Electrical problem, insight needed.

[Chewbacca]

Sooooo,

Power went out at our house today, probably due to the 6 inches of wet snow we got last night. And, now our wireless router and Gamecube no longer function.

The router powers up and all the lights blink, but we can't get any sort fo network connection, either wired or wireless. The router is plugged into a brand new (installed yesterday) high-end Belkin surge protector, along with my PC and other periphals. Everything else works just fine.

Our Gamecube, which is less than 6 months old, won't even power up. It too was connected to a surge protector along with the TV, DVD player, Home Theatre, and PS2. Everything else on that strip works fine.

Anybody know?
Could the power outage, and a potential surge or whatever, have caused these devices to malfunction, but leave everything else working just fine? Or am I just expiriencing a very peculiar set of strange coincidences?

[ 02-11-2005, 11:02 PM: Message edited by: Chewbacca ]

[Sir Krustin]

Even with a surge protector, you can lose devices. No surge protection is perfect.

One thing to remember, the router is vulnerable not just to surges through the power line but also surges coming up the cable connection.

[Chewbacca]

So, my Cable modem and all the other devices still work just fine? It seems quite odd to me that the damage would be so selective, yet random.

Well, I feel QUITE lucky. I could have lost ALOT of stuff, much of it new in just the last 60 days!

I have been shopping around for an UPS. Does that offer better protection than just a mere surge protector?

[Felix The Assassin]

Do you have service?
Did you go to your router page and (due to too many variables) basically reconnect to it? You can communicate to your router "IP Address",(different from your ISP) irregardless of your internet connection service status. One option there should also tell you if it has connection through your ISP.

You did not mention your modem. Is it powered up and good to go?

[Chewbacca]

Originally posted by Felix The Assassin: Do you have service? Did you go to your router page and (due to too many variables) basically reconnect to it? You can communicate to your router "IP Address",(different from your ISP) irregardless of your internet connection service status. One option there should also tell you if it has connection through your ISP. You did not mention your modem. Is it powered up and good to go?

Yep, the modem works perfect, Im connected right now through it.

The router's IP address and browser-based utility will not come up at. When I tried to access it, IE actually froze up and issued an error.

[Larry_OHF]

Just so you can see that electricity is "very" selective, I do not know if you read the thread I posted months ago about my electrical problem. One of the things that I posted there was that when I plugged in the cord to the socket, flames jumped out of the wall and burned the prongs on the cord! I just knew that my PC was damaged, but luckily it booted up just fine. I have a battery backup and a a surge protector...and on the duo I have printer, scanner, PC, Modem, router, speakers, USB hub, telephone, and digital cam card reader. The only thing that was fried was the USB seven port hub. Even though all other devices were plugged in.

[ 02-11-2005, 11:55 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Felix The Assassin]

So, the modem works stand alone?

When connected to the router, browser crashes?

Router will not talk to DHCP server?

Try, resetting router while modem is left powered on, and connected.

Do you have any status lights, error codes on the router?

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Sorry if I'm repeating what people have said, I'm too tired to read it all.

If your devices were connected to the SP at the time of the outage, you're covered anyway. My Belkin covers up 75k in damaged equipment.

Yes, you should have a SP model that your cable and or phone line connect to as most of the bad current will come from there. If you don't get things working, call Belkin and see what they required for the coverage to take effect.

[Thoran]

Many UPS's and newer surge supressors have sockets for protecting your network, the 100baseT cable going from my cable modem to my router goes through the UPS. If you find yourself purchasing a new supressor I'd recommend considering one that has that capability.

In the instance you describe, it's more likely that a "brown out" caused the damage than a surge. Many electronic devices are susceptable to undervoltage damage... and surge supressors typically do nothing to prevent it (I have one that has a light that comes on... the rest don't do anything).

Perhaps you should splurge for a UPS, I just bought a nice Belkin unit for under 150 bucks... 900VA with a USB interface.

[Dace De'Briago]

Might sound like a silly question, but have you tried replacing the fuses on the appliances that no longer functioning?