Homeowners were told not to turn off their WiFi router at night to save money on their energy bills.
Homeowners were told not to turn off their WiFi router at night to save money on their energy bills. With the upcoming colder months and the cost of living crisis, British households are seeking ways to cut back on energy consumption.
Disabling WiFi could save you money in the short term, but it could lead to worse problems in the future.The majority of broadband companies have issued warnings to their customers not to disable their routers, despite the temptation.
According to Jeff Parsons, the technology and science editor for Metro, this move may save each home around £20 per year.
In spite of this, he elaborated, “BT, Sky, and other internet service companies encourage leaving your routers on all day, every day.” The reason for this is that your internet service provider may flag your account as unstable if you frequently power cycle your router.
According to a statement released by BT, “constantly switching off the hub makes the line look unstable,” meaning that your speed may be automatically lowered to improve the reliability of your broadband connection.
According to Sky Broadband’s director of propositions, Aman Bhatti, this could also cause problems with software updates. As he told Express.co.uk: “We all know that our routers get pushed through their paces on a daily basis, what with video calls, streaming the newest program, and online gaming.
“That’s why we schedule firmware updates for our routers to run at night when they won’t cause any problems during the day.
“Turning off your router overnight can prevent it from receiving critical software updates and optimizations, which can have a negative effect on the reliability, speed, and performance of your Internet connection.
The delay in updating will also cause problems for any other devices in your home that are linked to your router. You may keep your internet connection stable by reducing the power consumption of other equipment in the house.
Attempts to cut costs in whatever way feasible is to be expected and understood. Even though UK Prime Minister Liz Truss announced last month that the energy price cap will be frozen for two years, energy bills have increased from an average of £1,277 to an estimated £2,500 this month.
As Ofgem predicted in August, the energy price cap was set to increase to £3,549 in October before the freeze took effect.
Although Labour leader Keir Starmer has spoken out against the government borrowing the necessary funds, it is widely assumed that the government will borrow roughly £150 billion to make up the deficit.
Increased taxes on the wealthy, he argued, might have been used to provide this cash: “Windfall taxes have the support of the prime minister’s opposition. She wants to forego these massive earnings, which can only mean one thing: the working class will have to foot the bill.
