Should i turn off my router at night?

Ive heard many rumors about how turning it off at night actually BURNS IT OUT faster, and ive heard rumors about how not turning it off can have its own ups and downs. My mom is extremely skeptical about my own computer knowledge, no matter how many times ive proven to be right, so ive turned for expert opinion on the matter, as she does respect the opinion of MajorGeeks. So, should it be left on, or left off?

 

Greetings, DataAngel, and welcome to MajorGeeks.

Short answer: yes.

That's the same answer for the age-old question "should I leave my computer on or off?" - there are pros and cons. In the case of the router, however, IMO it's fine to leave a router running continuously (I leave ours on 24/7, both home and work). There are no moving parts to worry about physically wearing, the power consumption is negligible and the startup issues with network handshaking are avoided.

 

In addition to what Caliban said, you also need to consider if you have VOIP phone service (Comcast, Vonage, Magic Jack, etc.). If you do, turning off the router will also turn off your phone service.

 

If your in an area prone to a high volume of thunderstorms e.g. Florida.. unplug it when your not using it. Ideally use a good surge protector rated at 2000+ joules and attach a UPS onto it (the surge protector) then plug your modem/wifi etc into the UPS if it has to stay on 24-7. Even if your not in an area that gets high levels of storms I'd still highly recommend at minimum using a good surge protector on all critical equipment and switching off non essential equipment when not in use. Using the old argument that turning it off wears it out faster... I don't buy it, unless you like to switch your stuff on and off repeatedly. Electronics, their components such as capacitors have a shelf life leaving it running 24-7-365 will help it reach the end of it's rated life faster than switching it on and off everyday. It'll reach the end of it's life in an instant if left plugged in and hit by a surge.

I've unfortunately replaced a lot of what would be otherwise good hardware, motherboards, memory, disc drives, routers and modems etc because the end user didn't have their equipment properly protected.

 

Things like routers aren't meant to be turned off an on, instead they are designed to run 244/7