Tips & Tricks

Surge Protection

You have a surge protector on your computer. But now you want to know, should you have gotten one that you can use with your phone lines as well? Is that really necessary?

It's actually good advice. When we think of power surges, we tend to picture power line problems. Well, telephone wires can also carry a dangerous surge into your computer. I've repaired (and seen) more than a few computers that were damaged due to telephone line power surges.

Most people don't know it, but phone line surges are more likely to cause damage than power line surges. Why? Your computer's power supply acts as a built in surge protector. Even if a surge gets through your regular surge protector, the power supply may be able to keep it from doing any damage.

That's not to say that you shouldn't have a good surge protector. There have been lots of computers damaged because they didn't have a surge protector between them and the wall outlet.

Finally, when you buy a surge protector, try to find something better than those little power strip things. Although they are better then nothing, they are notoriously unreliable and most won't tell you when they are no longer protecting your equipment. One good surge and your protection is gone - but they continue to function as a power strip. Most computer and electronics stores can sell you a good quality surge protector.

Oh, before you ask, an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is your best bet for surge protection. They supply power to your computer from a built in battery. The power is always "clean" and should the power go out, they give you a few minutes (or more) of battery time to save and shut down. We use them here at WorldStart.

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