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Turning your router off and on automatically has these benefits

Benefits of turning off your router

We always have to have the router on if we want to have an Internet connection at home, and also if we have a landline. However, turning them off has certain benefits that you should know about.

Optimized Firmware

Although the firmware of the routers is programmed to be permanently working to manage all network traffic, it is highly recommended to restart it from time to time to eliminate the temporary records that are generated, it is also important because temporary files created for this purpose are eliminated , which may cause the internal memory to become full.

Another very important aspect is that when restarting the router we will notice that its performance is optimal, with the passage of time, generally the performance of the routers degrades because the firmware is not correctly programmed so that this does not happen. There are manufacturers like AVM that take great care of the firmware of their routers, prioritizing stability over adding new features.

Force to have new public IP

When we turn off the router and turn it on right away, your carrier may give you the same public IP address that you had. This is very common in operators such as Grupo Masmóvil, Orange and also in Vodafone that use the DHCP protocol to obtain the public IP address, however, Movistar and O2, although they use PPPoE, in recent weeks they are also maintaining the same IP when restarting the router and spend very little time.

If you turn off the router for several hours, such as at night, when you wake up you will see that you have another public IP address, because you have allowed enough time for that public IP to be assigned to another client automatically .

Energy saving

One of the benefits of turning off the router for several hours is the energy savings that we will have. It is true that this is never the main reason to turn off the router for several hours, because the consumption of a router is usually about 10W at most.

Logically, the consumption of a router depends on the model we have, how optimized the firmware is, the processor, and also the WiFi frequency bands it has, as well as the number of connected clients and the traffic it is managing.

How to do auto power off and on

Many routers allow the configuration of an auto-reboot or automatic restart at a certain time, generally this time is at night so as not to cause connectivity problems in the home. However, no router incorporates an option to automatically shutdown and then restart after certain hours. Unlike NAS servers that do usually incorporate this automatic power on and off function, routers do not incorporate it, so the solution is to use smart plugs or smart power strips that allow automatic power on and off.

One of the most recommended and cheap smart plugs is the TP-Link TAPO P100, with a price of about €10 it is the cheapest you can buy:

In case you want to monitor the energy consumed by the router, then the cheapest model that exists with this function is the TP-Link TAPO P110:

If you want a very small smart plug, with LEDs that will indicate the status of the device, and with a really complete application that can be integrated natively into your home automation system with Home Assistant, this Shelly Plug S is the model that you are looking for, although logically it is more expensive than the previous ones:

In the official application of the manufacturer of these smart plugs, you can configure the time of switching on and off. A very important detail is that if the router is turned off you will lose the connection with the smart plug, so you cannot “regret” the configuration made. Once the configuration is applied, the plug-in saves it internally to carry it out without the need for an Internet connection.

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