CharlesinGA
Well-known member
Ok, I have a small network set up in the house, and shop. I have a WIFI6 router unit with ethernet ports, and a second switch unit connected to it. On the network is the old desktop (a Win 7 machine) a Western Digital RAID back up drive, the cable modem supplies the router, and a Cat 5e cable run in a 1/2 PVC electric conduit underground to the shop, where it supplies a WIFI router that I have renamed, given a new address to, disabled the DHCP, and a name different from the house unit. From the connections on the back of the "router" (which is now nothing more than a WIFI access point, but much cheaper) a wall mounted smart TV is supplied by the LAN.
There are enough lightning strikes that I lose about one WIFI access point a year in the shop. (shop is a 60x60 all steel building with an entirely separate electrical feed, different transformer, different meter, from the house.) It is the first thing on the main feed to the Subdivision, the house is the second.
The first one lost was an old router which the WAN port had died on, but otherwise performed perfectly. i set it up and used it about a year, till it got zapped (and not just the power supply brick either, the whole thing.) Second one was a new Linksys unit I bought and set up, zapped, third was this March but it was OK, just the power supply brick so I dug in the junk box and pulled out another Linksys power supply brick identical and it worked again.... until last Tuesday........... Power supply brick OK, Linksys worked OK in so far as it responded to the phone and laptop but was not passing any info from the main router/internet connection. AND..... The Toshiba 34 inch TV will not turn on, nothing, yet other stuff plugged into the same plug (power for the soundbars and their optical splitter all work fine.
Previously I had bough a Netgear Nighthawk WIFI5 router off the clearance table at Staples as a spare, So last night, I reconfigured it and got it set up and all of that worked. Did I mention the access point is mounted on a small shelf about 15 ft off the floor and I have to get my scissor lift to access it? I did pay $10 extra to get the 2 year, unlimited warranty which includes surges. I'm guessing it will pay off.
However, the bigger issue is my desktop. The weather had passed, the lightning was several miles to the east, rain was over, and suddenly, from the area of the desk was a pop that could have easily been mistaken for a gun shot. The desktop is inop. When I apply power the green light on the power supply goes on and off and varies in intensity. I went ahead and ordered another power supply, I shall see if that gets it running again.
Everything in the house is on battery UPS units with surge suppression, older Tripp Lite manufactured, IBM branded units. The wall outlet is a Leviton 4 way outlet with surge suppression in it, and the breaker panel has a Square D surge suppressor that fits in the place of a breaker. (none of this is great, but it is layered one before the other)
On the good side, the Western Digital network back up RAID drive (which is no longer supported by WD) is performing flawlessly, and has a complete image of the desktop drive the same day as the desktop went POP! I looked at recent pics and other data, spreadsheets, etc. to verify it.
The only real question I have, is has anyone used LAN ethernet surge suppressors, and do you feel that they work?
My alternative to this is getting a decent measurement of the distance the CAT 5e is presently run, plus some extra, and having a fiber optic cable made to run between the house and shop, which hinges on the fiber optic ends fitting the conduit and making the wide sweep bends.
Now, I know I can use an antenna system to push the signals from one building to the other but given the distance (80 ft) I would prefer to have a physical connection. The metal building disturbs the signal and reception in much of the building directly from the house is poor. A wireless access point inside is still needed for me to use the phone, tablet or laptop on the network unless I am standing in the doorway.
I also am debating installing several 8 ft ground rods around the foundation and bonding them to the building structure. It has the one required ground rod for the electric panel, and of course concrete is rather conductive itself, but the rods may help.
On the good news side, I have finished the radiator installation on my RAM 2500 and have been running it thru heat/cool cycles to bleed the air out of the cooling system. Cummins seems to hide a lot of air in the block and heads and it takes 20 or so cycles to get to the point where the coolant bottle ceases going down after the engine cools off.
Charles
There are enough lightning strikes that I lose about one WIFI access point a year in the shop. (shop is a 60x60 all steel building with an entirely separate electrical feed, different transformer, different meter, from the house.) It is the first thing on the main feed to the Subdivision, the house is the second.
The first one lost was an old router which the WAN port had died on, but otherwise performed perfectly. i set it up and used it about a year, till it got zapped (and not just the power supply brick either, the whole thing.) Second one was a new Linksys unit I bought and set up, zapped, third was this March but it was OK, just the power supply brick so I dug in the junk box and pulled out another Linksys power supply brick identical and it worked again.... until last Tuesday........... Power supply brick OK, Linksys worked OK in so far as it responded to the phone and laptop but was not passing any info from the main router/internet connection. AND..... The Toshiba 34 inch TV will not turn on, nothing, yet other stuff plugged into the same plug (power for the soundbars and their optical splitter all work fine.
Previously I had bough a Netgear Nighthawk WIFI5 router off the clearance table at Staples as a spare, So last night, I reconfigured it and got it set up and all of that worked. Did I mention the access point is mounted on a small shelf about 15 ft off the floor and I have to get my scissor lift to access it? I did pay $10 extra to get the 2 year, unlimited warranty which includes surges. I'm guessing it will pay off.
However, the bigger issue is my desktop. The weather had passed, the lightning was several miles to the east, rain was over, and suddenly, from the area of the desk was a pop that could have easily been mistaken for a gun shot. The desktop is inop. When I apply power the green light on the power supply goes on and off and varies in intensity. I went ahead and ordered another power supply, I shall see if that gets it running again.
Everything in the house is on battery UPS units with surge suppression, older Tripp Lite manufactured, IBM branded units. The wall outlet is a Leviton 4 way outlet with surge suppression in it, and the breaker panel has a Square D surge suppressor that fits in the place of a breaker. (none of this is great, but it is layered one before the other)
On the good side, the Western Digital network back up RAID drive (which is no longer supported by WD) is performing flawlessly, and has a complete image of the desktop drive the same day as the desktop went POP! I looked at recent pics and other data, spreadsheets, etc. to verify it.
The only real question I have, is has anyone used LAN ethernet surge suppressors, and do you feel that they work?
My alternative to this is getting a decent measurement of the distance the CAT 5e is presently run, plus some extra, and having a fiber optic cable made to run between the house and shop, which hinges on the fiber optic ends fitting the conduit and making the wide sweep bends.
Now, I know I can use an antenna system to push the signals from one building to the other but given the distance (80 ft) I would prefer to have a physical connection. The metal building disturbs the signal and reception in much of the building directly from the house is poor. A wireless access point inside is still needed for me to use the phone, tablet or laptop on the network unless I am standing in the doorway.
I also am debating installing several 8 ft ground rods around the foundation and bonding them to the building structure. It has the one required ground rod for the electric panel, and of course concrete is rather conductive itself, but the rods may help.
On the good news side, I have finished the radiator installation on my RAM 2500 and have been running it thru heat/cool cycles to bleed the air out of the cooling system. Cummins seems to hide a lot of air in the block and heads and it takes 20 or so cycles to get to the point where the coolant bottle ceases going down after the engine cools off.
Charles
