# leave on or switch off router?



## Sevenup (Oct 13, 2007)

I get conflicting advice on this and would welcome more views.
I have a Netgear DG834GT. For cost and environmental reasons I would like to turn it off at least every night. There is no switch on it so this means unplugging.
This router is a replacement of a Netgear one that stopped working - that one I used to turn off every time I came off internet. An engineer has told me that was probably why it failed and that I should leave the new one running all the time. (And while it still worked it had to be reset several times.)
I feel leaving it on permanently (or at least unless I go on holiday) is objectionable. I turn my computer off at night or if I'm not using it for several hours and this has caused no noticeable problems - I feel the router should be able to be treated like this too.

If you reckon it's fine to turn off router at night what should the sequence be? - router on first, off last?


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## jackdw (Jul 1, 2005)

My router is on all the time.
They use about 12W of power, just make sure other devices are OFF rather than on standby to make up for it.

I turn my router off if the whole family is away for more than a day or two just in case it overheats and burns the house the the ground, although the chances of that are one in a million...

Keep it on, they use hardly any electricity and if the engineer said it could have stopped it from working then I'd listen to his advic./


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## Sevenup (Oct 13, 2007)

Thanks jackdw.
But 12 watts on all the time seems quite a lot to me


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## jackdw (Jul 1, 2005)

12W is hardly anything...

A computer can use up to 500Watts..


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## Athought (Mar 31, 2005)

Its not actually 12 Watts but 12 volts that your router runs on, 12 volts does not equal 12 Watts. Simply put, your router does not consume much power at all, thus shutting the router down at night is saving you near nothing on your electric bill and is potentially damaging to your router to unplug it every night


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## jackdw (Jul 1, 2005)

I'm sure my router is 12 watts as well as 12 volts...


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## Athought (Mar 31, 2005)

it actually operates on 5 volts and max watts around 1.0 in US


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## Athought (Mar 31, 2005)

"I'm sure my router is 12 watts as well as 12 volts... "

If you are that sure, then you are incorrect.....You have a transformer that is the power input to your router. That is rated at 5 volts, with a possible 2A output depending on the country you are using it in. The only way you can get 12 Amps out of that is if you put your tongue directly into the outlet.


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## jackdw (Jul 1, 2005)

It outputs at 15v, 1000mA.
Input at 240V AC.

P = VI
P = 15V x 1A
15W = 15V x 1A

Netgear routers are 12V and 1000mA. They therefore use 12W.
My router uses 15W.


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## Frank4d (Sep 10, 2006)

The DG834GT datasheet says 12VDC, 1A. Watts equals volts times amps for DC, so 12 watts. This is solved, so now back to the original question...

There are basically two engineeering arguments for leaving the router on vs. turning it off:

1. Repeatedly turning electronic equipment on and off causes thermal stress to the components. When turned on, components (especially bond wires in chips) expand slightly as they heat up. When turned off, they contract as they cool. Also, at the instant a device is turned on there is usually a high surge current which can be several times the normal operating current. This inrush current can also stress components (especially capacitors). These stresses _can_ eventually cause the part to fail. Or in a well designed piece of equipment using quality parts and good thermal design, these stresses should have no effect.

2. Leaving the equipment turned on 24/7 reduces the effects of thermal stress to components, one of the main reasons for component failure. Once powered on, they are perfectly happy to live at an almost constant temperature (even if it is hot).

Whether to leave the router on or turn it off is your choice depending on which of the above you agree with more (together with your desire to save energy).


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## Sevenup (Oct 13, 2007)

Frank 4D Thanks for your attention and info.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Personally, I leave my router on 24/7.


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