What sitting empty does to a house full of electronics
A part-year home has a problem a full-time home doesn't. Everything in it gets switched off, or left alone, for months at a stretch.
When you come back, some of it won't work. The internet account may have been paused. The computer has months of updates waiting. A password you changed up north never got changed on the tablet that stayed here. None of this means anything is broken. It means the house needs a wake-up routine, and before you leave again, a shutdown routine.
Below are the two checklists we'd hand a neighbor. If you'd like us to do them, or a step doesn't go the way it should, that's the service.
Arrival checklist
1. Wake the modem and router in the right order
If you paused internet service for the off-season, contact your provider and confirm it's active again before you troubleshoot anything. A paused account looks exactly like a dead modem.
- Unplug the modem and the router from power.
- Plug in the modem only. Wait until its lights settle, which can take several minutes after a long time off.
- Plug in the router. Wait again.
- If you have mesh Wi-Fi points, power them on last, starting with the one nearest the router.
- Test with one device, close to the router, before you judge the rest of the house.
If the modem's lights never settle, the problem is between the modem and the street, and that's a call to the provider. If the modem looks fine and there's still no Wi-Fi, the router is the suspect, and that's where we can help.
2. Let the updates run before you need the computer
A computer that's been off since spring has a backlog: operating system updates, browser updates, security software, and every app that updates itself. They'll all try to run at once, and the machine will feel slow or stuck for the first hour or two.
- Plug the computer into power and connect it to the internet.
- Open the update screen (Windows Update on a PC, Software Update on a Mac) and start it by hand.
- Expect more than one restart. Check for updates again after each one until it says you're current.
- Update the browser, then your security software.
- Leave online banking and bill paying until all of that is done.
Do the same for phones and tablets that stayed in the house, and check the router's app for a firmware update. If the computer is still crawling the next day, that's no longer the backlog. Bring it into the shop, where diagnostics are free, and we'll find out what's wrong.
3. Round up the devices that fell off Wi-Fi
Walk the house and see what's missing from the network. The usual list is the printer, a streaming box or smart TV, a tablet, and a smart speaker. The usual causes:
- The Wi-Fi password or network name changed. A new router or a provider swap leaves old devices looking for a network that's gone.
- An account password changed while you were away. The device here is still trying the old one, and after enough failed tries the account may lock.
- The device needs its own update before its apps will sign in.
- The printer picked up a new address. The computer is still sending jobs to the old one, so it shows as offline.
Email is the other one. If mail works on your phone but not on the desert computer, it's almost always a password or a sign-in approval that the computer never received. Email and account problems can usually be handled by remote support.
Departure checklist
What to unplug
Anything that doesn't need to run while you're gone is safer with its plug out of the wall.
- Desktop computers and monitors. Shut down fully first, not sleep.
- Laptops, and take them with you if you can. A laptop battery left on a charger in a hot house for months doesn't age well.
- Printers. Shut an inkjet off with its own power button first so the print head parks, then unplug it.
- TVs, streaming boxes, sound equipment and game consoles.
What to leave on
This depends on one question: does anything in the house need the internet while you're away? If you have a thermostat, a leak sensor, cameras or an alarm that reports over Wi-Fi, then the modem, the router and those devices stay powered. If nothing needs to report in, the modem and router can be unplugged too, and you may be able to pause service with your provider.
To be clear about our part: our work starts with the network those devices depend on. If you have a specific camera, thermostat or smart-home device that keeps dropping offline, ask us whether we can help with it.
Surge protection
Whatever stays plugged in should sit behind surge protection.
- A plain power strip is not a surge protector. Look for a protection rating printed on it.
- Surge protectors wear out. Many have a "protected" light, and if that light is off, the strip is only an extension cord now.
- Surges also come in on the coax or network line, so the modem can be hit even when its power is protected.
A small battery backup (a UPS) on the modem and router is worth considering if they stay on. It rides through the short flickers that would otherwise leave the router hung until someone restarts it by hand, which is a problem when nobody's home.
Backups before you lock the door
Run a backup of the desert computer the week you leave, and confirm it finished. Then get a copy out of the house. That can be a cloud backup, or an external drive that travels with you. A backup drive left plugged in next to the computer it protects shares that computer's fate in a surge, a leak or a break-in.
If you arrive to find a drive that clicks, or a computer that no longer sees its files, don't keep restarting it. Our data recovery page explains what to do first.
Remote access, so you can check on things
If the network stays on, set up a way to look in on it before you go, and test it from your phone with Wi-Fi turned off.
- Most current routers and mesh systems have an app that shows whether the house is online and lets you restart the router from anywhere.
- If a computer stays on, a remote access tool lets you reach its files and programs. Protect it with a strong password and a second sign-in step.
- Write down the internet provider's account number and support line, and leave a copy with whoever checks on the house.
If your network has dead spots, or the router is too old to offer remote management, our network and Wi-Fi page covers the fix.
Heat, briefly
Summer is the reason most of this matters. A closed-up house gets warm even with the air conditioning set to hold, and a garage or an unventilated closet gets much warmer. Don't leave computers, backup drives or laptops in either one. Keep whatever stays running in the open, in the coolest interior room, with space around it.
We wrote a full guide on this, including a summer shutdown walkthrough, so we won't repeat it here. Read the desert heat and summer shutdown guide on our main site before your first summer away.
Repair or replace after a long sit
A device that fails on arrival isn't always finished. A router may need only a new power adapter or a reset. A computer that won't start may have a dead battery, a failed power supply or a drive problem, and those have very different answers. You'll get a quote before any work starts, so you can decide with real information.
Replacement makes more sense when the device can no longer get security updates, or when it has already failed once and holds things you can't afford to lose. If you're buying a new computer for the desert house, we can set it up and move your files and accounts over. And if you work from the desert home during the season, our home office setup page covers the wired connection, backup internet and work network that a seasonal office needs.