Headlines - D-Link launches eco-friendly Wi-Fi routers

[HEXUS]

D-Link has launched a pair of "green" Wi-Fi routers that promise to reduce electricity bills by using up to 40 per cent less power.

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[pollaxe]

Interesting...

[Nelviticus]

Hmm, just checked that link and the support page for the DIR-655 doesn't list the new firmware yet. Boo!

[TheAnimus]

There is another aspect to this, by having a schedule that automatically switches off your WiFi during certain times of day when you know you're not going to be wanting it, no one else can use it. Extra security!

But wouldn't it be better to have it automatically switch its wifi off, if its not been used for say 30 minuites, and then have a button that you push to turn wifi on? That way when you pick up your laptop, you first whack that button. Surf for as long as you like, and 30 min after the last transmission, pop goes the weasel?

[kingpotnoodle]

Originally Posted by TheAnimus

But wouldn't it be better to have it automatically switch its wifi off, if its not been used for say 30 minuites, and then have a button that you push to turn wifi on? That way when you pick up your laptop, you first whack that button. Surf for as long as you like, and 30 min after the last transmission, pop goes the weasel?

That goes a long way to defeating the point of Wi-Fi, particularly the long range of the N standard... if you have to walk across your house in order to turn the wireless on then you're going to get pretty tired of it and probably turn the feature off. You can already mostly achieve that "killer feature" anyway... wall sockets have an off switch! Time based usage can also be configured using a socket timing device, which are available in most hardware stores!

What is needed is a remote wake-up, similar to a wake-on-lan signal.... for wireless devices to be able to broadcast a "hey i'm here, switch up to active mode please" to an access point which it has previously been paired with and given permission to power up and which is just listening in a low power passive mode... it'd add a few seconds to connect times, but that would be an acceptable trade-off and many times better than having to walk over and poke a switch!

*Copyright that idea...*

[3dcandy]

Pssst - new BT Homehub (V2.0) has power saving built in too - turns off wi-fi, but it does it via a timer function, so it's not available from say 1am to 7am

Also has wireless-n, access restrictions built in and blooooooo leds!!!!

[FLUFFYTOY]

Originally Posted by 3dcandy

Pssst - new BT Homehub (V2.0) has power saving built in too - turns off wi-fi, but it does it via a timer function, so it's not available from say 1am to 7am

Also has wireless-n, access restrictions built in and blooooooo leds!!!!

Good to know this,cheers - my mate at work is thinking of going with BT so will pass the info on

[CoolOneHere]

Hmmm...that seems like an interesting topic. It confuses me that they start with products that use to much energy and then once they start noticing it has a negative effect they start panicing and then decide to find something that uses less energy.