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Forum Discussion
WNDR3400v3 Remains Active for a Shut Down PC
Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router
Model WNDR3400v3
When I shut down my PC, the router's LAN port LED for my connection turns amber. The User Manual says that this means there is still a 10 Mbps link with the PC. If I disable my PC's connection to the router -- easily done with a small application whose icon is on the notification area (for earlier Windows versions, the tray) -- the LED goes out, which means there is no link between my PC and router.
Why does a link remain active between the router and a shut-down PC? Is this not a security issue?
3 Replies
Further informaiton --
My PC: Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64
My wife's PC: Windows XP SP3
Both wired to the router. Router settings have WiFi disabled.
After I posted my original note, I saw that someone else had a similar question about a different router model. In that case, the amber LED was blinking. Disabiling "wake on LAN" resolved the issue.
In my case, the amber LEDs were on steadily, not blinking. I disabled "wake on LAN" on both my and my wife's PCs. That seems to have resolved the issue for my PC but not for my wife's PC.
> Why does a link remain active between the router and a shut-down PC?
Because your "a shut-down PC" keeps its Ethernet interface active,
even when you think that it is "shut-down".> Is this not a security issue?
Typically not. If it worries you, then you'd need to use a real
power switch, or disable the Ethernet interface in stand-by mode in the
computer's firmware/BIOS, or use your (unspecified) "a small
application".The primary value of using the computer's stand-by power supply to
power its Ethernet adapter is to enable a feature called Wake-on-LAN.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN
If you don't want it, then you should be able to disable it.
> My PC: Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64
> My wife's PC: Windows XP SP3The OS is less important than the hardware (and its associated
firmware/BIOS).> [...] I saw that someone else had a similar question [...]
Thanks for the helpful link.
On my wife's PC, I finally solved this problem. Besides disabiling Wake-on-LAN (WoL) in BIOS, I had to go to the Control Panel, where I had to disable several WoL capabilities. Now, when her PC is shut down, the router's LAN port LED for that PC goes out, not amber.
