[ale] Should I ground a ethernet switch?

John Pilman jcpilman at gmail.com
Sat Aug 10 17:20:56 EDT 2013


I don't think providing a path to ground will protect your switch from
lightning.  A lightning arrester is designed to do that, but I cannot vouch
for the effectiveness of any particular model.  When we got struck, the
lightning ran down the tree in our neighbor's yard, across  our driveway,
through the car, where it blew out two tires, into the house where it
shattered three concrete blocks and into the furnace where it fried a
thermostat.  I just don't think I could have placed a lightning arrester
anywhere in its path.

...John



On Sat, Aug 10, 2013 at 3:53 PM, Michael Potter <michael at potter.name> wrote:

> Just bought this switch from Fry's because my old switch was zapped by a
> lightning strike.
> http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-ProSafe-5-Port-Ethernet-Desktop/dp/B00002EQCW
>
> It has a grounding tab.
>
> I cannot find any recommendations on the Internet on the benefit of
> grounding the switch.  One reviewer on Amazon said it was for electrical
> noise isolation.  I don't care about noise isolation, however, I do care
> about avoiding more damaged equipment.
>
> So, my questions are:
> 1) Is there a benefit to grounding the switch in regards to avoid "getting
> zapped" again.
> 2) What is the easiest way to ground it?  Can I just salvage a three prong
> plug and use the ground wire while safely terminating the live wires?
>
> The strike also took out my router, cable modem, receiver, and ethernet
> port on my printer.  I am also having comcast out to replace their
> lightning arrestor.
>
> I am also putting a surge suppressor (
> http://www.amazon.com/Monster-MP-AV-800-PowerCenter/dp/B00003CWDH/) on
> the coax connection to the cable tv box, and
>  a surge suppressor (
> http://www.amazon.com/APC-PNET1GB-ProtectNet-Standalone-Protector/dp/B000BKUSS8/)
> on ethernet cable between the cable modem and the router.
>
>
> --
> Michael Potter
>   Tapp Solutions, LLC
>   Replatform Technologies, LLC
> +1 770 815 6142  ** Atlanta ** michael at potter.name  **
> www.linkedin.com/in/michaelpotter
>
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