Does Router/DSL-Modem Need UPS Backup?

[jaykchan]

Do I need a UPS backup for a switch, a router, and a DSL modem?

The area where I live seems to brown out or black out quite often. I
already have a UPS for my PC; but I don't have a UPS for those network
devices. Obviously, the network devices will lose connection during a
brown-out or a black-out. The problem is that occasionally the devices
cannot re-establish connection after the power is back. When this
happens, I can see that some of the connections in all of those network
devices are blinking. I always can manually re-establish the connection
by simply powering down all the network devices and then powering up
all of them later.

My questions are:
o Is the "failure to re-establish connection" situation a normal
thing?
o Will a UPS help in this situation?

I am asking these because I am afraid that I may discover that I may
still need to manually re-set the DSL modem even with a UPS backup.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay Chan

 

[kony]

Do I need a UPS backup for a switch, a router, and a DSL modem?

If you expect to use them during a power outtage, yes.

The area where I live seems to brown out or black out quite often.

Brownout issues can depend on the degree of "brown". Some
of these external device PSU will be fine with a fairly
large dip in AC power. During such a brownout you could
always measure the power input to each device. Generally
speaking, I would expect they wouldn't need one for only a
brownout but certainly each specific device could be more or
less prone to problems... so it'd have to be taken on a
device by device basis. However, presuming your PC has an
UPS, putting these devices on same UPS is not much
additional load.

I
already have a UPS for my PC; but I don't have a UPS for those network
devices. Obviously, the network devices will lose connection during a
brown-out or a black-out. The problem is that occasionally the devices
cannot re-establish connection after the power is back. When this
happens, I can see that some of the connections in all of those network
devices are blinking. I always can manually re-establish the connection
by simply powering down all the network devices and then powering up
all of them later.

How long are these brownouts? Wont' do much good to have an
UPS that keeps them powered for 2 hours if the brownouts
last 4, you'll still have to reset them. Well, "much good"
is relative, you still get the 2 hours of use IF the other
systems could keep running that long too. Since you need to
toggle power to the other devices, I suggest putting them
all on a switched multi-outlet strip then just flicking that
off and on instead of having to do each individually.

My questions are:
o Is the "failure to re-establish connection" situation a normal
thing?

"Normal" is relative to exactly what the power did and how
much tolerance each device has. Yes, it can be expected
that given bad enough conditions (per device) that a device
will crash and need reset... and powering off then on again
is just an obvious way to reset them especially since many
these days don't even have reset switch for running-mode
rather than only reset of firmware settings (which isn't
same thing, do not reset the firmware for a brownout crash).

o Will a UPS help in this situation?
Yes



I am asking these because I am afraid that I may discover that I may
still need to manually re-set the DSL modem even with a UPS backup.

Once the UPS runs out of battery and shuts off, yes it's
possible you'd still have to power cycle them IF the power
came back on in a still-brown state. If the power came back
to the devices being sufficient, they should start up and
run ok.

 

[Bob]

Do I need a UPS backup for a switch, a router, and a DSL modem?

Yes, if you want to stay connected to the Internet during a service
interruption. Those units draw very little power, so including them
does not strain your UPS.

I run the computer, the monitor, the cable modem and the router off
the UPS. There is no need for anything else during a power
interruption that can't wait until Utility service is restored.

I suppose if you are a printer freak and can't get by without printing
everything you see, then you could hook the printer into the UPS. But
it's just a waste of battery power as far as I am concerned.

 

[kony]

Yes, if you want to stay connected to the Internet during a service
interruption. Those units draw very little power, so including them
does not strain your UPS.

I run the computer, the monitor, the cable modem and the router off
the UPS. There is no need for anything else during a power
interruption that can't wait until Utility service is restored.

I suppose if you are a printer freak and can't get by without printing
everything you see, then you could hook the printer into the UPS. But
it's just a waste of battery power as far as I am concerned.

If you use an inkjet or modern laser, they typically consume
under 10W in sleep mode, a mode they'd stay in unless
printing. Older lasers though, definitely not easy on an
UPS.

 

[jaykchan]

If you expect to use them during a power outtage, yes.

No, I don't intend to use those network devices during a power outrage.
The normal power outrage in my area only lasts a very short time. I can
afford to wait it out by taking a short break.

The thing that I need the UPS for is to avoid manually re-establishing
the network connection. The reasons are:
1. The network devices are all inside a closet in the basement, and I
am likely to be in the top floor. I don't like going up and down the
stairs (bad knees).
2. I may not know that there was a black out in my house when I get
back home, and I will get confused when I cannot get access to some
network resource (such as recorded videos, internet), and I will waste
time trying to figure out what went wrong. This is even worse when my
family members need to deal with this; they will not likely to check
the connections in the basement closet.

Brownout issues can depend on the degree of "brown". Some
of these external device PSU will be fine with a fairly
large dip in AC power. During such a brownout you could
always measure the power input to each device. Generally
speaking, I would expect they wouldn't need one for only a
brownout but certainly each specific device could be more or
less prone to problems... so it'd have to be taken on a
device by device basis. However, presuming your PC has an
UPS, putting these devices on same UPS is not much
additional load.

Unfortunately, the PC and the network devices are in two different
areas. They cannot easily share the UPS. I will have to buy a second
UPS for the network devices.

How long are these brownouts? Wont' do much good to have an
UPS that keeps them powered for 2 hours if the brownouts
last 4, you'll still have to reset them. Well, "much good"
is relative, you still get the 2 hours of use IF the other
systems could keep running that long too.

The black out only lasts a very short time. All I need the UPS is to
provide backup power for a number of seconds.

Yes

Great! This is what I want to hear. This means I should look for a
small UPS and I should expect it to keep the network connection alive
during a black out. Good to know this, and I will be very glad not need
to manually re-establish the connection.

Thanks for the info.

Jay Chan

 

[jaykchan]

Do I need a UPS backup for a switch, a router, and a DSL modem?

Yes, if you want to stay connected to the Internet during a service
interruption. Those units draw very little power, so including them
does not strain your UPS.

The network devices are inside a closet in the basement, and the PC
that has a UPS is in a different area. This is the reason why the
network devices cannot share the UPS with the PC.

I will get a small UPS for the network devices, and I believe the
problem will be history.

Thanks.

Jay Chan

 

[kony]

No, I don't intend to use those network devices during a power outrage.
The normal power outrage in my area only lasts a very short time. I can
afford to wait it out by taking a short break.

The problem would still be having ample reserve UPS power to
outlast the brownout or blackout condition. Since I dont'
know how long that persists, I can't know what will be
necessary to keep the equipment "up", stable during that
period of time.

The thing that I need the UPS for is to avoid manually re-establishing
the network connection. The reasons are:
1. The network devices are all inside a closet in the basement, and I
am likely to be in the top floor. I don't like going up and down the
stairs (bad knees).

Might sound silly but have you even seen one of those
Christmas Tree remote controllers (radio frequency type)
where you push a button to turn on or off the tree? You
could put one of those in front of a power strip then just
press the button to turn everything hooked up to the strip,
off then on again.

2. I may not know that there was a black out in my house when I get
back home, and I will get confused when I cannot get access to some
network resource (such as recorded videos, internet), and I will waste
time trying to figure out what went wrong. This is even worse when my
family members need to deal with this; they will not likely to check
the connections in the basement closet.

In the interim, till you work out the solution, you might
just determine where the network fails and create a few
shortcuts. For example, you could create a shortcut to ping
a router with something like "%windir%\system32\ping.exe
192.168.0.1", but if you use the traditional windows
right-click-create-shortcut method of doing it, you can just
type "Ping 192.168.0.1" into the text box to get same
result. Likewise with any other diagnostic you would use to
remotely find the downed link, a shortcut could provide a
simple method to check it... it's not "proof" of what
happened but it could be useful.

Unfortunately, the PC and the network devices are in two different
areas. They cannot easily share the UPS. I will have to buy a second
UPS for the network devices.

That might be just as well, since it seems you need a lot
more runtime from the UPS powering that equipment than could
be expected from any reasonably priced UPS that had to power
a system simultaneously.

The black out only lasts a very short time. All I need the UPS is to
provide backup power for a number of seconds.

The actual number of seconds is an important parameter, as
IF the legth of time were short enough you might even be
able to use a more simple (not necessarily simple, I mean
cheap) solution, either putting some supercapacitors inline
with the power input or a battery pack... essentially
foregoing the DC-AC UPS and just directly suppling the DC
voltage that (whichever) particular device needs. In this
context (or even if you use an UPS) it might be useful to
determine which specific devices do need stay up and which
will remain functional, as plugging only the necessary
devices into the UPS will greatly extend it's runtime should
you ever have outtages longer than a few seconds.

Great! This is what I want to hear. This means I should look for a
small UPS and I should expect it to keep the network connection alive
during a black out. Good to know this, and I will be very glad not need
to manually re-establish the connection.

There is that other alternative, put the devices upstairs
where they're accessible.