' Is it best to turn off - leave on all the time?

My router has been on 24x7 for >39 months; I've turned it off for 1-3 minutes at a time, maybe a dozen times.

SOHO routers are very low power widgets, so you should simply leave them on forever. Similarly, I don't see any reason to turn PCs off; PCs have been pretty green for years: just set the monitors, printers, and HDs to power down when not used, and let the PCs run. And, if you have CPU cycles going to waste, why not contribute those cycles to Prime95 by downloading from

I have a cable modem that has been since September 1999! I also have a D-Link router that has been on for over 2 years with no breaks! The only reason the router is less is I switched from a wired only to one that does both. Does you router stay out in the open with good airflow around it? Mine sits on top of a cabinet with a good 4 feet above and on all but 1 side. The 1 side is closer to 2 feet. The modem is also on a desktop and is about 6 inches in from the wall in the back and 6 inches from my monitor but a good 4 feet in all other directions to a wall. I have a friend that has a LinkSys that has been on for over 5 years, so it is not the brand. In fact my first one was a LinkSys! It was on from 1999 until sometime in 2002, never ANY problems. I switched to D-Link because it was on sale and I NEEDED to go wireless to get rid of some of the cords. I have 17 computers here on

I never turn my networking bits off. I have a router and hub and wireless AP. All this stuff uses a surprising amount of power. But who wants to run around turning the network on to use it? Not me.