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Topic: Lightning zapped ADSL router and Ethernet card in PC

Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-30-2006 08:57 AM

The Friday before last my ADSL router and the Ethernet card built into my PC's motherboard were both, it seems, destroyed by a lightning surge through the 'phone line. I shut down the PC just before midnight on Thursday/Friday, and then in the early hours of Friday morning this storm came along. York station, which took a direct lightning hit that knocked out some signalling, is about three quarters of a mile from my flat. I booted the computer and router up about half an hour after the storm passed. The router didn't recognise the LAN connection at all (i.e. the LED didn't come on) and the computer gave a 'limited or no connectivity' message. The router wouldn't connect to my ISP, either.

The router is connected to the 'phone line through a surge protector, so I thought I should be OK. I was still able to get a wireless connection to the router through my laptop and see the config setup screens, but it still wouldn't make any fixed line connection at all: either to the Internet or through the LAN cable to my desktop PC.

As luck would have it the router was still under warranty, so I returned it to Ebuyer. The replacement arrived today. I was able to enter the ISP settings on the laptop through wireless and make an Internet connection, but the thing still would not connect through the LAN. I then tried using an Ethernet crossover cable to connect my desktop and laptop PCs, and still got a 'limited or no connectivity' icon. Only possible conclusion: LAN card in PC is buggered, too. I've just been to PC World and got a wireless PCI card, and that worked: I've just got broadband back on my main PC for the first time in nearly a fortnight (phew!).

But I am surprised that a lightning strike over half a mile away could have fried both my router and my LAN card. Interestingly, the microfilter survived (as in, the replacement router connected through it successfully), but I've replaced that as a precaution, anyway. Anyhow, it looks like the £25 I spent on that surge protector would have been put to better use on a bottle of Naval Strength Plymouth Gin, for all the good it did me!

A few years ago I had another modem (PCI dial-up: this was before I got broadband, probably in late 2000 or early 2001) seemingly nuked by lightning (as in, it wouldn't work when I booted the PC immediately after a thunderstorm), so I'm wondering if there's a particular vulnerability with my 'phone line. The line leaves my flat on an overhead cable run...

...which continues for another 100-150 metres to a pole at the bottom of the street; so I suppose if there's static electricity about following a thunderstorm it could pick it up. But there again, my landline 'phone has never been affected by it, so I'm not sure. Anyhow, all I know is that this is now the second time a piece of PC communications equipment has stopped working after a thunderstorm, and on both occasions it was connected to the 'phone line when the storm hit. Could lightning have done this, even if it's up to a mile away?

I suppose the only silver lining to this pretty disruptive cloud is that there is now no physical connection between my PC and the outside world (except the mains socket), so there should now be no way any further lighning strike can affect it, even if it does zap the router. I guess the moral of that story is to unplug the RJ11 lead which connects the router with the 'phone jack whenever it's not in use.

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Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 08-30-2006 12:36 PM

Don't feel bad Leo, you are not alone. Exact same thing happened to me, only the lightening didn't even have a direct hit, only the atmospheric charge was enough to take out a router, a modem and THREE electronic telephones that were on that line.

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Rick Raskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1100
From: Manassas Virginia
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 08-30-2006 04:40 PM

Sorry to hear about your DSL problems. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon where lightning is involved.

I suspect what happened was a very short duration high voltage spike was induced into the arial cable somewhere in its run from the telephone central office to your neighborhood. Telephone companies typically install protectors at their main frames to protect their equipment, but the customer end is often unprotected. Even gas tube protectors which have extremely fast reaction times (used where digital switches are deployed) are not always sufficient to totally protect from the effects of lightning. Consumer type surge protectors (somewhat slower than gas tubes) probably offer even less protection. Of course, disconnecting your equipment from the power grid AND the telephone plant during a lightning event will protect you, but it’s a gigantic hassle to do every time the storm winds blow. Me, I'd buy the bottle of gin.

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-31-2006 01:59 AM

Many thanks folks. At least it just wasn't me doing something stupid (apart from been conned into buying that useless surge protector, that is)!

quote: Rick Raskin
Of course, disconnecting your equipment from the power grid AND the telephone plant during a lightning event will protect you, but it’s a gigantic hassle to do every time the storm winds blow.

With that in mind, I've mounted the new router where it's easily positioned to pull the power and 'phone line leads out when it's not being used:

The old one was tucked down behind the bookcase, so that would have been a hassle (yes, I know I should have used a spirit level when sticking it on the wall - might get round to fixing that one of these days!).

quote: Frank Angel
Exact same thing happened to me, only the lightening didn't even have a direct hit, only the atmospheric charge was enough to take out a router, a modem and THREE electronic telephones that were on that line.

Interesting - there is also a combined telephone/answering machine thingy on that line (so lots of electronics in it), and that wasn't affected at all. I can only guess that the router works on a much lower voltage and was therefore more vulnerable to the surge.

Presumably the computer hardware business must be a lucrative one to be in when the weather's bad, with loads of people queueing up to buy replacement modems and routers to replace their fried ones!

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Dick Vaughan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1032
From: Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-31-2006 05:47 AM

quote:
The old one was tucked down behind the bookcase, so that would have been a hassle (yes, I know I should have used a spirit level when sticking it on the wall - might get round to fixing that one of these days!).

I'd assumed the router was level and it was your house that was out of square due to mining subsidence [Big Grin]

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-31-2006 12:06 PM

The place was built in 1638, but even so it isn't in that bad a shape! Either I should have stayed off the G & T before doing the wall mounting, or it must be a German expressionist router...

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Michael Gonzalez
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 790
From: Grand Island , NE USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 08-31-2006 12:36 PM

That surge protector you had didnt come with that 15-25 grand warranty? Though I guess I have always wondered if anyone has ever been able to collect on something like that? So besides the Ethernet card there is not other problems with your system. If the Ethernet is onboard, than I am very supprised that there was not further damage done to the motherboard as a whole. I dont know what kind of a computer you have but I know that if this where to happen to me, I probably wouldnt feel very confident about my system until I replaced the motherboard. Just my 2cents.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-31-2006 12:41 PM

These days, I always unplug the power cables and remove the phone line from my DSL modem whenever a thunderstorm is around. I learned about it the hard way. Came home one day after storms had moved through town. The DSL modem had four red lights on it (rather than green lights). It was fried.

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-31-2006 12:43 PM

Come to think of it, I seem to remember that the surge protector did come with a connected equipment warranty. I guess I could have tried that if the router itself had been out of warranty.

The PC is a home built one, and the motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-7N400. I've been using it for nearly a fortnight since the storm now, and there is definitely no other problem with the motherboard or any attached card or peripheral: it's just the onboard LAN adaptor which got nuked. I backup everything vital to an external HDD weekly which is then physically disconnected and put in a cupboard, so if there is a yet-to-be-discovered problem it hopefully won't take out any vital data.

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John Hawkinson
Film God

Posts: 2273
From: Cambridge, MA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 08-31-2006 03:43 PM

I'm surprised your warranties would cover lightning damage. It's not the manufacturer's fault that a surge (lightning-induced or otherwise) fried the equipment.

Surge suppressors protect up to a certain level, but it's always possible for there to be a surge greater than what they can handle. It doesn't make them useless, however.

Leviton has a nice document that goes into a lot of detail on the usefulness of Transient Voltage Surge Suppressors (TVSSs): Applications Manual and Reference Guide for Surge Protection and Line Conditioning Products (PDF), if you're interested.

--jhawk

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 09-01-2006 04:25 AM

quote: John Hawkinson
I'm surprised your warranties would cover lightning damage. It's not the manufacturer's fault that a surge (lightning-induced or otherwise) fried the equipment.

Needless to say, I only told them that it had stopped working, not why.

That having been said, if these things are so vulnerable to lightning surges, I think the instruction sheet which came with it should have made that clear, especially as the retail packaging was aimed at selling the thing to relative technical novices (e.g. step by step instructions with screen grabs, an 'easy installation' wizard CD, etc.). Let's face it, thunderstorms are not an unusual occurence, and if one is capable of destroying a £55 piece of equipment, I think this should have been made very clear, perhaps even with a 'Disconnect phone and mains from unit during storms' label on the router itself.

So I don't think I was doing anything immoral by returning it. The thing came with a year's warranty from the manufacturer, it stopped working during that year and the reason it stopped working had nothing to do with my failing to follow any of the manufacturer's instructions.

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Joel N. Weber II
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 115
From: Somerville, MA, USA
Registered: Dec 2005

posted 09-02-2006 01:59 PM

Does this telephone line surge supressor also include an AC power surge supressor that the computer and ADSL modem are plugged directly into? Does the telephone company have a demarc box with a ground wire connected to the box where the AC comes into the building?

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Jeffry L. Johnson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 809
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 09-04-2006 01:36 PM

LEA International

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 09-04-2006 02:14 PM

quote: Joel N. Weber II
Does this telephone line surge supressor also include an AC power surge supressor that the computer and ADSL modem are plugged directly into?

Yes - it's a combined AC mains and phone line surge protectors. The computer's power supply does not come through it, though.

quote: Joel N. Weber II
Does the telephone company have a demarc box with a ground wire connected to the box where the AC comes into the building?

Don't know. The building is divided into flats and the AC power enters at a part of it I don't have access to.

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