Switching the PC on and off all the time may cause probs or it may not. I don't know about that but what's stopping you from simply unplugging the modem and leaving the PC switched on?

Hi Geordie,

Yep, I can switch off the modem and wireless router.  But when I want to get connected again, I have to switch on the modem first, wait about 2 minutes to let it finish its diagnostics, then turn on the wireless router and wait another 2-3 minutes till it gets settled down.  Then, I'll have to reboot my laptop to enable the wireless connection.  Not a real problem if I have all the time and patience...

But I'd like to know the "recommended best practice" of maintaining a home network, taking everything into consideration (security, ease of use, practicality, etc.).

Angel

Does it still need to go thro9ugh all that if you unplug the telephone cable from the modem rather than the power supply?

I'm just setting up my first network gizmo now so I'm not really sure how routers and stuff work. I'm just going from the way my desktop PC works.

OK,  here is what I do,  and have done for about 1.5 years now.  The only PC I regularly turn-off s my notebook which goes to work with me,  and comes home every evening.  If I am going to be out of town for more than a week,  I may turn--off a couple of the servers upstairs,  but other than that,  the sysem sare all on 24x7,  and most of them are on battery backup systems too.

I leave my "DSL Modem" on 24x7.  It connects directly to my wireless router (Linksys WRT54G) which also stays on 24x7.  On my wireless router,  I have WEP enabled, broadcast SSID disabled,  and MAC filtering enabled,  so no one can connect to my wireless network without my permission and configuration for them.  Since I have done this,  I have not had any viruses get into my home network,  nor have I had any worms or such.  a GRC port scan reveals one open port,  and that is because I have remote administration for my router enabled.  Sine my wireless does not broadcast its SSID,  it is harder for anyone else to hack into it,  and if they manage to find the SSID,  they still need to get by the MAC address filtering,  and the 128 bit WEP filtering...

I have lived through Nimda, Blaster, Welchia, etc all with no impact on my home network.  Even more,  I can easily access my home network while at the neighbor's house working on their computer for them too.

Looks like your fort is really secured and tested.  My wireless router is set-up in the Japanese language, which I'm practically illiterate.  So I can only depend on the Buffalo AOSS feature which, they say, is sufficient protection for my system.

In another message thread, I was asking if there was a way to challenge the integrity of my wireless network without using another PC.  I mean, what would be the simplest way for me to be sure my neighbor isn't piggy-backing on my network?

I never thought of Georgie's suggestion of pulling the phone plug from the modem.  If I want to reconnect to my ISP, I suppose I'd have to turn off then turn on the modem & router again?  Maybe I can try it over the weekend.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions!

 

Hi!  I just read an article about leaving your PC on at night.  I don't think this may apply  to you since you're behind a router.  Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1666911,00.asp