Ethernet surges are generally minor and often harmless, but they can indicate underlying issues that need attention.
Ethernet surges are generally minor and often harmless, but they can indicate underlying issues that need attention.
The only reason I’d consider it is if there was an Ethernet cable outside the house. If it’s inside, I think there wouldn’t be a problem. I’m not sure about your location. At least in the US, coax services are supposed to be grounded outside the home. Phone lines seem different too—our line is disconnected and wound around the utility pole.
Internet myths that don't exist... IF this ever happens it's likely a lightning strike and not a "ethernet surge"... and in that case wifi wouldn't even save you because there's still the power cables from various other electronics including the pc itself. No it would get fried like everything else. Sidenote: idk either why american surge protectors must be so weird (and usually don't even work apparently) can't you just use a normal one ? (Idk if you're american, just hypothetically speaking) Btw I don't believe for a second it would protect against lightning strikes, even though it says so, unless that actually wouldn't exceed "13.500A" So yeah if you're scared about such things just buy a protection, I just buy them cause cheap and I like how it looks lol.
Some people have experienced situations where a thunderstorm caused damage despite precautions. Often it happens when connections remain active during a storm, even if the device was supposed to be turned off. Lightning can still affect equipment connected to power sources, and protective measures aren't foolproof.
Ethernet connections face numerous outside disturbances, including lightning strikes. The probability that such events harm your computer is extremely rare. Yet, I experienced losing a router port due to lightning once within the past three decades. My theory suggests that a surge from lightning could affect a poorly shielded, outdoor LAN cable, damaging the port. Typically, these surges are absorbed by the router’s protection components. The only scenario where damage becomes possible is when a long exposed cable is connected directly to your PC without any intermediate network device.
Ethernet by design offers some protection since signal transformers are installed at both ends. But if a lightning strike directly hits the cable and delivers tens of thousands of volts through its eight internal wires, the intense voltage can easily jump over the transformer and harm your network card. In regions with frequent lightning, using an online UPS or keeping your PC connected to a line interactive system makes sense. I’m not confident in relying on multiple Ethernet cable safeguards. Instead, I’d likely purchase a few media converters to switch from Ethernet to fiber and back. The fiber can be short—just 1 to 10 meters—and the extra delay is minimal, hardly noticeable. You achieve full separation because data travels as light through the fiber, so a lightning strike on the Ethernet cable would only damage the converter plugged in, which you could replace easily. You can find pairs of media converters on sites like eBay or Amazon for around $20-30 each. For instance, a pair costs about $35, including two converters and transceivers, plus a short fiber cable.
I experienced a lightning surge in my network during my time on coax 10-BASE-2. It entered my modem, damaged the IO chip on my router's motherboard (which ran a dialup PC), and then traveled back over coax. The diode in every NIC failed, but none of the computers were harmed. In fact, the NICs performed flawlessly after I switched to 10-BASE-T, since the network cards then supported both COAX and RJ45 ports, only affecting the coax connections.