Surely every time you go on vacation, a question about the router comes to mind: "Should I turn it off or not?". In this case, there are all kinds of opinions, however, here we are not going to give any, but we are going to take into account different key points with reasons to know which is the best option when you leave home for a few days.
It is clear that, if you are not going to be at home, the Internet connection at home will be unnecessary. But is it worth turning off the router? To clear up any doubts, we are going to take into account different elements: the time that you are going to be away from home, if your home has smart devices that need Internet or the consumption that this means in the electricity bill, among other aspects.
Why should I leave it on?
It all depends on the needs of each user. For example, if you have turned your house into a smart home, yes or yes you will need to keep the router on even if you leave for several days. And more when you have security cameras that are connected by WiFi, smart doorbell, plugs, etc. If so, it is clear that you will not have to turn it off no matter how much you go on vacation. Just like if you have a media server or NAS installed in your home. If you remove the connection, you will not be able to access.
Therefore, if you are one of these types of users, then you do not have to disconnect it from the current. Not only because it is not worth it, but rather because you will lose remote access to those smart devices that you have in your home or to the multimedia server that you have set up.
As for the consumption that you can avoid, that is just what we will analyze below. More than anything because you have to keep in mind different factors that can influence the consumption of the equipment you have installed in your home.
Reasons to turn off the router
One of the main reasons that may lead you to want to turn off the router every time you go on vacation is electricity consumption. But is it really that high? Here influences the consumption of the equipment and the price of the kWh. That is, if, for example, the power of the router is less than 5W, it can consume about 0.1 kWh every half day. Therefore, you have to multiply this expense by the price of electricity that you pay based on the contract you have with your electricity company. Here an example:
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0.1 kWh (for 1 day) x €0.1548/kWh (average price of the day for electricity): €0.01548 for each day that it is on.
So if you go away for a few days it will not be noticed. But if in your case you have a router that has a higher power and your electricity rate is more expensive, it may be worth disconnecting it. There are many teams that have a consumption between 10 and 20 W.
On the other hand, you can also take into account another factor. And it is the fact of resting the router, especially in summer, that due to the heat its useful life can be reduced. Also, if the Internet network is turned off in your home, it may also prevent someone from sneaking into your WiFi connection while you're not home to find out. So security is another point that you should assess when making this decision.
Another point to take into account is home security. While you are away, there may be a surge in the building and this puts the router at risk of catching fire. If it is connected to a socket with CE certification or that has a ground connection, it is not something that you should worry about. However, if you have your router connected to some type of poor quality multiplier , this risk may be higher and you should pay more attention when leaving home to go on vacation.
Once you have all these fundamental points in mind, you will be able to decide on your own which is the most worthwhile option for you during your next vacation.
