home router battery backup

Thu Jan 13 16:13:18 UTC 2022

> On Jan 12, 2022, at 5:11 PM, Scott T Anderson via NANOG <nanog at nanog.org <mailto:nanog at nanog.org>> wrote:
> 
> For those individuals with backup battery power for their modem/router, do they maintain Internet access throughout a power outage (as long as their backup power solution works)? I.e., does the rest of the ISP network maintain service throughout a power outage?

The answer is, “It depends.” 

Plymouth in Michigan recently had a substation fire that took out a large fraction of the city. Restoration of the substation was a lengthy process as mobile transformers and the like were required. My Comcast connection was only down for a short time until some generators were dispatched to some pole-mounted equipment within the city. 

Since my local power comes from a different substation, the brief Comcast outage was the only noticeable event. I frequently hear the UPS beep for short interruptions, confirming that the battery is still strong.

My original UPS was installed to ride through momentary outages and to inhibit spikes since spikes and arbitrary power shutdowns can cause damage to both data and equipment. My cable modem, router, network hub, several computers and monitors, and task lighting are all protected from outages for a decent interval followed by a spike-free shutdown. The latter is important, especially as compared to the transients occurring as trees fall on power lines. 

The 2003 midwest blackout was days long. I helped a friend wire his well pump to a portable generator so one could “flush”. I then grabbed my laptop and took refuge up north outside the outage area. At that time, WFH had long been part of my vocabulary.
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