Is My Ethernet Cable Draining Laptop Battery?

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The discussion centers on a laptop experiencing unexplained battery drain, with 4-6% power loss noted overnight while only an ethernet cable was connected. A suggestion is made to unplug the ethernet cable to investigate if it is the cause of the drain. It is noted that modern ethernet cards may have remote-wake capabilities, which could keep the laptop awake and draw power. Users are advised to disable this feature using relevant utilities. Additionally, it is acknowledged that laptops naturally lose battery power over time, even when not in use, due to inherent inefficiencies in battery technology. An experiment confirmed that even without any connections, the laptop still lost 2-3% battery overnight, supporting the idea that some power loss is normal.
DrKareem
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It is the second occurence. In the morning, when i turn on my computer, i figure out that it has around 4-6% battery powe missing. At night, only the ethernet cable (and usb mouse, but i eleminated it as a suspect for the power theft :cool: ) is plugged in.

So could be that the thief here is the ethernet cable??
 
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So, be a scientist. Unplug the ethernet cable tonight & see what happens. :biggrin:
 
Yes, that I will do. I will uncover the culprit behind this. :D
 
Your ethernet card might have remote-wake capability, meaning it stays awake listening for instructions to boot the computer up. You might want to use whatever utilities that came with the card/computer to disable remote wake. You might be able to make this change in Windows XP, but in the old days you had to use a vendor-provided utility.

On the other hand, it's a laptop -- batteries will slowly discharge even when nothing is connected to them, because they are not perfect.

- Warren
 
most computers today use standby modes and electronic power switches these draw
some current and there could other standby modes in the computer especially
in laptops
 
Yes, I think this is the reason. I left the laptop overnight without being plugged to either a power source or to ethernet cable, and still there was around 2-3% battery power missing. Thanks for your replies all.
 
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