[SOLVED] about Ethernet connection to PC

HusainMirza

Commendable
Jan 25, 2021
11
0
1,510
hey there fellas, I live in Pakistan and electricity situations here are dire . I want to know if its safe to put an ethernet cable to my pc as ethernet wire coming from outside could carry a huge electrical surge in here ultimately to my pc?
is it safe if not, what would the safety measure to nullify this and i dont want to use wifi adapter
 
Solution
The biggest threat would be an electrical surge that finds its way through the telephone wire and/or existing Ethernet cables into your computer and other connected electronic devices. Surges could also come directly via the electrical service as well.

Electricity seeks ground (earth) and will one way or another find a path. Even through the air.

Lightning strikes can result in multiple paths. Devices along those paths may or may not survive.

There are surge protectors available. To be effective they must be well designed and manufactured. Grounding is necessary to divert the electrical current along an easier path to ground (earth) and hopefully not through your electronics.

Protection is rated in Joules. Depending on...

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
That would not be safe.

More information needed. You will not be able to nullify a bad connection.

You simply do not intentionally make or create bad connections.

What "outside Ethernet cable" do you mean? Where is that cable coming from? Source? Who owns or controls that source?

Normal internet connections are usually as shown in the following line diagram:

ISP -----> Modem -----> Router ------> PC. (Modem and router may be combined. There could also be switches, access points, repeaters.

Connections "------>" could be telephone DSL, coax, fiber, and/or Ethernet cables.

So a connection such as ? -----Ethernet ---->PC leaves a lot out and certainly would be suspect.

Very likely not to end well for your PC.
 

HusainMirza

Commendable
Jan 25, 2021
11
0
1,510
That would not be safe.

More information needed. You will not be able to nullify a bad connection.

You simply do not intentionally make or create bad connections.

What "outside Ethernet cable" do you mean? Where is that cable coming from? Source? Who owns or controls that source?

Normal internet connections are usually as shown in the following line diagram:

ISP -----> Modem -----> Router ------> PC. (Modem and router may be combined. There could also be switches, access points, repeaters.

Connections "------>" could be telephone DSL, coax, fiber, and/or Ethernet cables.

So a connection such as ? -----Ethernet ---->PC leaves a lot out and certainly would be suspect.

Very likely not to end well for your PC.
thank you for responding. in our case the ethernet cable is connected to my dsl broadband , it gets its data from the telepphone wire , ive got a splitter that gives connection to landline phone and my wifi broadband the servers are PTCL(Pakistan Telecommunication)
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
The biggest threat would be an electrical surge that finds its way through the telephone wire and/or existing Ethernet cables into your computer and other connected electronic devices. Surges could also come directly via the electrical service as well.

Electricity seeks ground (earth) and will one way or another find a path. Even through the air.

Lightning strikes can result in multiple paths. Devices along those paths may or may not survive.

There are surge protectors available. To be effective they must be well designed and manufactured. Grounding is necessary to divert the electrical current along an easier path to ground (earth) and hopefully not through your electronics.

Protection is rated in Joules. Depending on the number and strength of independent electrical surges the Joules (the protection) will be used up and the surge protector will no longer be protective. It will need to be replaced.

You can find any number of "grounding kits" online being promoted for Ethernet, telephone, coax, etc.. Their overall effectiveness is likely to be low without spending some amount of money and ensuring proper installation and use. Likely minimal protection for the environment that you describe.

My recommendation is to find a local, reliable, and honest electrician who can evaluate your electrical system and the devices (network and otherwise) being used.

Have that person make a recommendation regarding how electrical surge protection should be implemented.
 
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Solution

HusainMirza

Commendable
Jan 25, 2021
11
0
1,510
The biggest threat would be an electrical surge that finds its way through the telephone wire and/or existing Ethernet cables into your computer and other connected electronic devices. Surges could also come directly via the electrical service as well.

Electricity seeks ground (earth) and will one way or another find a path. Even through the air.

Lightning strikes can result in multiple paths. Devices along those paths may or may not survive.

There are surge protectors available. To be effective they must be well designed and manufactured. Grounding is necessary to divert the electrical current along an easier path to ground (earth) and hopefully not through your electronics.

Protection is rated in Joules. Depending on the number and strength of independent electrical surges the Joules (the protection) will be used up and the surge protector will no longer be protective. It will need to be replaced.

You can find any number of "grounding kits" online being promoted for Ethernet, telephone, coax, etc.. Their overall effectiveness is likely to be low without spending some amount of money and ensuring proper installation and use. Likely minimal protection for the environment that you describe.

My recommendation is to find a local, reliable, and honest electrician who can evaluate your electrical system and the devices (network and otherwise) being used.

Have that person make a recommendation regarding how electrical surge protection should be implemented.
Mr. Ralston the titan i wish a very good day kind sir. I hope you may get the same help i got from you.
thankyou
 

HusainMirza

Commendable
Jan 25, 2021
11
0
1,510
That would not be safe.

More information needed. You will not be able to nullify a bad connection.

You simply do not intentionally make or create bad connections.

What "outside Ethernet cable" do you mean? Where is that cable coming from? Source? Who owns or controls that source?

Normal internet connections are usually as shown in the following line diagram:

ISP -----> Modem -----> Router ------> PC. (Modem and router may be combined. There could also be switches, access points, repeaters.

Connections "------>" could be telephone DSL, coax, fiber, and/or Ethernet cables.

So a connection such as ? -----Ethernet ---->PC leaves a lot out and certainly would be suspect.

Very likely not to end well for your PC.
Hello mr Ralston , i have an APC RS 800 for surge protection of my pc and it has got ethernet inlet and outlet ports and i am now using these ports for connection . Do i still need to make Ground/Earth the DSL/Phone/Internet connection wire or will the APC unit protect the PC from surges
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Data Line Protection.

If I understand correctly, you are connecting an Ethernet cable into the UPS LAN[IN] port and then continuing the connection to your network via some USP LAN[OUT] port. I could not make out the port details and wording via the link you provide. UPS seems to be discontinued. Specs tab and "More Details" did not open any new web pages.

That said you probably have some protection for the Ethernet line but I am not sure just how much real protection is available. Joules.

The telephone line may likewise be protected using similar ports on the UPS. Telephone/ DSL IN and OUT.

The design of the UPS should route any surges (within specifications) to ground/earth so you should not need to add any special or extra ground connections. In fact doing that could be detrimental by setting up what is known as a ground loop. Or otherwise provide another undesirable path for current to flow through. Maybe the wrong way....

Where the UPS provided protection can fail is if the UPS itself is not properly grounded. Or has taken many surge hits and degraded as a result.

So my answer is yes, you do have some protection but how much, how good, and for how long are valid questions.

Here is a link that provides a good, general overview of surge protection. You can easily find similar links and explanations. Just use search criteria (words and phrasing) that matches your interest and concerns.

https://brennan-electric.com/how-do-surge-protectors-work/

Fortunately, my area does not have power/surge problems. However, if there are incoming storms or if some street work is being done then I power down and unplug for the duration. Including the UPS. No point in having the UPS absorb hits when there is nothing connected to it.
 
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