I tried an APC device which was rubbish because it stuffed the sync rate completely. Also thinking about it, that device didn’t have any connection to the mains earth, so it had nowhere to dump the unwanted energy too. I couldn’t believe it would work when it came to the time to test it.
I’m at the greatest possible risk because there is no air gap between my line and router, I have a very very long DSL line and I suffer from exceptionally wild weather at a fairly high location on the West Coast of Scotland. Most domestic users have an air gap because they have a wireless network and their PCs etc are all wireless only often now so the only thing that will be damaged will be the cheap domestic wireless modem-router.
My solution now, is :
- spares on site - spare modems (lots), switch and router. when I say switch this is not my main LAN switch. It’s a VLAN mux/demux switch connected to my four modems.
- insurance! serious specific cover as my router cost a fortune
- lightning warning device - hardware. This has been very sensitive and has a fantastic range - confirmed by software below. One defect is that its alarm is not anywhere near loud enough. I’m as deaf as a post but my wife can’t hear it either even when we’re both right next to it. I sleep with it in view and we both should be able to hear it.
- lightning strike warning app - software for iPad which shows a lightning strike map and rings an alarm. Sophisticated and highly reliable. Global coverage down to superb local resolution and very well designed. Our primary protection
- switchover to 3G/4G when off the DSL network because of lightning risk - 3G NIC plugged into router via USB and 4G SIMs plugged into ipads