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UPS to protect ONT, router?

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neil0311

Senior Member
Any recommendations on a good UPS that isn’t overkill for use with an ONT, router, hub in my basement to protect against power outages due to storms, etc?
 
I would recommend APC Back-UPS CS350 or CS500. They are better quality stepped approximation wave devices, around for quite some time with good reliability history, available in black or white color, replacement batteries 12V/7Ah available everywhere, USB port for diagnostics.

 
Yeah, APC makes good gear. I'm currently using several APC Back-UPS Pro BR1500MS2 units, but those might be overkill for what you're describing. Or not. What you need to ask yourself is how long you want the UPS to keep things running in a prolonged outage. At a rough guess, a 1500VA unit like mine would hold up your load for about two hours; a 500VA unit, about a third of that.
 
At a rough guess, a 1500VA unit like mine would hold up your load for about two hours; a 500VA unit, about a third of that.

I've got a 1350VA Cyberpower UPS - with a SB8200 Cable Modem, my Syno RT6600ax Router, my old NUC, and a Syno DS723+ NAS, it's guestimating 172 mins on battery...

Taking the NAS offline, and that number runs up 275 mins...

With the NUC offline, it extends out to 426 mins...

I've had APS in the past, and their units were very good, my 1080VA aged out, so getting replacement batteries ended up being more expensive compared to just replacing it with another unit.

The batteries in most APS' are considered a consumable item - in my experience, most are sealed lead-acid, and in most use cases, will last a few years - the APC unit I had does do periodic tests, and with their SW, can predict the time available...
 
Go with whatever fits your budget. These devices need very little power, so it's a matter of determining how much you are willing to spend versus power autonomy.
 
In some rare cases cheaper square waveform USP devices may create this issue:

 
I use 4 versions of the APC 1500VA units, like this one: https://www.amazon.com/APC-Battery-Protector-BackUPS-BX1500M/dp/B06VY6FXMM/?tag=snbforums-20

Since I hit them with various loads, time varies. When PC is running, I get anywhere from 30-40 minutes, but after I turn off my computer, my AT&T Fiber gateway gets like 200 minutes to run. Another unit runs my router and switch to 200 or so minutes. Another runs my TV stuff and gets turned off when that does, and gives me an hour if I'm watching TV or like 370 minutes if not. A 4th in my living room gives me 8-12 hours for a lamp. Sadly though, 2 of my units need new batteries, so the timings are unreliable at under an hour and under 20 minutes. After I change these batteries, I expect the previous good timings will return. (Not bad for 3 years of frequent use.) But if you're running just your network gear, you can expect 200 minutes or more on the gear I use.

AT&T Humax BGW-320-500 Fiber gateway
Asus AXE16000 router (glowing lights turned off) I watched this and found it uses 15 minutes worth of power when running.
QNAP QSW-M408-4C switch.

I use my UPS units like generators almost since I don't have one here, but for what they provide, it usually works very well.

Also note that when running these devices on battery, I seem to lose a minute or 3 for like every 5 minutes passed. So that's good. Also note that I'm in an area with damaged infrastructure and are expecting another 3-5 years of issues because of this. So UPS units come in very handy. Thank you hurricanes.
 
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The choice depends on the history of power outages. What I personally need is 350/500VA class UPS, keeps the equipment I have running for about 5 minutes. Firewall, switch, 4x access points, small NAS, NVR with cameras. Someone else may have different needs and has to plan/buy appropriate UPS/generator. Folks in Miami during hurricane season obviously need better power backup.
 
Go with whatever fits your budget. These devices need very little power, so it's a matter of determining how much you are willing to spend versus power autonomy.

True that...

If the UPC gives me enough time to shutdown the NAS and my Jumpbox (the NUC I mentioned earlier) then the rest of the UPC capacity keeps the Cable Modem and Router up as long as the WAN might be up and running there.

For the non-essential items - a good surge suppressor power strip is likely good enough for most - again, a direct lightning strike can blow out anything, including a UPS...
 
In some rare cases cheaper square waveform USP devices may create this issue:


I doubt that post has anything to do with the AC output of the UPS - square wave output on AC just makes noise, that's all...

A switching DC power supply already does that on the first step, and does the DC/AC conversion again - like relationships in Facebook, it's complicated and not so simple for folks that are not EE's..
 

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