Virgin Media warns UK broadband users who switch off their Routers at night

You shouldn’t turn off your internet router at night, Virgin Media warns

Virgin Media (O2) has warned their broadband customers against breaking the so-called “Golden Rule”: not to turn off your internet router at night. While doing so can save a little electricity, it can cause issues that can ruin your user experience.

This warning comes after a customer survey (as reported by ISPReview) found that 18% of respondents turned off their routers every night. Users who do this prevent their routers (and other online devices) from having overnight software updates. This can leave users with out-of-date hardware or force these updates to be made during the day.

Having updates run during active times can result in users experiencing performance loss or disconnection during active use. Additionally, if something goes wrong with an update overnight, ISPs have time to address the issue before users wake up and notice it.

Overall, turning off your router at night isn’t a major problem. That said, it can cause small, annoying issues that can easily be avoided. Routers do not consume much power, so turning them off for this reason won’t result in huge energy savings. Keeping your router turned on will help keep your network stable during peak times. It should also help your other smart devices update themselves at off-peak times.

You can join the discussion on Virgin Media’s warning to broadband users on the OC3D Forums.