Took a lightning strike today

[wcleme11]

I just took a direct or nearly direct lightning strike. Was seeing some lightning in the area and seconds after I grabbed my 3 year old and stepped inside a simultaneous flash and boom. Not sure exactly where it hit but it was close. I have 7 cameras outside my home cabled using utp and connected to an 8-port UniFi US-8-150W. That switch is then linked to my core switch with fiber. Cameras all survived but the 8-port switch was not so lucky. Also lost network port on my nvidia shield for some reason, not sure it may have been accidentally connected to the switch that died.

I know I should have run stp but what else can I do to limit my losses in the future? Should I put in ethernet surge protectors on all my cable runs? I'm not sure if anything would have saved me given the fact this strike was so close.

 

[SteveHansen]

I just took a direct or nearly direct lightning strike. ...I know I should have run stp but what else can I do to limit my losses in the future? Should I put in ethernet surge protectors on all my cable runs? I'm not sure if anything would have saved me given the fact this strike was so close.

Most lightning surges actually enter on the power lines. Most electronic devices have varistors built into the power supply, to protect them against small surges. All of the surge protectors in a house work together to protect all of the devices on the power buss... You just need more surge protection. Do two things: Add a good quality "whole house" surge protector to your main circuit-breaker panel; AND plug your electronics into good-quality individual "power strip" surge protectors. (Use a whole-house device that meets the "UL 1449 Rev 3" standard, with a rating of at least 50kA. The 10kA units that they sell at big-box stores are basically junk.)

Lightning has hit the top of the power pole 20 feet from my house, at least twice. We know that's where it hit because the top of the wooden pole was on fire, both times. My neighbors have had to buy all new electronics, both times. I lost one water-heater element the first time, and had no damage at all on the second.

 

[wcleme11]

I found out from neighbors that saw it hit that it struck the ground about two house's down from me. I have two cameras that are about 20ft out from my house mounted on fences. I wonder if the surge came in from one of these and zapped my switch. My security camera switch is isolated from the rest of my network and uplinked via fiber to my main switch. The switch and the network port on my nvidia shield that was accidentally connected to this switch is the only thing that got fried. The switch was plugged into a cyberpower UPS.

I'm considering grounded ethernet surge protectors on the fence cams. The rest of my cams have cabling that only runs through the house.

 

[looney2ns]

Induced surges can happen from a strike up to a mile away.
As nayr would say, ground everything.
I believe in using STP grounded at least at one end, and network cable surge protectors.

 

[wcleme11]

My current plan to solve this problem is to put grounded surge protectors on both ends of my fence cams since they have outdoor runs. The rest of my cams with indoor runs are going to get grounded surge protection on the inside before hitting the switch. I hope this enough to give me a little more protection from nearby strikes. If I take a direct strike.. well I'll be filing an insurance claim for that.. lol.