Ethernet surge protection is
mikinhoEthernet surge protection is a little bit of a gimmick unless there is PoE components involved. For phone lines it is a must. What is useful is:
1) Power surge protection on the modem, router, switch and just about any network device. You obviously already know that and have it covered. If anyone does want a suggestion, Brick Wall makes some great surge protection equipment. Pricey but if you want top-notch…that is it.
2) Surge protection on the coaxial line coming into the building. If you have spikes on the Ethernet it is coming from a spike in the electrical or coax line. The exception here is with PoE equipment that is potentially exposed outside.
Just make sure to not get a cheap gas discharge tubes only style protector. I prefer diverter type surge protectors with a robust ground connection attached to the main ground. But you should also check if your cable provider already has one installed. Typically on new installs you’ll see a grounding block connected to the conduit near the KWH meter. I thought it was part of the National Electrical Code regulations. This should divert any but the most unlucky lighting strikes and if you get one that bad then nothing you can do about it.
Two relatively inexpensive products I’ve installed before in either my own home or friendsfamily are the Citel P8AX09 and TII 212. They are gas discharge but not “cheap” ones.
[quote]2.) Also is there any disadvantage going thru a patch panel for all my networking cable connections before going into the switch? (I’ll be checking all my connections using the procurve switch “cable diagnostics” and probably get a cable tester too)[/quote]
There is a theoretical loss but I wouldn’t even consider it. Just make sure to get a reasonable quality Cat6 patch panel. I think we’ve had this discussion here on Missing Remote before but I’ve seen too many instances where consumers purchase Cat6 or better cable, Gigabit switches but then neglect to get corresponding patch panels or jacks.