In one of your recent columns, you answered a question about whether or not an ADSL modem should be turned off when the computer is turned off. I had been wondering about the same thing, but your answer didn’t really answer my particular circumstances. My ADSL modem router is a D-Link DSL-302G which establishes the connection automatically and the only way I can disconnect is by turning it off at the router. I do not have an ADSL icon on the taskbar, and I currently turn my computer off overnight, but leave the modem on. Does it matter whether I leave the modem on or off and which would be the better way to go?

It doesn’t really matter whether you leave the modem on or off overnight, but my suggestion would be to leave the router on. If you turn the router off overnight, and then back on when you wish to use the internet connection, there is some overhead associated with the router booting and going through procedures such as re-establishing the ADSL line sync. Check if your ADSL router has a setting where you can configure the ADSL connection to be disconnected after a certain period of idle when no data has been transmitted, as this resolves your concern about the ADSL connection being established permanently. In any case, I would leave the ADSL router always-on, since no data should be transmitted when your computer is off, and as this is also the most convenient solution anyway.