Do you leave your Wireless Router on all the time?

Technology Technology: Chat / Discussions
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Every time that you switch the router/modem on it connects to a server from your ISP and gives you an address like 80:136:212:169. This address is used by the ISP to track your movements, this is how some criminals etc. are traced via the internet.

Whilst you router/modem is switched on other people with wireless PC/Laptops can use it IF it is not secruity encrypted. This means that if you have a download limit they will be using you allowance so your limit could be reached earlier and you may be restricted use of your connection.

If it is left connected and your computer is left switched on then, unless you have a good Firewall, people can hack into your computer.

Hackers have programs running continually which look for vunerable computers which when found they then log into and do damage or copy your details etc for their own use.

Have more than one Firewall running, that is mormally enough for domestic computers.

Switching off saves electricity.

ISP updating ( if any )is done automatically as soon as you switch it on.

It is your choice if you leave it switched on or turn it off.

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Turning routers on and off

Thanks for the information Antibrown. I think I will turn mine off now. I have just found the on/off switch at the back :blush::blush:

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They still get hot

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I don`t use a wireless router because of security issues.

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Hi

I leave my BT Homehub on 24/7. Just like my mobile phone a Set Top Box (Sky) ect.

I am trained by Cable and Wireless, NTL, Virgin Media and now with o2 and have a wide experience of everything from STB, Land Lines, Mobile Phones and Broadband.

Set Top Boxes (STB) be it for Sky, Vision, Virgin ect. I would advise to leave on as signals are sent and received, updates of service and improvements downloads of your usage information for example Pay to View. You may notice a light scorching around the chip on the card, this is nothing to worry about a very light currant passes through the chip and it will get warm to the touch.

Like all electrical equipment good ventilation is essential for both safety and keeping the equipment in good order, keep vents clean and do not cover with other electrical equipment suck as DVD players. I give the fan of my tower PC and Laptop with both have fans as well as TV, STB a good clean with the Vacuum Cleaner.

Wi-Fi routers work on a low currant and as above easy to maintain and downloads can be received while I am asleep.

If you are supplied by fiber optic cable, mostly Virgin Media, unless you live in somewhere like Kensington/Chelsea you will have fiber optic to your nearest cabinet in the street. After the cab you will mostly be served using Coax cable which is copper, you can get an appointment for a network tech to try to speed up you BB speed by changing a few things or shifting the fiber optic a bit.

Something I have been caught out with is on a Land Line Phone, Ever heard of ring trip? normally caused by faulty extensions but once I had ring trip so I called a tech and said I could not cure it, knowing my home as he did, I was instructed to go to the extension in the kitchen that had an extension fitted to the skirting board very close to the tiled floor. I put a pencil in where you would plug in the phone, just enough to open the slots, then gently used the hair dryer to cause a drying flow of air into the socket. 5 minutes no ring trip. LOL. My fault for being a bit heavy with the wet mop. LOL.

Main problems with mobile phones other that drying them out after being down the toilet, Dirty keys or SIM card. Both should be cleaned with clean soft cotton, ideal would be Spectacle Cloth. If you are cleaning your mobile use something like Meths that is alcohol based and evaporates very quickly. Be Gentle.

Well I hope you pick up some tricks of the trade, or a little I never knew that. :o)

If I can help in the future just ask.

Can I point out that this site is full of people with a lot of knowledge.

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Thanks for your very informative reply, Adrian!:023:

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I use Virgin through cable and a wifi router. I don`t know how fast it is supposed to be but I have just used that site that AntiBrown recommended and got a download score of 6.48 with IE and 6.44 with Chrome. Is that good or not, I’ve no idea…:confused:

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Barry, I am with BT waiting for Infinity to arrive but as we are in the out back of the UK it is going to be quite a while so I have ‘Bt Anytime’ and it is running at 7.3 Download and 4.01 upload. The ping time is 57 which helps.
ie, the ping time depends on how close you are to the exchange and how old your telephone lines are.

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We turn our router off every night, it gets hot.

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I leave mine on as the phone is on it as well as the internet, it’s cable and I only recently changed to cable because I got a much better deal than Telecom were giving.
I also bought one of those plug sets that turn the electricity mains into internet carriers, so I don’t need dongles and the like when I take the laptop down to the shed (about 50 feet away), I just plug into the mains and the signal is perfect.

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I don’t have a single appliance in my house which isn’t off and unplugged when not in use. TV’s, routers, recorders…the lot. Its down to burning electric via mains transformers even when the widget is ‘off’ - there is still a quiescent current draw - albeit a very small one. A lot of these transformers do not even have fuses. I even refuse to have mains powered phones in the house.

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Everything is switched off in this household too before retiring to bed, apart from the washing machine and dishwasher, because you have to rummage through the cupboards to turn them off :smiley:

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I always turn my rooter, modem and TV off, before I go to bed. TV need turning off, they are the main cause of fires at night.

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We turn most things off at night and when not in use, the only things that get left on are the heating (especially this time of year), the washing machine which does not use that much when not in use and the phones.

There are people around us who have every light in the house on most of the time when it is dark, one lady who lives on her own has 9 rooms with the lights on most evenings.

Our carbon footprint is almost half of the national average.

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We turn off just about everything at night, but don’t unplug - I just turn the switch off on the power point. Now I know I should I turn the router off as well.

Interesting about carbon footprints AB. How did you calculate your household’s footprint? I have been onto Warwick University’s site and calculated ours, but it didn’t include our share of the factory emissions and other shared things.

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Rena, there are lots of carbon footprint calculators on line similar to this one

I used the one sent to me from Energy Savings Trust when I had the cavity wall insulation done.

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The large plug on the router gets really hot and I always turn it off when I am not using it, actually I unplug it as I worry about fire living in a wooden house.

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Thanks AB - I’ve just done the one you gave and it came out different to the one I used :shock:

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I turn everything off before I go to bed…just a precaution on my part, better to be safe than sorry.:wink:

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I don’t turn mine off, my son told me not to I can’t remember why :lol: