Can I UPS / surge supressor protect my cable modem coax line?

[dbhosttexas]

This is not something I had given much thought to previously, but....

With the prevalence of lightning storms around me, I have gone to great lengths and expense to UPS protect my computers and networking equipment. It only recently occoured to me that the coax feed line from the cable company is another incoming conductor that could in theory carry enough voltage to render my cable modem, and potentially my router useless with one close lighting strike.

Is it possible / adviseable to connect my coax feed line from the wall to my UPS, and then my UPS to my cable modem? Will this work, will it impact my cable modem performance?

 

[bill001g]

More than likely you have a grounding block the cable connects to as it comes into the house. Many locations require this by code. These devices attach the outer shielding of the coax to the house ground. They do not look like very much just little boxes with 2 coax connectors and sometimes a wire running to the breaker box or a pipe.

Now this does not protect against a surge on the inner conductor if that would ever happen. They do make these little splice things that are called lighting and surge protectors. They are mostly designed for antennas but they do make them for cable TV. The ones we used on a satellite dish cost about $15. I would assume the ones deigned to pass cable frequencies cost about the same.

 

[dbhosttexas]

I am going to check for that grounding block for sure!

 

[dbhosttexas]

Short day for me. Looked out back and sure enough, there is a grounding block with a 12ga wire that is fed down 3' down the wall to a copper ground rod right behind my AC compressor...

In all my years living here, I have never lost a cable modem due to lightning, only one router that wasn't on a surge supressor (my first SMC Barricade 7008ABR), a motherboard and power supply, and a TV. That was with one lighting strike, and was what prompted me to go surge supression / UPS on my electronics in the first place...