One of the questions that most people ask when installing a Wi-Fi router is the impact that the equipment could have on their energy rates. The concerns arise mainly from the fact that this piece of technology stains on almost 24/7, occasionally restarting it to keep up faster speeds.
The majority of people consider a router to be a 'set and forget' device. As it continues to supply you with the Internet, you probably do not want to fiddle with it all the time. The few times that you reboot, it means you minimally impact its power usage.
Some people argue that you should switch off your router at night as an energy conservation strategy as well as security measures. That is an argument that not so many people come to an understanding, leaving you confused over what you should do.
It is normal to leave the router on overnight.
The most significant percentage of people who have installed home Wi-Fi leave the routers on overnight. Even as you do so, there are times when you have your doubts. Should you leave the router on overnight?
Well, it is perfectly normal not to turn off your router. There are several reasons why you may want the router on.
- Communication reliability
Whenever you switch off your router, you introduce power cycling, which can be a bit challenging for the network to re-establish. Besides, some people prefer messages sent to them to be delivered at all times, even if they may not respond immediately.
Depending on how large your social cycle is, remaining offline may result in too many messages delivered once when the router powers on. A phone with low-end ram and features could quickly freeze in such a situation.
- Hardware reliability
The more you switch your router on and off, the more you expose its hardware life to swift reduction. Even though the impact may be mild for a start, this could quickly become detrimental over time. Needless saying, you may want the router to remain on to avoid the power fluctuations within its circuits. Of course, you would be restarting it from time to time to keep the speeds up.
- Convenience
The knowledge that you can connect to your Wi-Fi seamlessly when you wake up in the morning or walk-in from a day spent outside is less straining.
Also, to shut down the router as recommended by the manufacturer, you would have to spend more time. First, you have to log into the router from the browser before navigating to the shutdown page. Doing this as a daily routine quickly becomes an inconvenience.
- Smart homes
A smart home is one that has every device interconnected to share information. These devices are linked through the network created by the router. Turning it off means disconnecting the devices, something that you may not want.
There are probably a couple of other reasons that may force you to keep the router operational at all times. As you do so, should you be worried about power consumption?
Power consumption by routers
Most routers are known to consume a relatively low amount of power. Most models have a power consumption of 2 to 20 watts. Nomad Internet endeavors to provide energy-efficient routers to save on your electricity costs.
It is important to consider the power consumption of your router because this adds to the overall Internet expenses. Each model comes at varied power consumption ability. For instance, those that have multiple antennas consume more electricity. Also, a router’s settings impact its power use.
The power expenses of running a router in most cases fall below $1 per month. Nomad Internet is committed to continually improving the energy usage of its routers.
Should I turn off my router?
Your use cases determine the decision whether to turn your router off or leave it on. For instance, those with security systems connected to the router will find it not viable to turn the router off.
On the other hand, if you go online only a couple of times a day, this may be applicable. For a frequent Internet user, turning the router on and off repeatedly could seem like an inconvenience.
The issue of radiation from the router is one that might get you concerned. It is scientifically proven that the signals from the router do not pose health risks. However, if you are uncomfortable sleeping at night with the router on but do not want the inconvenience of switching it off, you may consider using the timer mode.
On-time, it goes off at the designated times. When it restarts, it restores its configuration file and reconnects to previously connected devices.
Conclusion
It is highly recommended that you consider the power consumption of your router before choosing any. Always go for energy-efficient router such as those from Nomad Internet.