Virgin Media Community

[kevinandinger]

I have read that my Virgin router uses power when switched on and could be switched off at night. My IT man warns that this could lead to Virgin concluding that I have a faulty system Does anyone happen to know the pros and cons?

[Andrew-G · Accepted solution]

I've run a VM hub 3 for years on an overnight timer without problems.  A VM hub is quite a power hungry beast, using about 12W at idle (24/7 that adds up).  Turning it off won't cause VM to conclude anything because they don't monitor customer connections proactively.  Remember that it takes about 7 minutes for a hub to start up and get full online, if you have a regular schedule than (say) having it go off an hour later than you normally go to bed, and coming on fifteen minutes before you get up, then you'll never notice.  Of course, if your telephone is connected via the hub, that won't work when the hub is switched off.

If off for 7 hours overnight you'd save about 31 kWh per year, so not a major saving.  On the other hand, even if you buy a cheap programmable timer, it'll pay for itself in a year.  If the house is routinely unoccupied say 9-5 during the weekdays, you could double the savings.  Manually switching it off is a bit more flexible, a bit less convenient. 

[legacy1]

We have seem BQM with packet loss and the cause could be next door VM might have tools for testing hubs like make the hub stop sending stuff for x mins as they test hub(s) for where the problem is turning off the hub means the problem could go away when VM test in the morning or midnight.

[Tudor]

Don’t forget you may have cameras, alarm system, doorbell or IoT switches that need the internet connectivity. 

[ALF28]

POWER CONSUMPTON

I do switch off my virgin hub and my own router at night time as they are in a bedroom and have flashing lights.

I also switch off my virgin tv box v6 using a timer which switches off power to the tv and other equipmnet at nightime for safety

Switching off saves power and is reduces the risk of fire in electrical equipment, If going out or on holiday it may be wise to switch of equipment at the socket.

Howevever Virgin usually do advise to keep their equiment on 24/7 to ensure that the hub and tv box gets updates which can occur at night.

I have had issues of udating with my tv box and hub  if the equipment is switched off, and if the hub is in router mode it may loose updates. My hub is in modem mode and I rarely have any issues with night time switching offf, but it takes several minutes to switch back on and update on a morning which is the green flashing light.

If the hub is switched off, the tv box will not be updated and may loose the epg which is updated from the hub several times each day.

I can see a problem with night time switching off it phones or other equippment are connected to the hub via wifi or cable as they would no longer funtion at nightime, the same as  if you have a power cut, I get a lot of them but thankfullly still have the virgin landline phone which usually remains powered.

The cost saving is small, but also switching off wifi when not in use reduced emf pollution, but not much gained as neigbours usually leave theirs on 24/7 so it comes through the walls anyway.

It is a personal decision, the only way to be sure is to try out switching off at nightime and see if the equipment still works, or decide to leave it on 24/7.

I often think that switching off computers and routers when not in use adds to internet secuity as they are then dissconnected from the internet so I also switch off my virgin hub if I am not using it during the day, but most time the virgin hub switched on during daytime, but I can turn off my own router which provide wifi untill I want ot use it.

Should a Router Be Left On All the Time? – Gizbuyer Guide

The seven appliances adding hundreds of pounds a year to your energy bill (thesun.co.uk)

Do you switch your TV off at the socket at night? – Which? Conversation

alf28

[Roger_Gooner]

We live in a 24/7 world, one small example is that I activate my CCTV before I go to bed. I also don't want my TV box's updates failing to be done overnight because there is no broadband.

[kevinandinger]

Is it correct that if I switch my TV box off ar nighr any updates will be done when I switch it on again in the morning.

[Morrile]

Switching off your TV box mean when it's next switched back on you will have to wait until it's been updated. Then you can go through the TV menu system, Help & Settings, Messages to read when it's time to reboot the TV box if it does not do that its self.

I have had both TV and Broadband switch off for two month's at a time, with no major issues. VM would prefer if you kept then switched on but as they are not paying for the electricity they get switched off. Security and program updates need to be actioned, yet it doesn't take days for the system to update, perhaps one or two reboots and you are back to normal; whatever normal is these days LOL. 

[ALF28]

UPDATES

Virgin do update equipment during the night time, so if switched off at night then udates can be missed on the hub and tv box.

The same applies is equipment is switched off during daytime.

That is why the general virgin advice is to leave equipment on 24/7.

Also thing like printers, hub connected phones, or IOT devices will not work if the hub is swtched off.

I do switch off my hub but often miss a V6 tv box udate which can result in losing the electronic programme guide EPG.

It happened to me today and upset my preset recording, so a 1 hour recording was wrongly recorded for 2.5 hours.

The hub connection to the tv box via wifi or cable  is needed for the apps, catchup, EPG, updates etc, but if it does miss an update the tv channels do still work but other services may not.

This is easily rectified with a manual update in the V6 settings-network and check last update, if it failed click connect to virgin and it updates in approx 5 minutes. The V6 tv box  update occur at preset times, and if one is missed it does not auto update, so it has to wait for the next update unless connect to virign is selected and that does an instant update.

The hub udates each time it is rebooted when switched back on, so usually no problem.

The answer is not clear, leaving switched on is more reliable and the cost saving by switching of  at night is probably small approx £10 per year.

Similar savings could be made if the tv box  is switched off at night.

On balance 24/7 operation is not expensive and most people probably leave them on, I often use my computer during the night myself so switching off can be a nuisance, unless this is done for some preffered reasons, I do switch off when not in use and I have my own reasons do to that, but I have not got the hub connected phone yet and prefer the landline phone.

If equipment is switched off, such as hub and computers when not in use, there is less chance of hacking so that improves security, and cybercrime and hacking does happen on the www internet, I have had it myself.

alf28

[MrHalfAsleep]

I used to switch the router off every night; had no problems doing so.  However now the landline comes through it, such a course of action would result in me having no phone during the night.  I also pointed out elsewhere that it is also a fire risk (albeit small) as some creepy crawlies may find their way inside.