done when the router is off).

24/7 exposure to radiation of 2.4ghz can't be healthy, I know this is unproven but I'd rather just err on the side of caution.

It doesn't "damage" the router to plug it out.

What benefit is there to leaving it on, why not just leave everything on all night aswell?

Just from my own experience with this its best to leave the modem on, if there is a network problem and your modem is off, on start up it may find issues with establishing a signal lock but if it were left on it may not have been effected.

Fresh Pots

Have to keep mine plugged in. Without it i wouldn't have any phone service!

hellboy99

I turn it off when I'm not using it.

god's toy

Cabaal wrote: »

Mine's on all the time unless I go away for a few days

Yep same this way.

BaconZombie

Leave it on 26 hours a day.

netwhizkid

BOFH_139 wrote: »

Leave it on 26 hours a day.

So how is Mars this time of year?

I have my router on 24/7/365 but usually plug it out and restart after 1min if I am having any trouble with the net.

Stephen

Mine's always on. I'd consider turning it off if I was the only user here but I'm not. Since the one device is modem/lan switch/wifi access its just more convenient to leave it on. Plus, as mentioned above, the power usage is absolutely bugger all.