Surge protection

Can someone please explain how I use surge protection. I have a Linkseys router on a BT line and lose my connection and settings every time we have a powercut/surge, etc. I have looked at a Belkin 4 way strip which says protects phone/fax/modem/DSL. At one end it has 2 small sockets which look like I should be plugging in telephone cables? So how do I set this up ? I am sorry if I sound a bit thick but I am an OAP and not at all technically minded. Hope someone can explain in laymans terms what I have to do.

There are two wires that a surge can come down - the phone wire, and the electric power wire. Both can disrupt communications.

The Belkin power strip will stop small power "spikes" coming down the power wire, but it will not protect you from power cuts, no matter how brief they are. The small sockets on the power strip are for connecting your phone line through - there should be at least one connecting cable supplied with it to enable you to connect your ADSL modem to the BT wall outlet, passing through the power strip.

Now the next bit is very important - make sure that any surge arrestor you buy which connects to the phone line is suitable for use with ADSL. Many are not, and they may actually stop the ADSL signal getting through.

If you want to be secure against brief power cuts, then you will need a power strip with built-in battery backup, like the one below, but it will cost rather more.....

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=201041

You can connect your PC to this too, and it will protect your PC from short power cuts.

Edited by deleted (Wed 24-Jan-07 10:58:25)

a surge protector will not stop powercuts (or as in my case the little spikes which stop power for about a second)
If you want to keep the router running for a short time (depends on size of unit) then ideally you need a ups

I have a belkin ups which supports telephone but it doesnt have a socket for the adsl line.

The Belkin UPS I linked to is compatible with ADSL, and has phone line protection. It is also available in 3 different sizes, the bigger ones giving power backup for longer periods.

Thanks for that, I will do a bit more research

This is what I was looking at - would I be wasting my money ? I know it won't stop power cuts even if for only one second but as long as it means everything will come on back to normal instead of losing my settings on my Linksey I will be happy. It is very cheap but has good reviews.

Belkin F9H410UK2M-DB

In reply to:

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This is what I was looking at - would I be wasting my money ? I know it won't stop power cuts even if for only one second but as long as it means everything will come on back to normal instead of losing my settings on my Linksey I will be happy.`

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A very personal view here, that power protection products are sold on the back of FUD [Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt]. If you are losing settings on your kit, then I think that the kit is broken. I reckon that spikes and surges either do nothing or burn kit out so that it doesn't work at all.

Not 100% sure on that, it definately doesnt work with my filtered faceplate (I have the 500W version of that) but it may work with the plug in filters but as I havent used them for nearly a year I can't check.

the one second drops are what I bought mine for - they are fine for a couple of seconds.

Power went off last week for split second but it was enough to upset internet connection. My Linksey still worked but couldn't find my network so my son came round and put in all my settings again. This has happened before when power goes off suddenly while I am using internet but once re-set it is fine. Could this be due to something other than power cuts ?