FBI: reset wifi router?

[Carlos Alvarez]

That's exactly right, all routers are simply computers usually running Linux and routing/switching software. How often they need a reboot seems to correlate in reverse to how much they cost. Cheap stuff...frequent. The routers in our infrastructure never get a reboot unless it's incidental to some other task like an OS upgrade.

[John K Jordan]

It cleans up some stuff that hangs on and builds up like any other computing device. Routers are computers at the heart and a good kick in the pants is warranted once in awhile just like any other computer...even computers that are inherently stable over longer periods of time.

I simply can't believe how much junk comes installed on computers these days and how much unneeded stuff gets magically added somehow. No wonder some are unstable.

Back when I relied on my computers for a living I kept my software development, 3D modeling, and video/audio editing computers as clean as I could - never installed OS updates, never downloaded software, never bought and installed software I didn't absolutely need for the work, and never surfed the web. When setting up a new machine the first thing I always did was pare down the OS to the bare minimum, removing or disabling all the services I didn't need. (It was, however, a royal pain to set up a new machine - it usually took me 40-50 hours.)

I was usually 2 or 3 versions behind on OS and application updates, happy to let everyone discover and deal with the bugs in the latest versions and only installing them when I thought it was safe. I had multiple machines on a local network in the house but not connected externally except through ISDN to the Lab. Fortunately I worked at home and didn't have the well-meaning and efficient IP department dictating or "improving" things for me!

It was amazing how stable those computers were. I remember once I didn't reboot my primary workstation for over 18 months and only then because of a power outage. I was afraid the big uninterruptible power supply batteries would run down. Stable machines and keeping at least three running backups on different devices I can say I never lost a 10 minutes of work.

BTW, I believe keeping the power on all the time also helped prevent hardware failures from the heating/cooling and cycles and inrush power surges. These were dual-processor tower boxes loaded with high-end video cards, video hardware, loaded with memory, and packed with drives. The first thing I did when setting up a new system was add a number- of well placed fans and baffles and monitored the temperatures. I didn't need a portable heater under the table in the winter!

Just for fun, one corner of The Dungeon where i worked. (I posted this before)



JKJ

[Carlos Alvarez]

I simply can't believe how much junk comes installed on computers these days and how much unneeded stuff gets magically added somehow.

Not "on computers" but specifically only on Windows, and more so on junky machines. Business machines mostly come fairly clean. And Apple/Linux machines don't have any junk auto-running.

[Curt Harms]

Not "on computers" but specifically only on Windows, and more so on junky machines. Business machines mostly come fairly clean. And Apple/Linux machines don't have any junk auto-running.

Some people, if they buy a retail PC pull the hard drive and do a fresh install using an image from Microsoft. Keep the original hard drive in case of a warranty issue. Are retail machines today as bad for shovelware as they used to be? I haven't bought a new retail machine in 15 years or more.