CAT5 surge/lightning strike protection recommendations?

Wed Sep 14 18:44:30 UTC 2005

> On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 20:24:51 +0000, "R.P. Aditya" <aditya at grot.org> said:
> 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?

Thanks to everyone who replied on- and off-list.

The installation in question is in a condo development and was done by
licensed electricians and the residents were lead to believe that it
was code compliant. The cat5 cabling is double-sheathed with a
moisture barrier.

As you can well imagine, the residents are very cost-concious. My
preference is that fiber be run in conduits, however even running cat5
in grounded conduit is a big hassle as it will involve cutting across
pavement etc. (I fully appreciate the danger from potential difference
between buildings and copper being a good conducter etc., but I had to
ask a leading question in order to document the problem such that
sufficient notice would be paid by the residents -- I believe I have
that now).

The short-term solution seems to be using the APC PNET1s/Tripplite
DNET1/etc. in each unit and tying them to the water main as an
inexpensive, immediate step while funds are allocated for conduit,
labor etc..

Thanks,
Adi