I would like to protect my home network setup with surge protectors.
The products I am looking at are:
APC Essential SurgeArrest 5 outlets 230V
APC ProtectNet standalone surge protector for 10/100/1000 Base-T Ethernet lines
APC ProtectNet standalone surge protector for analog/DSL phone lines (2 lines, 4 wires)
Here is the suggested configuration:
Here is the configuration I want to use:
As you can see I want to use one protector on the phone line (ADSL internet) and one protector on the ethernet network. All of this will be powered from the 5-way power strip indicated above.
In my research I've read that "chaining" surge protectors is not recommended due to the devices interfering with each other. As you can see below the fault ratings and mode of protection differ between the devices, so I'm not sure if this is an issue?
Here are the fault ratings:
| ProtectNet Model | Mode | Standoff voltage | Breakover voltage | Let-through voltage | Peak surge current |
|:----------------:|:---------------------:|:----------------:|:-----------------:|:--------------------:|:------------------:|
| PNET1GB | Line-line Line-ground | 6 Vdc 1,500 Vrms | 60 Vdc 1,800 Vrms | < 50 Vpk < 4,000 Vpk | 6,500 A 250 A |
| PTel2 | metallic longitudinal | 220 Vdc 200 Vdc | 260 Vdc 260 Vdc | < 325 Vpk < 325 Vpk | 150 A 150 A |
Does my configuration count as chaining? Will I get better protection using both devices or should I just pick one?
Best Answer
As explained in this Electronics.SE article, daisy chaining of AC power protectors, where they both attempt to protect the same electrical circuit, can cause interference and failure. But that's not what you're doing. You have 3 protectors, for electricity, ethernet, and phone/DSL respectively. Those are 3 separate circuits, even if some of them flow into the same devices, so your setup is fine.