I talked about not too long ago that for the third time in roughly a decade, a subset of the electronics suite in my residence had gotten zapped by a close-proximity lightning storm. Though this follow-up writeup, one among a deliberate sequence, was already proposed to (and accepted by) Aalyia on the time, subsequent earlier-post feedback exchanges with a few readers have been equal components informative and validating on this one’s topical relevance.
First off, right here’s what reader Thinking_J needed to say:
Solely 3 occasions in a 10-year span, within the space SW of Colorado Springs?
Brian, you look like fortunate.
My response:
Southwest of Golden (and Denver, for that matter), not Colorado Springs, however sure, the broader space is energetic every year’s “monsoon season”:
https://local weather.colostate.edu/co_nam.html
The “monsoon season” I used to be referencing traditionally runs from mid-June by the tip of September. Storms usually hearth up starting mid-afternoon and may proceed in a single day and into the subsequent morning. For instance of what they appear to be, I grabbed a precipitation-plot screenshot throughout a subsequent storm this yr; I dwell in Genesee, explicitly famous on the map:
Wild, huh?
Then there have been the in-depth ideas of reader “bdcst”, in a posting solely the primary half of which I’ve republished right here for brevity (that stated, I encourage you to learn the put up in its entirety on the original-published location):
Hello Brian,
A number of issues come to thoughts. First is, should you suppose it was EMP, then how will shifting your copper indoors make a distinction except you reside in a Faraday cage shielded house? The easiest way to forestall lightning induced surges from coming into your tools through your community connection, is to go to a fiber drop out of your ISP, cable or telecom service. You might additionally change over to shielded CAT-6 Ethernet cable.
At my broadcast tower websites, it’s the incoming copper, from the tower, or phone system or from the facility line itself that brings lighting induced present indoors. Even with first rate suppressors on all incoming copper, the one option to dissipate many of the differential voltage from the big present spikes is with close to zero ohms bonding between every bit of apparatus and to a single very low impedance earth floor level. All metallic surfaces in my buildings are grounded by massive diameter versatile copper wire, even the metallic entrance door is bonded to it bypassing the resistance of its hinges.
After I constructed my house on the finish of a protracted rural energy line, I skilled odd failures throughout electrical storms. I constructed my very own energy line suppressor with the most important GE MOV’s I may discover. That eradicated my lightning points. After all, surge suppressors will need to have very low resistance path to floor to be efficient. In case you can’t get a fiber drop to your knowledge, then do set up a number of layers of Ethernet suppressors between the incoming line and your own home. And do set up not less than a small AC line suppressor rather than a two-pole circuit breaker in your principal panel, ideally on the prime of the panel the place the primary circuit breaker resides.
My response, a number of features of which I’ll elaborate on on this writeup:
Thanks everso to your detailed feedback and options. Sadly, fiber broadband isn’t an choice right here; I truly really feel lucky (given its rural standing) to have Gbit coax courtesy of Comcast:
https://www.edn.com/a-quest-for-faster-upstream-bandwidth/
Concerning internal-vs-external wired Ethernet spans, I don’t know why, however the one occasions I’ve had Ethernet-connected gadgets fry (excluding coax and HDMI, which even have been problematic previously) are associated to these (multi-port switches, to be exact) on one or each ends of an external-traversed Ethernet span. Totally inner Ethernet connections seem like immune. The house has cedar siding and naturally there’s additionally insulation within the partitions and ceiling, so maybe that (together with incremental air gaps) in sum offers ample safety?
Your query concerning Ethernet suppressors ties properly into one of many themes of an upcoming deliberate weblog put up. I’ve carried out solely rudimentary analysis thus far, however from what I’ve uncovered up to now, they are typically both:
- Cheap however mainly ineffective or
- Extremely costly, however then once more, alternative plasma TVs and such are dear too (http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/brians-brain/4435969/lightning-strike-becomes-emp-weapon-)
Plus, I’m all the time involved about bandwidth degradation that will consequence from the added middleman circuitry (similar goes for coax). Any particular options you’ve gotten can be drastically appreciated.
Thanks once more for writing!
Earlier than persevering with, an summary of my house community will probably be first-time informative for some and act as a memory-refresher to long-time readers for whom I’ve already touched on numerous features. Mine’s a two-story house, with the furnace room, roughly in the course of the decrease stage, appearing because the networking nexus. Comcast-served coax enters there from the skin and, after routing by my cable modem and router, feeds into an eight-port GbE swap. From there, I’ve been predominantly leveraging Ethernet runs initially laid by the prior proprietor.
In a single route, Cat 5 (I’m assuming, given its age, versus a more recent era) first routes by the interstitial house between the 2 ranges of the home to the far wall of the household room subsequent to the furnace room, connecting to a different 8-port GbE swap. At that time, one other Ethernet span exits the home, is tacked to the cedar wooden exterior and runs to the upper-level front room at one finish of the home, the place it re-enters and connects to one other 8-port GbE swap. Within the reverse route, one other Cat 5 span exits the home on the furnace room and routes exterior to the upper-level main bedroom on the different finish of the home, the place it re-enters and connects to a five-port GbE swap. Though the internal-only Ethernet is seemingly comprised of typical unshielded cable, judging from its flexibility, I used to be reminded through examination in prep for tackling this writeup that the exterior wiring is undoubtedly shielded, not that this did me any protecting good (unsurprisingly, sadly, provided that externally-routed shielded coax cable spans from room to room have equally nonetheless confirmed weak previously).
Usually, there are 4 Wi-Fi nodes in operation, in a mesh configuration comprised of Google Nest Wifi routers:
- The router, within the furnace room downstairs
- A mesh level in the main bedroom upstairs at one finish of the home
- One other in the lounge upstairs on the different finish of the home
- And yet another downstairs, in an workplace immediately under the lounge
Why routers within the latter three instances, versus cheaper entry factors? Within the Google Nest Wifi era, versus with the Google OnHub and Google Wifi precursors (in addition to the Google Nest Wifi Professional successor, paradoxically), entry factors are solely wirelessly accessible; they don’t provide Ethernet connectivity as an choice for amongst different issues making a wired “mesh” spine (you’ll quickly see why such a spine is fascinating). Plus, Google Nest Wifi Routers’ Wi-Fi subsystems are extra sturdy; AC2200 MU-MIMO with 4×4 on 5 GHz and a couple of×2 on 2.4GHz, versus solely AC1200 MU-MIMO Wi-Fi 2×2 on each 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz for the Google Nest Wifi Level. And the Level’s inclusion of a speaker is a don’t-care (extra correct: a detriment) to me.
I’ve augmented the already-existing Ethernet wiring after we purchased the home with two different notable extra spans, each internal-only. One runs from the furnace room to my workplace immediately above it (I did find yourself changing the unique incomplete-cable addition with a completely GbE-complaint successor). The opposite goes by the wall between the household room and the earlier-mentioned workplace past it (and under the lounge), offering it with sturdy Wi-Fi protection. As you’ll quickly see, this specific AP ended up being a key (albeit imperfect) participant in my present monsoon-season workaround.
Talking of workarounds, what are my resolution choices, provided that the outdoor-routed Ethernet cable is already shielded? Maybe the simplest choice can be to strive putting in Ethernet surge protectors at every finish of the 2 outdoors-dominant spans. Right here, for instance are some that promote for $9.99 a pair at Amazon (and have been discounted to $7.99 a pair throughout the latest Prime Fall Days promotion; I truly positioned an order however then canceled it after I learn the nice print):
Because the inset picture exhibits and the next teardown picture (conveniently equipped by the producer) additional particulars, they mainly simply encompass a bunch of diodes:
This one’s twice as costly, albeit nonetheless fairly cheap, and provides an earth floor strap:
Once more, nothing however diodes (the cluster of 4 on every finish are M7s; I can’t learn the markings on the center two), although:
Drawback #1: diving into the nice print (subsequently my earlier talked about order cancellation), you’ll discover that they solely assist passing 100 Mbit Ethernet by, not GbE. And drawback #2; judging from the person feedback revealed on each merchandise, they don’t appear to work, not less than on the atmospheric-electricity intensities my residence sees.
Okay, then, if my remark passes muster that internal-only Ethernet spans, even unshielded ones, are seemingly EMI-immune, why not run alternative cabling from the furnace room to each upper-level ends of the home by the interstitial house between the degrees, in addition to between the interior and outer partitions? That will certainly be what I find yourself biting the bullet and doing, however the mandatory navigation round (and/or by) enroute joists, ductwork and different obstacles is just not one thing that I’m relishing, fiscally or in any other case. In-advance is all the time preferable to after-the-fact in terms of such issues, in spite of everything! Paradoxically, proper earlier than sitting down to start out penning this put up, I skimmed by the ultimate print version of Sound & Imaginative and prescient journal, which included a nice writeup by house installer (and long-time column contributor) John Sciacca. There’s a basically strong motive why he wrote the next smart phrases!
A number of of my greatest ideas: Prewire for all the things (a wire you aren’t utilizing at present could be a lifesaver tomorrow!), go away a conduit if potential…
What about MoCA (coax-based networking) or powerline networking? No thanks. As I’ve already talked about, the prevailing external-routed coax wiring has confirmed weak to close-proximity lightning, too. If I’m going to run internally routed cable as a substitute, I’ll simply do Ethernet. And after a number of many years’ price of coping with powerline’s unfulfilled promise as a result of its struggles to traverse a number of circuit breakers and phases, together with at this home (which has two breaker packing containers, consider it or not, the unique one within the storage and a more recent complement within the furnace room), together with injected noise from furnaces, air con models, hair dryers, innumerable wall warts and the like, I’ve frankly collected greater than sufficient scars already. However talking of breaker packing containers, by the way in which, I’ve already applied one of many earlier documented options from reader “bdcst”, courtesy of an electrician go to a number of years again:
The ultimate choice, which I did strive (with fascinating outcomes), concerned disconnecting each ends of the exterior-routed Cat 5 spans and as a substitute relying solely on wi-fi backbones for the mesh entry factors upstairs at each ends of the home. As setup for the outcomes to return, I’ll first share what the wired-only connectivity seems to be like between the furnace room and my workplace immediately above it. I’m nonetheless relying predominantly on my legacy, now-obsolete (per Home windows 8’s demise) Home windows Media Heart-based cable TV-distribution scheme, which has a handy built-in Community Tuner facility accessible through any of the Xbox 360s appearing as Home windows Media Extenders:
In preparation for my external-Ethernet severing experiment, to maximise the robustness of the resultant wi-fi spine connectivity to each ends of the home, I put in a fifth Google Nest Wifi router-as-access level within the workplace. It certainly resulted in moderately sturdy, albeit extra erratic, bandwidth between the router and the entry level in the lounge, first as reported within the Google Residence app:
after which by Home windows Media Heart’s Community Tuner:
I sometimes skilled transient A/V dropouts and freezes with this particular configuration. Extra notably, the Home windows Media Heart UI was extra sluggish than earlier than, particularly in its response to distant management button presses (fast-forward and -rewind makes an attempt have been notably maddening). Most disconcerting, nonetheless, was the truth that my spouse’s iPhone now often misplaced community connectivity after she traversed from one stage of the home to the opposite, till she toggled it into after which again out of Airplane Mode.
One of many downsides of mesh networks is that, as a result of all nodes broadcast the very same SSID (in numerous Google Wifi product households’ case), or the identical multi-SSID suite for different mesh setups that use completely different names for the two.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz beacons, it’s tough (particularly with Google’s elementary Residence utility) to determine precisely what node you’re linked to at any cut-off date. I hypothesized that her iPhone was stubbornly clinging to the now-unusable Wi-Fi node she was utilizing earlier than versus switching to the now-stronger sign of a distinct node in her vacation spot location. Regardless, as soon as I re-disconnected the extra entry level in my workplace, her cellphone’s sturdy roaming conduct returned:
However because the above screenshot alludes to, I ended up with different issues in change. Notice, particularly, the now-weak spine connectivity reported by the lounge node (though, curiously, connectivity between the main bedroom and furnace room remained strong even now over Wi-Fi). The mesh entry level in the lounge was, I believe, now wirelessly linked to the one within the workplace under it, paradoxically a shorter node-to-node distance than earlier than, however passing by the interstitial house between the degrees. And immediately between the 2 nodes in that interstitial house is a giant hunk of metallic ductwork. Notice, too, that the Google Nest Wifi system relies on Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) expertise, and that the wi-fi spine is particularly applied utilizing the 5 GHz band, which is higher-bandwidth than its 2.4 GHz counterpart but in addition inherently shorter-range. The consequence was predictable:
The experiment wasn’t a complete waste, although. On a hunch, I attempted utilizing the Xfinity Stream app on my Roku to view Comcast-sourced content material as a substitute. The supply mechanism right here is totally completely different: streamed over the Web and originating from Comcast’s server, versus solely over my LAN from the mini PC supply (in all instances, whether or not dwell, time-shifted or absolutely pre-recorded, originating at my Comcast coax TV feed through a SiliconDust HDHomeRun Prime CableCARD middleman). I wasn’t direct-connecting to premises Wi-Fi from the Roku; as a substitute, I saved it wired Ethernet-connected to the multi-port swap as earlier than, leveraging the now-wireless-backbone-connected entry level additionally linked to the swap there as a substitute. And, as a pleasing shock to me, I persistently obtained strong streaming supply.
What’s modified? Let’s look first on the video codec leveraged. The WTV “wrapper” (container) format now in use by Home windows Media Heart supersedes the DVR-MS precursor with expanded assist for each legacy MPEG-2 and newer MPEG-4 video. And certainly, though a perusal of a latest recorded-show file in Window Explorer’s File Properties choice was fruitless (the audio and video codec sections have been clean), pulling the file into VLC Media Participant and inspecting it there proved extra enlightening. There have been two embedded audio tracks, one English and the opposite Spanish, each Dolby AC3-encoded. And the video was encoded utilizing H.264, i.e., MPEG-4 AVC (Half 10). Curiously, once more based on VLC, it was formatted at 1280×720 pixel decision and a 59.940060 fps body price. And the bitrate assorted over time, confirmative of VBR encoding, with enter and demuxed stream bitrates each spiking to >8,000 kb/sec peaks.
The excellent news right here, from a Home windows Media Heart standpoint, is two-fold: it’s not nonetheless utilizing archaic MPEG-2 as I’d feared beforehand may need been the case, and the MPEG-4 profile in use is moderately superior. The dangerous information, nonetheless, is that it’s solely utilizing AVC, and at a excessive body price (subsequently bitrate) as well. Conversely, Roku gamers additionally assist the extra superior HEVC and VP9 video codec codecs (alas, I do not know what’s getting used on this case). And, as a result of the content material is streamed immediately from Comcast’s server, the Roku and server can talk to adaptively regulate decision, body price, compression stage and different bitrate-related variables, maximizing playback high quality as WAN and LAN bandwidth dynamically fluctuate.
For now, provided that monsoon season is (supposedly, not less than) over till subsequent summer time, I’ve reconnected the exterior Cat 5 spans. And it’s good to know that when the “thunderbolt and lightning, very, very horrifying” return, I can all the time quickly sever the exterior Ethernet once more, counting on my Rokus’ Xfinity Stream apps as a substitute. That stated, I additionally plan to finally check out newer Wi-Fi expertise, to additional take a look at the speculation that “wires beat wi-fi each time”. Nearing 3,000 phrases, I’ll save extra particulars on that for one more put up to return. And till then, I as-always welcome your ideas within the feedback!
—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Imaginative and prescient Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the corporate’s on-line e-newsletter.
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