nanog mailing list archives

Re: Protecting 1Gb Ethernet From Lightning Strikes


From: Blake Hudson <blake () ispn net>
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2019 13:52:37 -0500

+1 on the Ubiquiti surge protectors specifically designed for PoE gear in mind (other brands like Cambium that are outdoor AP or camera oriented may work equally as well). I would also recommend continuing to isolate and protect as much as possible. For example, connecting your outdoor PoE cameras or APs to dedicated PoE switches that connect back to the core or aggregation switches via fiber. The PoE switches powering the outdoor gear could be connected to power on dedicated PDUs that are connected to dedicated circuits. I would imagine that PDUs that provide surge protection or on-line/line-interactive UPS units would be preferred over standby UPS units or PDUs that do not provide surge protection. Would also be nice to keep spare parts on-site or conveniently accessible, but not connected to power (e.g. focus on cold spares before focusing on hot spares).

--Blake

Warren Kumari wrote on 8/13/2019 1:32 PM:
This probably won't fully solve your problem, but I run a bunch of
Ubiquiti access points and similar -- I suffered a number of lightning
related outages, and then started using their TOUGHcable -
https://www.ui.com/accessories/toughcable/
(don't forget to also get the special jacks / ends). Since changing to
this I've had no more issues. You should also look at
https://www.ui.com/accessories/ethernet-surge-protector/- I haven't
needed them, but...

W



On Tue, Aug 13, 2019 at 2:23 PM Javier J <javier () advancedmachines us> wrote:
I'm working with a client site that has been hit twice, very close by lightening.

I did lots of electrical work/upgrades/grounding but now I want to focus on protecting Ethernet connections between core 
switching/other devices that can't be migrated to fiber optic.

I was looking for surge protection devices for Ethernet but have never shopped for anything like this before. Was 
wondering if anyone has deployed a solution?
They don't have a large presence on site (I have been moving all of their core stuff to AWS) but they still have core 
networking / connectivity and PoE cameras / APs around the property.
Since migrating their onsite servers/infra to the cloud, now their connectivity is even more important.

This is a small site, maybe about 200 switch ports, but I would only need to protect maybe 12 core ones. but would be 
something I could use in the future with larger deployments.
it's just a 1Gbe network BTW.

Hope someone with more experience can help make hardware recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

- Javier




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