Hi,

This is the 4th time lightning killed my modem, 3 of them were dial-up modems and 1 ADSL modem. It wasn't even raining, no thunder claps, just sudden shot from the dark fierce clouds. I didn't unplug the phone cable nor did I use any lightning surge to protect them. Do you know of any good lightning surge / isolators? Or is it possible to create one cheapo from fuses?

Thanks.

No, just buy a good surge protector, since you're a lightning magnet :D

That sucks! I think just a good surge protector will help. Maybe ask the company who made the modem for suggestions or recommendations of one.

It also killed one of my PCI slot while I was using an internal 56K card and my power supply. So it's time to get a surge protector, everyone should, before it kills your PC.

my cable modem has held up for 5 years, but we've had lightning hit the actual cable buried in our yard and burn it out; that was interesting stuff. A little offtopic, but I was stopped at in front of some railroad tracks near my house, and lightning struck a stop sign to the right of me, then moved around to the tracks, the crossing lights, and then the traffic lights in front of me which blew out all the glass. One of the most amazing experiences in my life.

Originally posted by Rewdog
my cable modem has held up for 5 years, but we've had lightning hit the actual cable buried in our yard and burn it out; that was interesting stuff. A little offtopic, but I was stopped at in front of some railroad tracks near my house, and lightning struck a stop sign to the right of me, then moved around to the tracks, the crossing lights, and then the traffic lights in front of me which blew out all the glass. One of the most amazing experiences in my life.

You were lucky :) Were you driving? I believe lightning can travel through the ground and hit close entities.

I live in the midwest (Iowa), have for the past 5 years or so and have YET to see any major lightning damage to either my pc or hardware (knock on wood).

Surge protection is great, in fact it's a requirement if you really want to run a pofessional setup. of course my version of surge protection is a power strip which is so old it's not funny. Hrrm, maybe I should get that upgraded.

If the ground is wet then it can, for example I know of several reports in the UK where football teams have basically all been hit when the pitch was struck.

Should be fine in a car though.

Originally posted by BennyG
You were lucky :) Were you driving? I believe lightning can travel through the ground and hit close entities.
Yeah, in the car with my windows down because it wasn't raining, just a little thunder. I can still remember the smell of burnt metal and how freaking loud it was. I about pooped.

Think I'm covered. Have lightning arrestors on both breaker boxes (main line gets hit, they take the surge), followed by a UPS powering the office equipment that has protection built in. All incoming lines, including phone, cable and power are isolated...

Lightning would have to use the door to find me.

Originally posted by Rewdog
Yeah, in the car with my windows down because it wasn't raining, just a little thunder. I can still remember the smell of burnt metal and how freaking loud it was. I about pooped.

Car is on rubber tires...
its all good.. :pimp:

Surge protectors don't protect fully against damage from lightning. I have had items in my home damaged when lightning strikes nearby just by the electomagnetic radiation. All of the items damaged were on surge protectors, it didn't help.

PM me if you need another modem, I have 3 in a box that I don't use. No charge, just pay for shipping.

Originally posted by fastdatasvr
Surge protectors don't protect fully against damage from lightning. I have had items in my home damaged when lightning strikes nearby just by the electomagnetic radiation. All of the items damaged were on surge protectors, it didn't help.

PM me if you need another modem, I have 3 in a box that I don't use. No charge, just pay for shipping.

Thanks for the offer Tom ;) I've just got me a new one equipped with a 4 port router - bridge. Just woke up this morning, heard thunderclaps, luckily modem was off :)

Living in fear :bawling: