I realize 99% of the internet are experts on electricity, lightning and grounding concepts, most of the internet wears a lab coat at all times, but seriously… I need a 100’ run of buried ethernet (likely direct burial 24" deep) from my house to my shed that has no power, for PoE camera & AP. Companies like APC sell ethernet surge protectors, other than biased unfounded fear, what are real world implications of a nearby lighting strike if things are properly grounded (full 6-8’ grounding rods outside each building etc…).
I feel like it’d be perfectly fine and if not, oh well, a router gets fried or wire burns up in the ground, doesn’t seem like a big deal on the off chance of real close strike or is that just me?
Routine all over the world is effective surge protection even from direct lightning strikes. But only when one understands a protector is not doing any protection. It is only a connecting device to what does ALL protection.
Separate buildings; each must have its own single point earth ground. Protection only exists when each wire in every incoming cable connects low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) to what does all protection. Earthing electrodes.
Some wires can make that connection directly. Best protection has no protector. Other wires (ie PoE, AC electric) must make that connection via a protector.
If any one wire violates that rule, then all protection is compromised. If anything fails (router, protector, light bulbs, UPS, digital clocks, etc) then a human has created that damage. Protection from all surges (including direct lightning strikes) has been that routine and well proven for over 100 years.
Companies that sell magic plug-in boxes never claim protection. This is, too often, what such magic boxes can do. Anybody can see why by simply reading specification numbers. How does its puny hundreds or thousands joules ‘absorb’ a surge: hundreds of thousands of joules.
Effective protectors never plug-in. Since plug-in protectors have no earth ground. Wall receptacle safety ground clearly is not earth ground.
Effective protectors connect low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) to that earth ground. With numbers that define protection.
One can sell a $3 power strip with five cent protector parts for $25 or $80. An obscene profit margin that pays for a massive disinformation campaign. Or one earths a ‘whole house’ protector for about $1 per appliance. With numbers that actually claim protection
Profit centers are measured in joules. Effective protector for the incoming AC is measured in amps. Lightning (one example of a surge) can be 20,000 amps. So a minimal protector is 50,000 amps.
For ethernet, Ubiquiti is simply one of so many proven protectors. To connect all PoE wires to earth only when a surge exists. Because and again, only earth ground does any protection. Effective protectors ALWAYS connect low impedance (ie hardwire has no sharp bends or splices) to what does protection. Each structures single point earth ground. Those electrodes require most all attention.