Data Line Surge Protection

 

You don’t need a string of statistics to understand lightning is powerful, unpredictable, and strikes often. Take my word for it. I’ve read the “fun” facts. There is an astounding number of opportunities for mother nature to completely fry your business and home networks from both direct and indirect lightning strikes. But you can’t blame lightning for damage to modems, motherboards, serial ports, and other LAN equipment. You can’t shake a fist at mother nature for network downtime leading to a loss of business, expensive repairs/replacements, and corrupted data. What you can, and should, do is think ahead and arm your network with data line surge protectors to help secure highly integrated systems so a kiss from the skies doesn’t spell disaster for sensitive telecom and data transmission devices.

Without getting into the nitty gritty of attractive terminology like “fast diode clamp array,” and “terminal differential gas discharge tubes,” at it’s most rudimentary level a data line surge protector is a high-speed, self-resetting switch to balance communication/data lines with chassis ground when the lines become over-energized from a power surge. As much as I waxed poetic about the threat of lightning, it is almost important to factor power surges from equipment turning on/off, or from power companies during a grid switch. These instances aren’t as dramatic, but they are more common than lightning strikes and can still cause damage to networking equipment.

Our data line surge protection page offers an in-depth line of L-com products outfitted to protect networks big and small, because peace of mind should not be a statistic.

There are just a few questions you should ask yourself to help you find the most competent and cost-effective defense.

What Ethernet protocol does your network operate on?

No matter the standard, you can find inline lightning and surge protectors for 10/100/1000/1000 Base-T protocols. “Fast Ethernet” and “Gigabit Ethernet” have allowed for lighting (the good kind) fast connectivity for homes and businesses, but this speed means fragile components have become more vulnerable to surges.

What, if any, PoE protocol does your network utilize?

Less is always more. Power over Ethernet technology allows DC power to pass along the same twisted pair cable as the ethernet signal, making the need for a separate power cable obsolete. This is a neat standard, that continues to grow, but it’s also another acronym to familiarize yourself with and the “+,++” also needs consideration when finding the right data line surge protection. PoE passes 15W, PoE+ passes 50W, and PoE++ passes 100W.

Where is your equipment?

Whether it’s inside and safe from the elements, or out weathering the storm, L-com and ShowMeCables offer an arsenal of defense such as DC surge protectors. Weather-resistant housings include either a screw-top cover or hinge/lock top with mounting holes and cable grommets/glands to accommodate both booted and non-booted cables. Offering impact resistant protection for outdoor peripheral devices such as radios and security cameras.

Indoor options include wall plate design box mounts and compact metal in-line units, with housing and safety ground isolated from the jacks to prevent ground loops when using shielded cables.

 

If you have further questions or need help finding the right data line surge protection solution for your network, please feel free to call our inside sales team at 1-888-519-9505.