FiOS Internet

[#1]

I travel on business, sometimes for weeks at a time. Just before I leave, I walk in and start flipping power breakers off, killing power to everything but the fridge. The last time I did this I came home to a $19 power bill!

Is there any special procedure I should do to power down my FIOS connection? I have easy access to the fiber/coax box.

Shawn

[#2]

Unless you can disconnect the battery backup unit from the ONT, I DON'T recommend powering down the ONT.

The problem is when you power it down, the battery backup unit takes over, and after about 8 hours, the battery is fully discharged. The Sealed Lead Acid batteries used in the ONT are  not very  tolerant of full discharge.

In other words, if you do it, you will probably have to replace the SLA 12V/7Ah battery each time you power down the ONT.

The ONT draws about 20 watts, so that works about 15Kw per month, or about $2.  Unless you plan to be gone for a VERY long time, the power to keep the ONT running is considerably less expensive than the battery you'll have to replace. 

[#3]

Like Mattheww said, don't do it. Unless you unplug the battery connector. Attached is a picture of mine opened, with the connector marked by an arrow. Mine is in a modular case (with ONT, battery, charger) inside the house and may be different from yours.

Another issue you may have is that if you unplug the ONT and any STB or DVR you have, the STB or DVR may be deactivated when you get back. I have 3 DVR's and left one in a guest bedroom unplugged for a few weeks and had to reactivate it by calling Verizon support. The only way around this issue might be to use a timer to power up everything for 10 minutes once a day (maybe....)

[#4]

Wow, didn't realize it ate that little, incorrectly assumed laser over fiber equaled power consumption.

Yes I do have access to the battery, but for the low cost, maybe I'll just figure what other circuit to keep on and eliminate the problem. After my last trip, it took several days and a tech visit to get it up and running.

Thanks!

[#5]

Also, if the ont is without power for 48 hrs when you plug it back in it will just sit in an idle state and you would have to call in to have it reactivated.

[#6]

My ONT measured 0.16 amps just now, which figures out to 19.2 watts. Good job JMW.

FYI, one of my DVR's just measured 0.40 amps when "off" and 0.41 amps when "on". That's about 49 watts.