# Protecting Equipment From Surges Notes on surge protection strategies > [!note] > Article here https://bauer.codes/post/2024/02/surge-protection/ ## Electrical System ### Whole Home [Whole-home surge protectors](https://www.homedepot.com/b/Electrical-Power-Distribution-Whole-House-Surge-Protectors/N-5yc1vZbm05) provide protection for all electrical devices in the home from outside surges - utility issues, lightning strikes, etc. However, [only 20% of electrical surges](https://www.munichre.com/content/dam/munichre/contentlounge/website-pieces/documents/surge-protection-guide.pdf/_jcr_content/renditions/original.media_file.download_attachment.file/surge-protection-guide.pdf) come from lightning, utility failures, and other external sources. **Most surges come from equipment within a facility.** ### Point-of-use Defense-in-depth dictates quality surge protection devices at point of use - power conditioning - surge suppression The best models have multi-stage protection, non-sacrificial components, and do not use Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs) which degrade over time and use and must be periodically replaced. The tech is typically rated to 6K volts. Multiple vendors have similar offerings - ZeroSurge - [original patent holder](https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/surgex-zerosurge-brickwall-tripplite-or-what-kind-of-surge-protector-do-you-use.9205/) for series mode surge protectors - SurgeX - contracted ZeroSurge initially; offers multiple stages in the protection pipeline beyond what ZeroSurge products offer, but may not be necessary in all cases; significantly more expensive than ZeroSurge or Furman - Brickwall - Furman - higher end but still MOV, not series mode, can damage power supplies over time as it does not provide continuous power during surge ## Coax Properly installed [coax cable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaxial_cable) coming into a home is connected to the home's electrical ground, which "should" protect downstream components from lightning strikes. However (see [[#Whole Home]]) other surge sources or faulty ground connection could cause this protection to fail. ### Fiber optic barrier at point-of-use Surge protecting a cable modem connection is unlikely to be effective. If the surge is from a direct lightning strike, no surge protector on earth is going to be effective. And as coax cable caries signal and little power, surges are unlikely to be environmental. More, surge protecting cable/coax can hurt signal. As coax is just carrying signal, a good strategy is to eliminate all conducting connections between the cable modem and network equipment. - relative cheap ($250) - non conducting connection between cable modem and network, means the only thing destroyed would be the Media Converter and Modem #### Equipment `Coax` -> `Modem` -> `Media Converter` -> `SFP+ fiber transceiver` -> `OM4 MMF patch cable` -> `SFP+ fiber transceiver` -> [[UniFi Dream Machine Pro|UDM Pro]] ![[Network Power Diagram.excalidraw.svg]] | Part | Example | Notes | | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Media Converter, Copper to SFP+ | <ul><li>[Planet 10G](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G3FM811) - cheaper 10G option</li><li>[ADNet 10G Base-R](https://www.amazon.com/Gigabit-Fiber-Copper-Ethernet-Converter/dp/B07CNBSG5D) - anything above 1G tends to be very expensive<li>[TRENDnet 100/1000Baset-T to SFP Converter](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0062K68D0) - if modem is only 1GbE, much cheaper</li></ul> | | | SFP+ Fiber Transceivers | [10Gtek](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1H1Z2F) | | | OM4 MMF patch cable | [FiberCablesDirect OM4](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PZKNYKS) | **must** match patch cable rating with transcievers, don't mix MMF and SMF | | Router with SFP+ port | [[UniFi Dream Machine Pro]] | | [Joe Spryn's Email on What He Purchased for Surge Protecting Coax](x-devonthink-item://3CB708DE-064A-4A6D-82EE-448444B94856)