Router longevity

[junmaljock]

How do you keep yours?

1. Leave it on 24-hr.

2. Turn it on only when you're using internet.

Which way is better? Any thought on this?

[Justin46]

---

@junmaljock wrote:

How do you keep yours?

1. Leave it on 24-hr.

2. Turn it on only when you're using internet.

Which way is better? Any thought on this?

---

I leave mine on 24/7. I am a firm believer that the less startup electrical surges any box gets the longer it is likely to work. Plus, if you have FiOS TV service, the Guide data will not get updated, and the VOD and Widgets won't work, as all of those use your internet connection. The electric cost savings in turning the router off are minimal (they exist, they just aren't significant  IMO).

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416-P1, IMG 1.8, Build 02.54
Keller, TX 76248

[viafax999]

Leave it on 24/7

I like to keep the same IP address and with dhcp it's fairly unlikely to change if it's left on.

[lasagna]

Well ... if you're also a FiOS TV subscriber then absolutely you MUST leave it on 24/7 in order for the guide and other stuff to receive it's updates.   Personally, with a properly secured router (using WPA2 not WEP), leaving it on 24/7 is the best approach.   Not only do you tend to retain your DHCP address as mentioned by another poster, but your computer systems can be setup to go out overnight and load their security patches, any mobile devices can use the WiFI instead of 3G to get their email, etc.

Really ... there is no harm in leaving the router on all the time and from a security perspective the risk is extremely minimal since unlike bridged DSL configurations, it's a NAT router which makes connecting inbound from the Internet to a device on the private network something which can't normally be done.

[eljefe2]

Plus....if you have a DVR you need to have your router running to be able to manage DVR programming via the Internet when you're away.  Y'know...you're better half sees that there's an exciting episdoe of HGTV coming up and she HAS to record it. 

[lasagna]

Well now ... we know that can't be true ... "exciting" and HGTV are two terms that, to me, would never likely occur in the same sentence!  

[eljefe2]

Are you married?

[smith6612]

There isn't a need to turn the router off, so why do so? With FiOS as others pointed out, it's needed for TV service in order to receive updates. The only reason the router should really be turned off and back on is if it locks up 😉

[lasagna]

Didn't say my better half wouldn't think there was something which "needed" to be recorded while out and about ... just not willing to agree that it was "exciting".   A "crisis" perhaps maybe (because you know it would have been "my" fault for forgetting to set the DVR) ...

[eljefe2]

---

@lasagna wrote:

Didn't say my better half wouldn't think there was something which "needed" to be recorded while out and about ... just not willing to agree that it was "exciting".   A "crisis" perhaps maybe (because you know it would have been "my" fault for forgetting to set the DVR) ...

---

Ah....but as long as the Actiontec is running at home my better half can be away,  realize she wants to record something, fireup the FiOS app on her iPhone, and scheduled the recording.  Crisis averted!

Anyway, for that reason and  the reasons stated by others, I always leave our Actiontec up-and-running.  And, FWIW, I have noticed if we have a power outage as short as a few hours when the lights come back on and the router reboots I have a new WAN IP address.