CAT5 surge/lightning strike protection recommendations?

Wed Sep 14 00:58:24 UTC 2005

On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 12:24:39 +1200 (NZST)
 "Mark Foster" <blakjak at blakjak.net> wrote:
> 
> >
> > I have a bunch of cat5 buried about 1 ft below the surface connecting
> > multiple
> > buildings on a campus (short runs) and lightning strikes nearby have
> > caused
> > surges along one or more of the cables and burnt out switch ports. I would
> > like to protect the switch ports -- there seem to be lots of products on
> > the
> > market.
> >
> > Anyone have recommendations (tested/practical is best :-)?
> >
> > The APC Protectnet PNET1 and PRM24 seem quite nice and not too expensive
> > --
> > if they work....pros? cons?
> >
> 
> Adi,
> 
> Is there a reason that your between-building runs aren't being done with
> Fibre?
> It being non-conductive is one immediate advantage....

I would agree with Mark. Even buried copper can make an
excellent guide for lightning to come right into your equipment, and it can only be
isolated so much. (Remember, the electrical  potential of the ground can vary over
a cable  run, and will vary if there are elevation changes.) Fiber is the way to go.

Regards
Marshall Eubanks

> 
> Also if your grounding is inadequate you may like to take a squiz at the
> ISO or TIA Standards as they pertain to cabling.
> In NZ we have a variety of standards which all point back to ISO, the ANSI
> equivalents are TIA/EIA 568-B (Cabling), TIA/EIA-569-A (Pathways and
> Spaces) and TIA/EIA-607-A (Electrical Wiring, relevant as it pertains to
> Earthing etc).
> 
> Even for short runs, If I need to run between buildings externally I won't
> even look at copper.
> 
> Mark.
> 