UPS Backup Power

Opinions on Network Equipment and UPS Backup for the appliances
When installing network equipment is it user requirements, best practice or common practice to instigate the use of a UPS to cope with short term power outage eg 1-20mins,
I know their are many variables to this subject such as power outage frequencies or reliability of power but personally I have UPS on my Router, Switch and POE AP but I feel that if I recommend to family to invest in a UPS it is just another device to go wrong.
Any thoughts?

The power cuts where I live generally last a couple of hours.

I have not had a problem with routers loosing power.

There is also the problem of powering whatever devices use the internet connection.

A mobile phone will usually work during a power cut.

UPS batteries generally need to be replaced every few years.

We don't very often have power cuts and when we do we can live without the Internet (and can usually use mobiles). For most people an occasional outage isn't worth the hassle and investment.

I have a small APC UPS on my kit and find it handy. It's over 7 years old now and the batteries are still showing as good. It also cleans the mains and emails me when I get "brown outs" which occur a few times a year on our supply. Personally I get good use from it, and would replace it if it ever stopped working.

I have the computer and all the networking boxes supported by a UPS, power cuts are never planned and having a UPS it means I can tidy up what I am working on eg a photo edit or transmitting data and shut the system down in a controlled maner.

I have an APC UPS for my 4g modem, router, and PoE switch. Since all three devices run off wall transformer blocks they are not particularly fussy about the quality of power they are given. With this in mind you are well able to use a "stepped or modified" sine wave UPS rather than the more expensive "pure" sine wave models.

You will find that your router and switch will use about 5-10W each so a UPS with a modest wattage or VA rating is perfectly good. All UPS suffer poor efficiency when very lightly loaded. Imagine a few low power devices fitted to a 1000W UPS - you will lose more power than it uses. Getting a UPS with just a few hundred VA rating will be fine for small devices.

One thing to consider is this... do all the devices run off a 12V transformer? If so, it is MUCH more efficient to get a 12V DC inverter which will plug into the mains to charge its batteries when the mains is present and deliver 12V DC to its outputs. You would then connect your router etc directly to the 12V DC inverter. Something to look into. Ask about this on any camper van/houseboat/RV forum and you will get more details.

As for the batteries in models such as the APC Back-UPS devices you should get a good five years of light use out of them before the batteries begin to degrade. For non-commercial equipment that does not need comprehensive warranties, once the original batteries fail a battery test you can readily replace them with generic 12V AGM batteries of the correct type from brands such as Yuasa.

There are lithium alternatives for a single device where you have a small LiFePO pack fed from a small lithium charger going into a 12V DC output board going into your device. Something like this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlEnEn7ptmc

I recently replaced my UPS battery. The UPS is an APC ES 700, now with a slightly larger battery (9Ah instead of the 7Ah UPS sell it with). As DanielCoffey67 posted they are horribly inefficient at low load. Mine is set up to keep my FTTC modem, my router and my mail server (a low-power Eco server) running. Total load is about 25w and the software claims a run time of nearly 15 minutes. At that point the server will shutdown so presumably the modem and router would eventually follow suit a minute or two later.

It's enough to protect against brief glitches and circuit breaker trips (when someone is home to reset the breaker) but not enough to see you through a major power outage.

Edited by Andrue (Mon 03-Feb-20 21:59:28)

KISS, for general home use it's just not worth fitting to a friends/relatives network unless they ask for it.

In reply to a post by thomaswarne01:

Opinions on Network Equipment and UPS Backup for the appliances
When installing network equipment is it user requirements, best practice or common practice to instigate the use of a UPS to cope with short term power outage eg 1-20mins

User requirements. If a user doesn't require things to function in a power cut then nothing else matters regardless of what 'best practice' may be.

If, however, they want to be able to continue to use the internet during short power outages or they want to protect against a risk of data corruption on disks and storage devices due to a sudden loss of power they need a UPS.

I like it, it sounds cool!

In reply to a post by thomaswarne01:

Opinions on Network Equipment and UPS Backup for the appliances
When installing network equipment is it user requirements, best practice or common practice to instigate the use of a UPS to cope with short term power outage eg 1-20mins,
I know their are many variables to this subject such as power outage frequencies or reliability of power but personally I have UPS on my Router, Switch and POE AP but I feel that if I recommend to family to invest in a UPS it is just another device to go wrong.
Any thoughts?

Whether a UPS is really needed is dependant on the type of kit being protected, the likelihood and potential duration of supply faults and the users needs during a power outage/supply fault. Basically if it stops working what are the consequences and will an unexpected power out result in damage to the equipment itself, property or person.

I have certain equipment that has an absolute need for supply backup. Some of these are IT/network related and some are not. For example my NAS array which also hosts a DVR app for security camera recording is quite important and doesn't like being switched off without a proper shutdown sequence, as the data is cached and striped as its written. There are also data scrubbing routines which get quite upset if you just yank the plug out, so to speak.

A non-network/IT example are the double pumps for the below ground drains for our surface water and foul water, which could be catastrophic if there was no power supply during a period of sustained rainfall.

A "standby" type UPS will usually be more than sufficient for home/light business use. An "online" (double-conversion) UPS is technically better, but usually not worth the added investment - for home use. There is quite a big difference technically, between the types and that is reflected in the cost of the units.

Thomaswarne01

First question to ask is, how often do they have a power cut?

Some areas get these regularly ( more than once a year) some areas never seem to see one. ( Less than one every 5 years).

If the first it may be best to recommend if the 2nd don't bother. In the gap between the two the question is does it matter?

If all the end devices are portable it doesn't. ( Laptops / Phone etc)

If they are mains powered it may matter. (CCTV / security devices / sensors) then the router will also need UPS.to keep them all working.

I've had a UPS on the routers (modem) for a couple of years now.

Reason, being rural, we tended to get power cuts every so often (improving picture though with the upgrades to the network over the years). They don't tend to last long but the UPS stops the routers from disconnecting.

At a stroke it seems to have cured the chance that we get reduced download speeds when it does reconnect - due to DLM thinking its a dodgy line. Strange to say, before the UPS was connected I use to see about 72Mb/s as a norm. Now 78Mb is standard for my line.

Whether one needs one, only the user can answer. I do find it very handy that I can still use my laptop, smartphone as if nothing as happened. Indeed its usually the alarm on the UPS going off that is the tell tale of a power cut occuring. Otherwise life simply carries on as normal for the equipment connecting through it.

From my experience of trying to protect a modem, router and a mail server (low power PC) good luck in getting 20 minutes protection. I have about ten minutes before the mail server decides to shut down. It's still useful since we do get the occasional glitch but 20 minutes will be difficult unless you pay a lot.

From what I understand the problem is today's efficient equipment. It has a horrible power factor and by the time the power has been converted from 12v DC to 240 AC then back to DC most has been lost. It's a shame UPS manufacturers don't provide versions with USB or 12V outputs so that the whole 240v AC stage can be skipped.

Edited by Andrue (Sun 03-Jan-21 15:00:22)

It all depends on what you want and need. I have two UPS's for my gear. One is in my attic with my networking equipment and I'm powering my 4G modem and my FTTC modem via POE. I'm also powering my security cameras via POE and a couple of wifi access points. I can get 2-3hours from this UPS.

I have another UPS in the office powering the server, a couple of PIs and a WiFi AP. This too will give me a couple of hours of run time.

Where I live we have quite a few power cuts throughout the year and the annoying thing is when the power goes down the mobile phone network goes down too so our mobiles wont work. The UPS's provide more of an emergency cover for phones too.

The day after I ordered my UPS's we had 4 x 5min power outages. The day after the outages the UPS's arrived
They've had some use since I got them though which is both annoying and good at the same time.

In reply to a post by Andrue:

From my experience of trying to protect a modem, router and a mail server (low power PC) good luck in getting 20 minutes protection. I have about ten minutes before the mail server decides to shut down. It's still useful since we do get the occasional glitch but 20 minutes will be difficult unless you pay a lot.

From what I understand the problem is today's efficient equipment. It has a horrible power factor and by the time the power has been converted from 12v DC to 240 AC then back to DC most has been lost. It's a shame UPS manufacturers don't provide versions with USB or 12V outputs so that the whole 240v AC stage can be skipped.

I presume you're just using relatively cheap APC or similar standby units that have (non-expandable) built-in batteries. In this case you're better off tripling or quadruplling the rated VA of the UPS based on the total device VA load. Typically such UPS are only rated to hold their full load to enable a safe shutdown, i.e. around 10 minutes or so.

If you overspec and get a self-contained larger VA rated device, then it will have correspondingly larger Ah batteries to run longer, on a lower than rated load.

Personally I wouldn't bother with anything less than 1000 to 1500VA to hold up a (small) server, router, modem etc. but only because I expect a self run time of around 50 minutes.

But as we anything in life your mileage may vary

Obviously more serious commercial UPS units get around this problem by having external expandable battery units. These can typically be daisy chained, as its not the VA rating but the Ah capacity of the battery bank which determines how long the UPS will stand up in an outage.

I have mainly asked just to see what people's responses are regarding various purpose's and uses and the only real benefit/s are coming back as modems, Internet routers, switches and access points which make sense on the basis of maintaining the connectivity in a short duration power outage, so modem staying in sync/not dropping etc and internet not dropping for home working etc..
Pc's are also another consideration but runtime, ups capacity and shutdown communication are also factors needing to be considered, however when laptops are involved I am not normally concerned

In an office with thin clients at the desk's running from a server I have got only the server on a APC 700va/390w ups (no backup for thin clients) and then the onsite pbx telephone exchange, router and ethernet switch on a separate 500va/300w apc ups, all of which provides upto 20mins of backup (timed) which is ample for a minor outage, The thin clients boot up and re-connect to the users active session, unless server had to shut down then it all re-loads from scratch which can take up to 15 mins!

One large UPS is going to be more efficient than lots of smaller scattered units and that is where a centralised computing model, like thin clients work great.

If the thin clients actually needed to keep working during the outage could, one theoretically could use the network itself and have centralised UPS supporting thin clients with PoE++ (802.3bt) at up to 60 watts per client. Most laptops could easily cope with that, so should be possible for thin clients.

It could be a heck of a load through the structured cabling though!

I have just bought this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075QZQSS1/ref=cm_sw_em_... for my router. That eliminates the wastage of plugging in 240V to convert back down to 12V DC.

The modem is already FTTP (an old-ish install) that has battery back-up and the last power cut it was quite frustrating that the internet was working but couldn’t access it.

(I did toy with the idea during that last power cut of just plugging in a laptop to the modem and then sharing the WiFi, but as I appear to have ended up with just Macbooks, they don’t come with an Ethernet port and I didn’t have an adapter to hand)

Not sure I think it is worthwhile. For a computer, where files may be open and get corrupted by a sudden power failure, an UPS makes a lot of sense, to allow for an orderly shutdown. Similarly for something like a Raspberry Pi, because they don't handle power failures well.

For something like a modem/router I really don't see the need. If the power goes off, they will generally just sit there until it comes back on, and then carry on where they left off.

Of course, the added complexity of a UPS is as likely to cause an outage as to prevent it. Especially if it is one of the execrable APC ones.

Our trusty old Leibert UPS just soldiers on, Every few years it beeps to tell you it needs new batteries, but even changing them doesn't require power off. Just unclip the front, slide the old batteries out and the new ones in. Neat, cheap and easy.

More of a problem is surge protection. About half of our power cuts seem to be followed by a voltage surge on (or before) power resumption. Over time, I've added more surge protection, but it still kills stuff from time to time.

In reply to a post by hoopla:

More of a problem is surge protection. About half of our power cuts seem to be followed by a voltage surge on (or before) power resumption. Over time, I've added more surge protection, but it still kills stuff from time to time.

I believe SPD's now mandatory under the latest 18th edition regs. but is worthwhile retrofit in my opinion - having been victim too some crazy lightning related surges.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Personally I wouldn't bother with anything less than 1000 to 1500VA to hold up a (small) server, router, modem etc. but only because I expect a self run time of around 50 minutes.

Our electricity company kept upping their game by giving longer and longer power cuts, to the point that my Liebert 1000VA unit used to run flat.
I connected a 500VA UPS to two 100Ah 12v batteries (which were maintained by a separate 'smart' charger). The load was only about 100 watts, so it ought to last about 20 hours at a pinch.
Not to be outdone, they sent us a nice little 3 day hour power cut.
At that point I admitted defeat and went back to the Leibert. Less hassle.

Edited by hoopla (Mon 08-Mar-21 21:25:59)

In reply to a post by hoopla:

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Personally I wouldn't bother with anything less than 1000 to 1500VA to hold up a (small) server, router, modem etc. but only because I expect a self run time of around 50 minutes.

Our electricity company kept upping their game by giving longer and longer power cuts, to the point that my Liebert 1000VA unit used to run flat.
I connected a 500VA UPS to two 100Ah 12v batteries (which were maintained by a separate 'smart' charger). The load was only about 100 watts, so it ought to last about 20 hours at a pinch.
Not to be outdone, they sent us a nice little 3 day hour power cut.
At that point I admitted defeat and went back to the Leibert. Less hassle.

Proper UPS batteries should be “deep cycle” types. I’m not talking about the garbage they put in the apc consumer [censored] from Amazon but the real deal. Proper online UPS. Repurposed auto batteries work to a degree but they don’t take kindly to long term deep discharge due to the cell plate construction, and will fail after a few good deep runs.

In reply to a post by hoopla:

More of a problem is surge protection. About half of our power cuts seem to be followed by a voltage surge on (or before) power resumption. Over time, I've added more surge protection, but it still kills stuff from time to time.

Then your surge protectors are not adequate for the job. If you're buying the sort of £10-£20 [censored] that is sold in Argos and the like, you might as well not bother.

Invest in some proper power protection from the likes of APC - incidentally the UPS you have is likely really good at that job too... it's often part of the spec...

Everything you need to know about UPS's is written in this excellent guide by the Linux Project.

It's an old guide, but still very valid. Surge protectors are like 'Level 1' defence. Line Conditioners are 'Level 2' defence reducing any spikes (but not troughs - brown outs in power supply) and also doing surge protection. You can think of UPSs as 'Level 3', which fully condition the line but also allow stuff to power down gracefully. Unless you have space the size of 3 American fridges for batteries, don't expect a UPS to last hours on end though.

Personally I use 2 UPSs, one for my server rack (downstairs) and one for my AV centre (upstairs). I use an Eaton 5PX in the rack, and just a cheapo Eaton Ellipse Pro for the AV stuff, which has a Pi connected to it via USB and I manage everything with NUT.

As I use a PoE switch to power Wifi, the modem and the entire network AP's run off the UPS so I don't lose intertubes. I have seen a power cut about once a year, but it's quite surprising how dirty the mains power signal is. And nothing has ever blown in my equipment since using the UPSs.

The more rackable, networky ones can be expensive new (it's not really needed) but I wanted mine tucked away in the rack, so I picked up a 2nd hand 5PX. The Ellipses however are only for up to 1000W, but do the job *just fine*, and can be found for £100-150 or so. Happy as Larry with em.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

In reply to a post by hoopla:

More of a problem is surge protection. About half of our power cuts seem to be followed by a voltage surge on (or before) power resumption. Over time, I've added more surge protection, but it still kills stuff from time to time.

I believe SPD's now mandatory under the latest 18th edition regs. but is worthwhile retrofit in my opinion - having been victim too some crazy lightning related surges.

Recommended, not mandatory.

2 posts from 2 different users, 12 hours apart.

1 post advising don't buy a [censored] UPS from Amazon, likes an APC, as they are rubbish.
Next post advising don't buy a [censored] surge protector, buy a good 1 like APC.

Personally I like APC kit and think it's perfectly fine in a domestic environment.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

2 posts from 2 different users, 12 hours apart.

1 post advising don't buy a [censored] UPS from Amazon, likes an APC, as they are rubbish.
Next post advising don't buy a [censored] surge protector, buy a good 1 like APC.

Personally I like APC kit and think it's perfectly fine in a domestic environment.

Personally I no longer really rate APC, especially the consumer stuff. Once upon a time, moons ago, they were quite good (perhaps before Schneider bought them). I suppose what coloured my experience were batteries that invariably died after only 3 or so years, sometimes sooner. If you can’t get at least 5 to 8 years from a UPS battery then it’s a pretty poor show.

In terms of bang for buck value, quality and features, APC can definitely be bettered; Eaton and Liebert (now branded Vertiv) are better quality units. At the value end both Riello and TrippLite are solid performers.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Personally I no longer really rate APC, especially the consumer stuff. Once upon a time, moons ago, they were quite good (perhaps before Schneider bought them). I suppose what coloured my experience were batteries that invariably died after only 3 or so years, sometimes sooner. If you can’t get at least 5 to 8 years from a UPS battery then it’s a pretty poor show.

In terms of bang for buck value, quality and features, APC can definitely be bettered; Eaton and Liebert (now branded Vertiv) are better quality units. At the value end both Riello and TrippLite are solid performers.

My experience is the opposite, I had an older all metal APC Back Pro, I agree built better than the current plastic ones they do, however batteries only lasted 3 years or so, they were roasted with a float voltage exceeding 14 volts. It wasn't a faulty unit either as their forum had other owners check the float voltage and they were all the same, almost deliberately on the high side for a float voltage so the battery just dried out after a few years. The newer ones (e.g. black plastic Back-UPS Pro models with LCD display) I've had going on the same battery for 7 years so far, and it self tests fine and I've tested running a load and it goes for it's rated time. The float voltage on these shows ~13.7 which is basically spot on for a float voltage.

I will definitely check out the other ones you mention when it comes due for replacing the UPS, as there is no doubt about it, they aren't built to the same standard, and given they are potentially shorting out high voltage spikes from the mains and designed to sacrifice themselves in a worse case scenario and take the pain I don't think being all plastic is the best material to make them from either!

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

I believe SPD's now mandatory under the latest 18th edition regs. but is worthwhile retrofit in my opinion - having been victim too some crazy lightning related surges.

Was that with an underground or overhead power supply?

Rural Suffolk. About 300 metres underground on the LV cable which run back to a poletop 11 kV transformer. We are on the far end of this LV line. The 3-phase HV distribution then runs overhead cross country for tens of miles.

We are prone to two main supply disturbances:
1. outages on the HV side. UPS fitted on all network and IT equipment. It’s not unknown for outages to last from 15 minutes up to 4+ hours. The property is 3-phase connected and we have a 60 kVA backup set that kicks in through an auto changeover mains fail detect board.
2. Longer term voltage swells, especially in the summer/warmer months.

The last big strike (high summer) was particularly nasty. It wasn’t a direct hit but indirect and made worse because we have fairly long radial connections to barns and outbuildings from the supply which is a PME (TNC-S) arrangement. Long copper ‘spur’ connection are a mare with strikes because of earth equipotentials - which can result in nasty surges. We suffered a lot of equipment damage and outright destruction.

Some important lessons were learned -
1. Fit permanent type 1+2+3 lightning/surge arrestors before the main board, and also at any sub-boards, especially where these are being supplied externally.
2. The text books are right when they say it’s not a good idea to run copper data cabling outdoors, between buildings. Always use fibre between buildings if possible.
3. Big impulse spikes are impressive in their destruction.
4. Get professional advice on additional earthing arrangements.
5. Have (some critical) spares ready.
6. Sometimes unfortunately your luck just runs out!

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

we have fairly long radial connections to barns and outbuildings from the supply which is a PME (TNC-S) arrangement.

I am surprised you're PME as I thought with all 11kv to 240v transformers in rural locations (e.g. up the top of poles) meant you had to supply your own earth via a TT connection.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

2 posts from 2 different users, 12 hours apart.

1 post advising don't buy a [censored] UPS from Amazon, likes an APC, as they are rubbish.
Next post advising don't buy a [censored] surge protector, buy a good 1 like APC.

Personally I like APC kit and think it's perfectly fine in a domestic environment.

Personally I no longer really rate APC, especially the consumer stuff. Once upon a time, moons ago, they were quite good (perhaps before Schneider bought them). I suppose what coloured my experience were batteries that invariably died after only 3 or so years, sometimes sooner. If you can’t get at least 5 to 8 years from a UPS battery then it’s a pretty poor show.

The lifespan of the batteries will be partially related to the type of UPS it is - good quality UPS devices are online and run off the batteries at all times - this does degrade them faster but provides a vastly superior electrical feed to the protected equipment.

If you're getting 8 years from a battery, the odds are that it won't be providing the runtime it was designed to, the battery won't be in good condition and when you actually need it, it will let you down.

Thank you for your reply. Now I understand your interest in protection equipment.

I live in a rural area where the local electricity supply is all underground. The transformer that serves the area is next to my property. It is connected by an underground cable about 200m long to the overhead distribution system. Trees falling down sometimes hit these lines and cause power cuts.

I think two of my dial up modems failed due to local lightning strikes. I have not had the same problem with my ADSL broadband equipment, and I stopped using the phone line about 5 years ago when I got an undergound fibre connection.

There are many big trees locally so I hope they will attact lightning when they are wet. I have not had any electrical damaged by the electricity supply in the past 35 years. I just hope the same will be true in the future. I have wondered about fitting a surge protection device but have not done anything so far.

In reply to a post by therioman:

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

2 posts from 2 different users, 12 hours apart.

1 post advising don't buy a [censored] UPS from Amazon, likes an APC, as they are rubbish.
Next post advising don't buy a [censored] surge protector, buy a good 1 like APC.

Personally I like APC kit and think it's perfectly fine in a domestic environment.

Personally I no longer really rate APC, especially the consumer stuff. Once upon a time, moons ago, they were quite good (perhaps before Schneider bought them). I suppose what coloured my experience were batteries that invariably died after only 3 or so years, sometimes sooner. If you can’t get at least 5 to 8 years from a UPS battery then it’s a pretty poor show.

The lifespan of the batteries will be partially related to the type of UPS it is - good quality UPS devices are online and run off the batteries at all times - this does degrade them faster but provides a vastly superior electrical feed to the protected equipment.

If you're getting 8 years from a battery, the odds are that it won't be providing the runtime it was designed to, the battery won't be in good condition and when you actually need it, it will let you down.

Not really. I've got deep cycle off-grid batteries (the same type fitted to UPS units) that are going on 10 years and are still perfect on conductance and load drop tests.

Do you load test your UPS batts regularly?

On line or offline style of UPS makes no odds - if the UPS is fully online - then the rectifier / inverter should be standing the full load of the UPS *and* providing sufficient current for float or recharge of the batteries. Deep discharging batteries that are designed for the purpose categorically does not shorten their design lifespan.

Battery life span is mostly shortened by inadequate charging and high temperatures. But the reality is that most consumer UPS are fitted with cheapo batteries and fairly unsophisticated / rudimentary charging systems, so that batteries simply don't last.

A quality battery(ies) will see out 10 years, no problem

In reply to a post by dect:

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

we have fairly long radial connections to barns and outbuildings from the supply which is a PME (TNC-S) arrangement.

I am surprised you're PME as I thought with all 11kv to 240v transformers in rural locations (e.g. up the top of poles) meant you had to supply your own earth via a TT connection.

Yeah we are, always have been and when we were upgraded in 2013 onto 3-phase it was again PME.

However I’m led to believe DNOs are slowly coming full circle on TT. The regs now mandate stuff like external vehicle charging is now separately earthed as TT - effectively an earthing island.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Yeah we are, always have been and when we were upgraded in 2013 onto 3-phase it was again PME.

Fair enough, because the earth rod for PME has to be done at the foot of the pole containing the transformer and the network supplier cannot guarantee it (e.g. someone comes along and removes it) is the reason why I thought everyone with a setup like this had to be TT.

I have learnt something new

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

[A quality battery(ies) will see out 10 years, no problem
[/quote]

Hum, the batteries in the UPS at work which costs more than at least some houses and from which you could certainly run 99.99% of houses; well the batteries don't last that long. Not even remotely. The idea that they are skimping on the batteries is laughable in the extreme.

That said new APC consumer grade UPS's are junk compared to what they used to be.

So how often do they replace them. What bread if battery are they using? What UPS incidentally?

Not really. I've got deep cycle off-grid batteries (the same type fitted to UPS units) that are going on 10 years and are still perfect on conductance and load drop tests.

Every vendor recommends 3-5 years at most. My experience is that the APC 'first party' batteries last no longer - or less than - third party ones of the same specification, but they do tend to degrade. Have I seen batteries still working in UPS devices for longer than that - yes (we often inherit a customer where the battery has not been changed). Is it normal? No.

(Side note... the batteries in my car tend to last around 5 years, after which they become noticeably worse. It's noticeable if you are using them in the winter or have left them standing for a while. It's almost like batteries degrade over time...)

Which leads me to...

Do you load test your UPS batts regularly?

Yes, every 2 weeks for our own stuff. Not as often for customer stuff. We also have active tracking of estimated runtime for the UPS devices we operate, and I can tell you, that despite your assertion they last a decade, that 3-4 years in, the runtime, for the same load will reduce. All batteries degrade in time.

Battery life span is mostly shortened by inadequate charging and high temperatures. But the reality is that most consumer UPS are fitted with cheapo batteries and fairly unsophisticated / rudimentary charging systems, so that batteries simply don't last.

If you're referring to some generic brand of UPS maybe, they're usually poor for many reasons, the battery is usually the least of the concerns with those (you can guarantee they'll be useless when you need them, and in the meanwhile they're usually so electrically noisy they're causing other issues).

But we're not talking about those, and my real world, multi-decade experience across brands and environments does not tally with yours.

My APC unit batteries I think lasted about 3-4 years at a guess, Not kept records, I brought a new UPS instead of just replacing batteries.

I have also brought a second portable sized UPS for my modem now as well meaning if I get a powercut my VDSL and most of my network should stay online now.

Has my UPS ever kicked in? yes even in a city it has probably easily kicked in dozens of times. In about 5 years have had maybe around 10 full on power cuts (most less than 10 minutes), and probably at least 3 to 4 dozen brownouts.

Also there is correction applied to the voltage if its out of spec by decent UPS.

Edited by Chrysalis (Fri 09-Apr-21 08:57:44)

Edited by deleted (Fri 13-May-22 00:46:57)

I love how people ask for advice and other peoples advoce is why are you bothering to want that,

They do want it so its up to them suggesting they should want to do it is unhelpful

The original question was

When installing network equipment is it user requirements, best practice or common practice to instigate the use of a UPS to cope with short term power outage eg 1-20mins,

They were asking opinions on whether it was common practice - I answered in that vain based on the question - they didn't say "can you advise what UPS to get" - in fact the person posing the question already had a UPS..

The post is also over 4 years old!