Router/Modem off/on when away for several days

What is the advice re powering off the FTTC Modem and routers when the house is empty for several days.

My preference is to switch it all off and disconnect the cables from the faceplate and mains just in case of a thunder strike. Does this affect the connection speed on reconnection??

Comments please

There are differing opinions over this one.

If you power off the router it makes absolutely no difference as the FTTC CAB knows nothing about this device.

The CAB does know about the modem but powering off for several days and then powering it back on will be fine. Other posters will almost certainly say "you should never, ever, world without end, switch it off" but in practice it makes no difference it you do a clean power off and power on several days later.

With the modem powered off you can unplug anything you like.

In practice if there is a lightning strike it will take out more than your VDSL modem whether it is connected or not!

Do you have a high incidence of lighting strikes in you area - long run of telephone lines on poles?

We had a lightning strike in 1984 - it took out the burglar alarm PIR sensor - however that was before the days of internet and connections to phone lines. People who saw the strike saw the lightening go along the telephone cable.

We get quite a number of thunderstorms in Spring and Summer so all "valuable or sensitive kit" is disconnected from the mains ie plugs removed, not just power off. If we go away for a few days. However one is at risk regardless of how long you go away for.

Most of our lightning is cloud to cloud rather cloud to ground so I assume less dangerous

But it still does happen when you're not away... so you can't win in both ways.

Yes, you could be at home when it happens and you could unplug it before it happens. But what if you've gone shopping or down the street and this happens?

So basically, you can't do much - I just leave mine online - saves time/hassle.

I would turn them off. I do. And I unplug them from the mains. Gives all sorts of non-industrial strength components a break and protects against mains surges.

In my younger days I also used to disconnect everything, TV, radio etc. from the mains as well, as you describe. Fridges & freezers excepted of course. And not the phone from the line.

These days I'm far too lazy to do all that. But I wouldn't think you were daft at all.

Speed on reconnection could be slightly better or worse than now, but that is normal for any reconnection. Best for speed is to restart the modem well inside daylight hours.

Maximum reliability is obtained when things are left running. Each time they warm up or cool down, circuit boards expand or contract. Over time, this can increase the likelihood of failure. Also, many media devices are meant to be kept running to catch software updates etc.

That is what is always believed as well.

Devices that are meant to be left on should be. Switching off for a period of days always seemed ok though.

These days there are more devices to be left on but, with electricity being more expensive, global warming etc it is more relevant.

Only if you fall for the con that the planet has warmed for the last 15 years, or for that matter, that we were in any way responsible when it did. (Slap on wrist for Off Topic post!)

Leaving hardware switched on if away for a fortnight just because there might be a firmware update seems stupid.

Any semi decent upgrade system would have the device checking it had access to internet and looking for any update as soon as you switched it back on.

Tell that to Sky. Most of their ideas are designed to download overnight, quite apart from them insisting their boxes should stay powered and connected to a phone line, with the bonus being sprogs slowing your broadband.

Sky+ boxes - I would leave them on while away as there is a host of programs being recorded while away.

I do have a time switch resetting the Sky+ box every day at about 10am so that if the box throws a wobbler overnight I only miss one episode of the series link programs. I also can via the internet request programs to be recorded if alerted to them by the weekly email from Sky.

However other kit apart from fridges, freezers, clocks get disconnected when we are away.

My query was primarily aimed at resolving any performance issues that might arise if the modem was switched off - and I have been reassured that it has no performance impact - however I do understand the impact of power cycling kit that is meant for long term usage.

Yes, sensible to switch things off while away for any length of time. My remarks were directed at the switching off of things daily.

I switched off all the kit when I went away last week. Today I received an email from SamKnows asking me to restart their device or return it to them as they are missing my data and they have to send the May data to Ofcom.

I await their reply to my email informing then of my absence.

I received a very quick and pleasant reply from the SamKnows Community lady telling me to not to worry about being chased up by SamKnows.

Nice to know that there are real people behind these automatic systems.

Edited by DRW (Wed 15-May-13 17:00:10)

The one exception to this adage is when the article involved has capacitors as part of the power supply board, and built to an insufficient spec. Leaving equipment on all the time can lead to the electrolyte drying out, the capacitors failing, and the PSU voltages heading out of spec.

This can happen to a variety of boxes, but there's a strange concentration on PVR-style settop boxes. Perhaps because they run hot, and perhaps because the disks and tuners fail if they get too bad on voltage, so can be easily seen in a partially-failed mode.

I've fixed two of mine (of two totally different brands) and one of someone else's. It is a fairly well-known failure mode.