Should you unplug the dsl during storms???

[yoda313]

Hi,

Now thats it summer time and the thunderstorms are more frequent I was thinking of surge problems. I have dsl and I was wondering if I should unplug the phone cable from my modem when a storm rolls in?

I do have a surge protector with a phone jack in it. I have the line from the wall going into that and a cable from that to my modem. Would that be enough to protect it? I haven't had a problem yet and I leave my modem on but my computer off during storms. Should I change my behavior in this situation??? Is it best to turn off the modem and the wireless router during storms??? Or is this overreactionary???

Thanks for any insight. And as I said I haven't had a problem before I just wondered if there was some logical reason to do more prevention.

Kevin

[lumis]

i dont even turn off my computer during thunderstorms.. but i guess if you're paranoid you could just unplug the power strip (considering you have all your computer stuff plugged in to it) from the wall & d/c the phone line from the dsl modem.

storms only bother me when they knock out my dsl, aside from that i love them.

[rallynavvie]

I've got my phone line through my UPS and both my DSL modem and my router are running on the UPS in addition to my main workstation. With that setup I certainly do not unplug them during storms. If there is a lightning strike able to get through the UPS then I've got plenty of other things to worry about before I even think about the DSL modem.

Nice thing is that there is a 5 minute delay on my generator here so with my UPS connected I don't have to worry about being without a computer at all

[yoda313]

Hi,

Hmm... I guess I don't worry about the power spikes enough to buy a ups. Maybe I'll just leave it at turning off my computer during storms and leaving the modem+router on.

Thanks for the suggestions

Kevin

[redwudz]

Around here, if a lightning strike hits the phone or power line and fries your equipment the power or phone company is supposed to replace it. It has happened to friends of mine who got new dryers and TVs.

I wouldn't recommend this as a computer upgrade method, though, especially if you are working on the computer at the time.

BTW, they will not volunteer to pay, you have to ask for a claim form.

I will generally unplug my computer during a close thunderstorm, but it's probably unnecessary. It's also a good idea to occasionally check the outside grounding blocks for cable TV and telephone to make sure the connection is secure to protect your computer, phone system and TV.