2 Router / Switches / Modems blown out in 2 months

[tr0910]

Does lightning strike in the same place twice??

 

I have a problem.  After the first lightning strike I thought, oh well, these things happen.  So I ordered a new Netgear 1450 router, and after much reconfiguration, got everything back working again.  Yesterday we had another lightning storm, and I blew out my router again.

 

Both times it was the WAN port on the router that went bad.  This time it also took out the ports on the cable modem, and it fried the powersupply for the router.  I also lost 8 ports on one of my 24 port switches.  My computers were not affected.  The unRaid server and the 24 port switch were both plugged into the same APC UPS.  The other computers and the modem & router were not on a UPS.

 

We have only been in this place only 2 months, and I am suspicious that the grounding is less than good.  Or possibly the cable connection is improperly protected.  It is a multi family unit, and who knows where the ground point is.

 

Does anyone know where I should take this issue to get better advice??

[foo_fighter]

Get a whole house surge protector?

[jbrodriguez]

Somewhat unrelated, but you may want to take a look at one of Ubiquity's EdgeRouter products.

 

These things are powerful and some inherent capabilities (fq_codel) make them surpass enterprise-grade solutions such as pfsense.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[c3]

Not sure where in the world you are, but I think you have correctly identified the problem area. From your post I get the impression you are not the owner. So, it wont be yours to solve. The landlord may or may not be required to fix anything.

 

These are awesome for the purpose. I use one, but at $3000US I don't own it.

 

The cheapest tester you can get is the neon light. Use it like this. This simple test does not actually test ground. The ground could be wired to neutral and still pass the test. But it is the beginning.

 

Here is the real deal.

 

Without a good ground, most surge suppression is less effective or ineffective. And then there is ground in rush from near by ground strikes...

 

[tr0910]

Yes, you correctly surmised this is a rental.  For 30 years, in our own homes (3 of them) we have never had this kind of issue.  Present location is Kansas City and yes we do get big storms here.  But we have lived in the mid-west before.

 

I did find that the outlet the router was plugged into did not have the 3rd wire for ground attached, so it behaved like a 2 wire power cord.  But the router is a 2 wire plug anyways so it never cared.  The 24 port switch was plugged into an APC UPS and it got hammered downstairs at a different location and the plugs there are properly wired.  I'll have this one plug fixed, but I don't expect that to solve anything.

 

Perhaps I need Comcast to check the grounding on their cable feed.  But the first lightning strike did not take out the cable modem at all.  And the second strike only took out the ethernet port on the cable modem.  The wifi portion of the cable modem (which I was using in Bridge mode and not using, was still operable and the internet worked via this wifi)

 

The consistent issue is that the wan port of the router got fried both times.  The wan port was connected by a 5 ft cable to the modem.  The longest ethernet cable in use is less than 30 feet. 

[HellDiverUK]

Nearly every home UPS made in the last 10 years has network protection.  Hook your cable moden through that, so the next time it's only the cable modem that blows up. 

 

You can also get quite cheap surge protection leads that have ethernet, or even cable connection protection.

[JonathanM]

Does lightning strike in the same place twice??

Most definitely yes. The local topography combined with soil types and water table levels will create a much higher probably of strikes for a given area if a storm is nearby. Best (but not practical) solution is to try to move the strike zone away with a lightning rod. Cell towers or high tension line towers 1/2 mile away or so are ideal lightning rods, but not something the average person can afford to make happen. 

 

Long term the solution is to move. You will be fighting this at your current location forever, or until the geography changes enough to draw the strike zone away.

 

Protecting your equipment is going to be an ongoing issue, I suggest using something like this at one end of critical cable runs. Induced voltage in your network lines from the EMF of the strike is a bitch, and is not very predictable, as the field generated is going to be slightly different with each strike. 30 feet is more than plenty to generate smoke at both ends if the EMF field is lined up and close.

[c3]

Protecting your equipment is going to be an ongoing issue, I suggest using something like this at one end of critical cable runs.

As long as you only use 10/100BaseT.

 

Good grounding can not be overstated. If you can get the Comcast tech to check/install the ground that would be great. Anyone else in your building(s) have issue(s)?

 

While these types of events are often covered by insurance, they are almost never covered by warranty or service contracts.

[JonathanM]

Protecting your equipment is going to be an ongoing issue, I suggest using something like this at one end of critical cable runs.

As long as you only use 10/100BaseT.

For gigabit, you could try this.

 

I've had better luck surge wise with tripplite, but the APC does state it will handle gigabit.

 

Good grounding can not be overstated.

 

Absolutely. All surge protectors work by dumping excess energy into the ground line, if there is not enough capacity directly to earth through the ground circuit, the energy will fry your equipment even through the surge protector. Verifying that the ground is connected is not enough, there must be a good solid connection all the way through the circuit. If the comcast service entrance isn't properly grounded, the energy will keep going until it finds a path to ground, either through your surge protectors or your equipment.