In an age where we live permanently connected, few devices in our home have more daily work than the router that provides us with Internet access. With such a daily grind, it may be normal for it to overheat and shouldn’t be a concern, but there are still ways to mitigate that heat.
As we said, it is not strange that the router heats up, nor should it be a concern if it does not exceed certain limits. Almost all electronic devices in the house do it (the CPU of the PC, your Smart TV and even your smartphone) due to the number of processes that their processors have to do.
Without this danger, it is an aspect to take into account since it affects performance . When the router reaches a very high temperature, it can cause micro-cuts, loss of Internet speed and even momentary or even permanent connection losses until we turn off the device.
Why does a router get hot?
Obviously, the router is a type of device that is designed to work constantly without problems. As the one that says, it can work in perpetuity except for some vacation period in which we move from home and decide to give it a break.
Placing the router near other heat-emitting devices is a mistake
However, this design intended for constant use is not exempt from other types of problems more related to the placement of the device (for example, near windows where sunlight enters directly), the season of the year in which we we find (in summer it will be more likely to happen due to the general increase in temperature throughout the house), lack of ventilation, proximity of other devices with strong heat emission, etc.
There is also a more logical overheating due to the intensity of its operation. It is constantly receiving and sending information, both over Wi-Fi and over cable. The more we use it, for example, if we have many devices connected to Wi-Fi and consuming resources, the more it can get hot.
Different ways to reduce the temperature
Technology has improved and nowadays fiber routers do not usually have this type of overheating problem. To extend the useful life of the device and avoid problems with the operation of the router, a series of measures must be taken into account both in the short and long term.
Router without any object on it
It is very important to avoid putting the router near other electrical appliances. One of the main tips is to place it as isolated as possible and always with a good separation from other sources of heat that can be caused by other domestic equipment that we use in our day to day.
As for the ideal place, beyond fleeing from those other heat-emitting electrical devices, its thing is that it is not directly attached to the window where it can receive direct sunlight at some time of the day. We could have major problems that even permanently affect the device.
We must also avoid putting any object on top of the router that could obstruct the free passage of air through the ventilation grilles. In the opposite direction, it is also necessary to make sure that no dust enters the interior, since, in addition to overheating, it could seriously affect the device’s circuits.
Many routers have USB ports to which we can connect other devices, including certain fans with this type of connection (such as those used in laptops). This measure can lower the temperature of the router by up to 25 degrees Celsius depending on the time of year and the fan in question.
USB router ventilation
Finally, his thing is to have the router updated. You can enter to configure the router yourself and check the available and installed firmware version, although most often your operator does it automatically from their side. Among the optimizations that are made is better heat management and dissipation, which could help lower a few degrees even if you have not moved your device.