Coaxial cable through surge protector

[ManBearPig]

My cable guy said NOT to run the coaxial cable through my surge protector. He said it'll mess up on-demand channels and cause pixelation with the higher numbered digital channels and some other stuff.

Is he an idiot or shouldn't I run the cable through the surge protector?

Thanks

 

[zinfamous]

you could always try and see for yourself, no?

but I tend to think they are idiots when they say that.

well, the CSR's are, anyway. most of the techs tend to know what they are talking about.

 

[gorcorps]

As long as you aren't using a shitty one, that's what they're there for. Any surge protector with some sort of warranty for any blown products should be a good bet. If there's nothing saying they'll pay for whatever blows up, then they don't have much reason to make sure it doesn't.

 

[BoomerD]

When we switched to Comcast last fall, the Comcast tech refused to hook the cable up through the Monster surge protector I have...he said they caused too much interference for a quality signal.

True? Dunno.

 

[Praetor]

As a field tech, I told my customers the same thing. Just don't do it. I'm sure there are some good products out there that allow the full signal through, but most people are just using $15 protectors from the rat shack.

 

[ManBearPig]

It's a Belkin slim one that wasn't too cheap iirc. Wouldn't NOT running it through the surge protector put my whole system at risk?

 

[Rubycon]

Use gas tube protectors in applications where you must pass DC power down the line and quarter wave products for everything else (in the frequency range desired). Most home protectors are neither and can indeed induce capacitance, microreflections and other anomalies that can cause problems with today's advanced tuning tech as well as DOCSIS.n data services.

 

[Red Squirrel]

This reminds me I should really pass my coax through a surge protector. It runs to the server rack then straight to the patch panel. May as well not have any equipment plugged into a surge protector... it only takes one device to get hit and the lightning will propagate the rest of the wiring throughout the house.

 

[PsiStar]

It shouldn't be a problem. So try it. If there is a difference then you have a crappy surge protector & don't use it.

Do you get a lot of lightning storms? As in, does it matter?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

i don't care how much it cost, don't plug the cable into a surge protector. at best nothing will happen. at worst you are attenuating and distorting signals and creating a ground loop. the cable should already be grounded at the point of demarcation.

 

[brblx]

soooo...how many people have actually lost a cable box to a surge?*

...and who owns the cable box, again?

conclusion: who cares. you shouldn't.

*i call immediate bullshit on anyone who says a surge through the coax killed their TV, unless they were using the built-in tuner.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

soooo...how many people have actually lost a cable box to a surge?*

...and who owns the cable box, again?

conclusion: who cares. you shouldn't.

*i call immediate bullshit on anyone who says a surge through the coax killed their TV, unless they were using the built-in tuner.

i've repaired cables service in many homes that took a lightning hit. usually the tv's were fine, and if they weren't then other things were cooked too.

 

[Imp]

I'm guessing that it's because of major signal loss just because you have an extra 2 imperfect connections.

If your channels are fine after you do it, go for it. Otherwise, unplug it. I don't bother plugging it into my Belkin.

 

[Texashiker]

<------ 3 years as an internet service tech for a cable provider in north Houston.

My cable guy said NOT to run the coaxial cable through my surge protector. He said it'll mess up on-demand channels and cause pixelation with the higher numbered digital channels and some other stuff.

Is he an idiot or shouldn't I run the cable through the surge protector?

The cable guy was right, running your coaxial through a surge protector can cause problems with the signal.

The cable, power and telephone should be grounded outside where the power goes into the house.

If you want to protect your home, make sure your house is bonded (grounded) properly. contact someone that knows the local building code, talk to them, and then check the outside of your home to make sure its grounded.

Personally, I like the power having its own ground rod separate from the telephone and cable.

A lot of ground rods these days are galvanized copper clad rod. To get a good connection, you have to rub the galvanized off until you hit copper, and then put the ground clamp on. Use a copper acorn clamp instead of a pewter clamp.

On your cable - a splitter is not a ground block.

I drove my own copper ground rod for the cable, and then ran a copper wire from the cable ground block to the new ground rod.

Once the surge gets into the house, its pretty much too late. Have surge protectors on the power outlets.

When a surge gets into the cable, its looking for a ground. The surge goes through your TV or cable modem, and into the wiring of the house looking for a ground.

If the surge is looking for a ground, give it a ground - outside where its supposed to be.

 

[Aikouka]

A coworker who lives in the same apartment complex had his laptop fried when lightning hit the cable box outside. It went through the cable modem, into his router and into his laptop.

By the way, I run the cable for my cable modem through my APC UPS and it works fine.

 

[Texashiker]

A coworker who lives in the same apartment complex had his laptop fried when lightning hit the cable box outside. It went through the cable modem, into his router and into his laptop.

Cable outside probably was not grounded properly.

The surge went through the laptop, as it tried to go through the wiring of the building and back to the ground outside.

By the way, I run the cable for my cable modem through my APC UPS and it works fine.

Do you have a leak detector? Unless that surge protector has been tested for leakage, you do not know how its working.

And there is a big difference between an APC and some no brandname wal-mart surge protector.

Do a search of this page for leakage - http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/facts/csgen.html

 

[Aikouka]

Cable outside probably was not grounded properly.

The surge went through the laptop, as it tried to go through the wiring of the building and back to the ground outside.

Yeah, that's why I put mine through a surge protector! If his building wasn't grounded, I highly doubt mine is. I've actually seen the cable box when the cable guy was trying to fix some lag spike problems (after buying my own modem, I found it was actually the shitty Comcast modem... go figure ). It looks like it's just a bunch of coax cables that come in and go to 9 4-way splitters... one for each townhouse.

Do you have a leak detector?

Unless that surge protector has been tested for leakage, you do not know how its working.

And there is a big difference between an APC and some no brandname wal-mart surge protector.

Nope, I don't have said leak detector. Given the ubiquitous nature of the term, where does one get an applicable device?

Well sure... you don't skimp on electric protection. We pay thousands of dollars for our PC and refuse to pay ~$100-150 for a decent UPS! I've had a few brown-outs and quick black-outs, and this UPS has been rather helpful with such things.

 

[Texashiker]

Nope, I don't have said leak detector. Given the ubiquitous nature of the term, where does one get an applicable device?

I was being sarcastic,,, Unless you work in the cable field, your not going to have a leak detector.

When I was working in the cable industry, one of the biggest problems I ran into was people buying junk, and expecting it to work as good as the stuff I had.

APC is good, but most people are going to go to walmart, or target and buy the cheapest junk on the shelf.

 

[irishScott]

If you're really that concerned you can pay a couple of $ for one of these (shipped): http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...d=10430&cs_id=1043007&p_id=689&seq=1&format=2

 

[KaOTiK]

I've always used one on my cable modem. The cable guy tried to give me a hard time, but when I asked him if I can get in writing if my computer gets fried due to a surge from the line that they reimburse me for my computer plus my time cause I use my computer for work at home, he said no, then I said the cable goes through the surge and he said fine.

It was a damn good thing that I did that too, cause a little over a year ago, the power companies ground got messed up and the internet was acting funky and the occasional light would dim out of nowhere. Called up the cable company they came out to see why I was being dropped so much, the dude went to the box outside to check it out and got a big old shock, he didn't know why either and we called the power company. Power came out and had to lay all knew line from the transformer to my house and a few neighbors as it was cracked and screwed up.

Anyways, right after the cable guy got his shock, my UPS/Surge on my PC blew. Did its job and saved my computer. APC ftw!

 

[brblx]

power != cable.

cable is a signal. it's not powering your TV. the only way it will fry something is if lightning strikes. or maybe if it managed to short to a high voltage line. in the event that that happens, the modem is going to take the hit. as posted above, if that kind of spike ends up travelling through your network, you have some other serious issues.

 

[Ichinisan]

I've always used one on my cable modem. The cable guy tried to give me a hard time, but when I asked him if I can get in writing if my computer gets fried due to a surge from the line that they reimburse me for my computer plus my time cause I use my computer for work at home, he said no, then I said the cable goes through the surge and he said fine.

It was a damn good thing that I did that too, cause a little over a year ago, the power companies ground got messed up and the internet was acting funky and the occasional light would dim out of nowhere. Called up the cable company they came out to see why I was being dropped so much, the dude went to the box outside to check it out and got a big old shock, he didn't know why either and we called the power company. Power came out and had to lay all knew line from the transformer to my house and a few neighbors as it was cracked and screwed up.

Anyways, right after the cable guy got his shock, my UPS/Surge on my PC blew. Did its job and saved my computer. APC ftw!

Actually, your stuff probably wouldn't have blown in that scenario if the power stuff didn't find ground through your cable.

 

[KaOTiK]

Actually, your stuff probably wouldn't have blown in that scenario if the power stuff didn't find ground through your cable.

Either way, it confirmed that my decision was right regardless of what happened. Otherwise I would have lost my pc and would have had to deal with my homeowners insurance.

 

[brblx]

Either way, it confirmed that my decision was right regardless of what happened.

our school systems win again.

 

[KaOTiK]

our school systems win again.

Yeah, that would have taught me, having to deal with insurance and having to build a new computer so I can work.