At a time when energy prices are skyrocketing, Arcep has just taken new measures as part of its “For a sustainable digital” program launched in 2020. Indeed, the institution is launching a protocol to calculate the electricity consumption of your internet box.
As you may know, the government has multiplied statements in recent weeks to inform the French about the energy crisis that the country is going through. To avoid possible power cuts, the authorities have also invited the French to actively monitor their energy consumption.
To help them, several free tools have surfaced, like TrackMyWatt. This portal, developed by Guillaume Rozier, the father of CovidTracker and ViteMaDose, allows you to follow the country’s electricity consumption in real time. As for EcoWatt, the platform launched by the manager of the electricity transport network, it offers similar functionalities, in addition to offering valuable advice for reducing the consumption of our equipment.
Arcep launches a protocol for measuring the electricity consumption of internet boxes
But that’s not all, since Arcepthe Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority, has just announced on January 5, 2023 the launch of a new protocol. The purpose of this additional tool? Measure the electricity consumption of internet boxes, Wi-Fi repeaters and TV decoders. Thanks to him, Arcep wants to “allow a comparison of this information between equipment, and inform users about the factors that influence the electrical consumption of this equipment”.
Note that this protocol is part of of the “For a sustainable digital” program launched by Arcep in 2020. More concretely, the electricity consumption of your internet box will be measured in five specific situations:
- Internet box connected to no PC
- Internet box connected to one or more PCs, with Wi-Fi disabled and no traffic
- Internet box connected to one or more PCs, with Wi-Fi activated and no traffic
- Connected internet box with 5 Mbit/s traffic
- Connected internet box with 50 Mbit/s traffic
Regarding TV decoders, the power consumption will also be measured in several situations:
- On a standby TV decoder (for a duration of 60 minutes)
- When viewing a live TV channel (without connection to a DTT antenna)
- When playing a replay (for a duration of 5 minutes)
- When using a popular streaming or video service like Netflix or YouTube (measurement protocols differ depending on the picture quality chosen)
Finally, let’s talk about Wi-Fi repeaters. Here, their power consumption will be measured on Wi-Fi repeaters that are not in use (without any equipment connected), with a client connected (without traffic) and in use with PCs on Wi-FI 6E and WiFi 5.
