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Debate: should you power cycle a router or just leave it on forever?
Had a client's network crash hard on Tuesday. Router was on for 187 days straight. I said power cycle it, they said no, leave it alone. I forced the reboot, fixed everything. But my coworker argues leaving it on prevents hardware wear from power spikes. I've seen both sides. Long uptimes seem stable until they aren't. Power cycling clears memory leaks but risks capacitor stress. What do you guys do for long-running equipment?
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mary_west1mo ago
Right, because my router failing every 187 days is a totally solid unit, not just a ticking time bomb. I guess I'll just go flip the breaker on my whole house next time, really stress those caps.
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cole_baker1mo ago
Whoa, hold on, I gotta push back on that. Power cycling all the time is way more risky than just letting it run. Look at those 187 days - that's a sign of a solid, stable unit. You're way more likely to kill a router from the power surge every time you flip the switch than from it just sitting there. Sure, a memory leak can happen, but most home routers these days handle that stuff fine. I've seen way more failures from people yanking the plug every few months than from leaving gear on for years. Plus, every reboot is a chance for the power supply caps to get stressed and fail early. My stuff runs for years, I only reboot when a major firmware update drops.
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linda_dixon491mo ago
Well, I've gotta say @cole_baker, you're right about the power surge thing but most consumer routers just have a simple on/off switch that doesn't cause any surge at all. Unplugging it is a different story, but flipping the switch is pretty harmless.
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