Sorry - newbie asking silly questions

[ferdigreyling]

Hope you wil tolerate my stupidity, but here goes. I used Vodacom 3G up to now on my desktop, Wait6ed for Neotel and when they came I saw that all they could give me where I live in Jhb is 56 kb p s wireless. Duh, I thought. Dial up wireless... So I was forced into the arms of Mweb/Telkom Adsl.
My questions: 1. with the modem/router on all the time, I think I do not "lose" data as with 3G? With 3G one uses up data to keep the link alive. Am I right that that is NOT the case with ADSL? That for exampe I can leave the PC and router on for a whole day and not fire up e-mail or web browser once and my usage will be nil.
2. Thunder strorms. Should I switch off and unplug the phone line into the router as with dial up modems?

Thanks for your time.
Ferdi

 

[LazyLion]

Hope you wil tolerate my stupidity, but here goes. I used Vodacom 3G up to now on my desktop, Wait6ed for Neotel and when they came I saw that all they could give me where I live in Jhb is 56 kb p s wireless. Duh, I thought. Dial up wireless... So I was forced into the arms of Mweb/Telkom Adsl.
My questions: 1. with the modem/router on all the time, I think I do not "lose" data as with 3G? With 3G one uses up data to keep the link alive. Am I right that that is NOT the case with ADSL? That for exampe I can leave the PC and router on for a whole day and not fire up e-mail or web browser once and my usage will be nil.
2. Thunder strorms. Should I switch off and unplug the phone line into the router as with dial up modems?

Thanks for your time.
Ferdi

Most of us on ADSL just leave it on all the time. It uses negligible bandwidth when idle (but that of course also depends on what programs are set to auto-update on your computer). We leave our routers on and some of us even leave our computers on 24/7.

I do not usually unplug my stuff in a thunderstorm, all my computer equipment is hooked to UPS devices and surge/spike protectors. Keep it checked often though, cos a strike can take out your protection equipment. If you have had a close or direct strike you should check your protection status.

You can download a utility called "netlimiter monitor" to spy on your bandwidth usage. It will keep tabs on which programs are using bandwidth and how much.

 

[HavocXphere]

Unplug it when there is a very heavy thunderstorm. Otherwise don't worry.

You will "lose" data if you have programs running in the background that are downloading without your knowledge. (Windows update, Viruses etc) Garyvdh's suggestion regarding Netmonitor is good for checking if thats the case.

 

[smokey]

Yup, leave your computer on and help us force Eskom to invest in more electrical supply. 24/7 rocks!

 

[ferdigreyling]

Thanks

Thanks for the requests. Downloaded the file, will unplug in thunderstorms.