| |
Protecting
Your Wireless Network Investment
Connect802
has selected state-of-the-art
protection against the power
spikes, surges and transient
voltages that would otherwise
damage your equipment.
Buy
managed UPS equipment, lightning
arrestors and surge protection
from Connect802 to Take Advantage
of our Wi-Fi Design and Consulting
Experience |
|
"Clean" Power
The power company generates
electricity which is stepped
up to as much as 230,000 volts
(230 kV) and transmitted through
a complex power grid to ultimately
reach your radio, controller,
switch, router and server equipment.
Your equipment (in the United
States) needs an undistorted
60 Hertz (cycles-per-second)
sine wave with a strength of
between 110 and 120 volts. Distortions
in the electrical signal and
deviations in the voltage are
common and they cause electronic
equipment to malfunction ("hang")
or to ultimately fail.
The Subtle
Nature of Power Line Problems
If an unprotected
piece of electronic equipment
failed during a violent lightning
storm it would probably seem
obvious that the power line was
involved in the problem. What
is not obvious is how voltage
fluctuations and transient disruptions
in the 60 Hertz sine wave gradually
degrade electronic components.
Over time, unprotected electronic
equipment can fail due to the
cumulative effect of months or
years of sub-optimal power quality.
|
|
|
| |
Powerline
Voltage is Not Constant
Undervoltage: In
your home, when you turn on the vacuum
cleaner or when the air conditioner
starts you'll often notice a momentary
flicker in the lights. When the power
grid is heavily loaded in the summer
it's common to hear about "brownouts"
occurring. AC line voltage can fall
to below 100 volts (a drop of over
10%) in many cases. Low voltage can
cause equipment to malfunction or
"hang" requiring it to
be rebooted and restarted.
Overvoltage: The
power company tries to offset the
voltage drops that occur during times
of heavy usage by raising the voltage
at the sub-station, targeting the
desired consumer voltage based on
the load. When, during a peak usage
time, the actual end-user load momentarily
decreases the actual voltage can
increase by more than 10% to over
135 volts! Sustained over even a
few seconds this can be damaging
to electronic equipment.
Common
Mode Voltage: During a
severe storm wind damage can cause
tree branches (or entire trees)
to bring power lines down. Lightning
can disrupt the grid and secondary
pole transformers can explode in
a wild display of sparks and electrical
arching. All of this causes severe
electrical stress and potential
damage to unprotected electronic
equipment. A lightning strike within
5 miles of a site can change the
electrical potential of the ground
to a degree that causes a voltage
surge through the ground wire connections
that are otherwise meant to protect
electronic equipment. When the electrical
ground potential between two places
is sufficiently different to cause
a voltage surge back through equipment's
grounding connections it's referred
to as a "common mode voltage" problem.
Common mode voltage surges are extremely
damaging to electronic equipment.
Transients
("Spikes"): When
an electric motor powers on it
can introduce a momentary (perhaps
less than 1 ms) spike on the otherwise
regular 60 Hertz sine wave. These
instantaneous transient events, while
impacting perhaps only a single cycle
of the AC current, can exceed 600
volts (and have been measured above
5000 volts!). Examples of motors
that introduce transients include
heating and air conditioning fans,
vacuum cleaners and floor polishers,
appliances (washers, dryers, dishwashers,
commercial ice makers, vending
machines), floor fans and electric
space heaters with fans. Big, powerful
motors make big powerful spikes.
Small motors introduce smaller
levels of sine wave corruption.
Unprotected electronic equipment
is gradually assaulted by power line
transients resulting in ultimate
failure that is often not recognized
as being the result of power line
issues.
Noise: The
60 Hertz sine wave is intended to
be
"clean". If viewed on an
oscilloscope the undulating sine
wave form should be smooth. There
are a number of factors that cause
the sine wave to be distorted. Small
motors (table fans, electric shavers,
ventilation fans) and older toggle-style
light switches introduce small disruptions
in the AC cycle. Fluorescent lights
introduce conducted and radiated
emissions. A plasma that makes the
light in a Fluorescent bulb emits
RF energy at roughly 10 MHz. While
this isn't a factor relative to 2.4
GHz or 5 GHz wireless reception it
is a source of electrical disruption
in the electrical wires nearby. The
60 Hertz sine wave is now being impacted
by a 10 MHz electromagnetic field.
When a Fluorescent fixture uses a
"ballast" to deliver high
voltage to Fluorescent tubes the
ballast itself can introduce noise.
Newer CFL (compact Fluorescent lights)
save energy, in part, by drawing
current for only 2.6 milliseconds
out of every 8.33 millisecond AC
half-cycle (at 60 Hertz). While the
power consumption is reduced the
net effect is to introduce corruption
into the AC sine wave (since it's
only being called on to yield up
power for roughly 31% of each cycle.)
|
|
The
Value Proposition |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Power
and Surge Protection
Equipment and Software Details |
|
Power
and surge protection is provided
at a number of points in the overall
equipment infrastructure:
- Uninterruptible Power
Supply (UPS) Protection
- A standard UPS provides basic
noise and surge protection
as well as switching to battery
backup during a power outage
or over/under voltage condition.
Under normal operation, a standard
UPS presents conditioned line
voltage to the protected devices
and only switches to the battery
during a power failure. Some
level of noise and transient
voltage is able to get through
the UPS filters and the battery
power is typically a "square
wave" (as opposed to the desired
"sine wave") which, while suitable
for many applications, is not
a complete solution.
- A Line Isolation UPS completely
separates the AC power line
from the equipment. The equipment
is constantly powered by a
pure sine wave output from
the UPS and no noise or transient
line voltage can get through
to the protected equipment.
While slightly more expensive
than a standard UPS, a Line
Isolation UPS provides maximum
equipment protection and is
recommended, particularly in
industrial or rural environments
where power line noise or disruption
may be more common.
- Redundant UPS Transfer Switch
Protection
- To eliminate the single point-of-failure
that exists when core equipment
is connected through one UPS
in the wiring closet or rack,
a Transfer Switch can be used
to allow two separate UPS units
to provide hot-failover protection.
If the primary UPS completely
fails (due to age, manufacturer
defect, or other unexpected
reason) the Transfer Switch
automatically uses the backup
UPS and then sends a notification
to the support team for problem
resolution.
- Ethernet Surge Suppressor Protection
- A long run of Ethernet cable
acts like an antenna, picking
up electromagnetic energy from
the environment. Broadcast
radio and television, nearby
airport radar, vehicle communication
radios, power lines and other
sources of electromagnetic
interference (EMI) introduce
transient voltage into the
Ethernet cable itself. A lightning
storm within 5 miles will absolutely
introduce voltage into the
cable that is powerful enough
to immediately destroy the
Ethernet circuitry in the switch,
router or server to which the
cable is connected. An Ethernet
surge protector drains these
dangerous voltage spikes off
to the ground, protecting the
connected equipment. For very
long, outdoor Ethernet runs
(like those connecting a roof-mounted
radio to a switch in a wiring
closet) it's often advisable
to use two protectors: one
at the radio itself and a second
inside the building just ahead
of the switch, router or server.
Induced transient voltages
can travel up the cable to
the radio or down the cable
to the wiring closet so using
two Ethernet surge protectors
addresses both concerns.
- Cable Modem Surge Suppressor
Protection
- In the same way that electromagnetic
spikes can enter the wiring
closet through outdoor runs
of Ethernet cable, when coaxial
cable is used to connect a
cable modem (used as the Internet
connection) it, too, needs
protection. A Cable Modem Surge
Suppressor provides that protection.
- Power Cycle Equipment for Uptime
Assurance
- If, for any reason, a piece
of equipment stops responding
one of the first troubleshooting
steps is to reboot it. A Power
Cycle unit monitors the status
of a piece of equipment or
a wireless link and automatically
power cycles the equipment
it stops responding. This eliminates
the need for an on-site technician
to reboot the equipment and
greatly speeds up the recovery
from a problem if only a simply
reboot is needed.
|
EQUIPMENT FOR POWER AND
SURGE PROTECTION |
| |
|
780W Utility-Class
Unmanaged UPS [M22043] $199.00
|
|
| |
|
500W
Standard UPS with Remote Management
Option [D90891] $299.00
Connect802
recommends using this unit
with the Remote Management
Option to protect a wireless
LAN controller
and its associated
Ethernet switch and/or router
in environments where severe
power line problems are not
anticipated (i.e. office buildings,
hospitals, schools, etc.)
|
|
| |
|
Remote
Management Adapter for 500W UPS
(Above) $249.00
- For Web-based,
SSL, SSH, SNMP and Telnet
monitoring, management and
remote power-cycle capabilities
add the APC Remote Management
Adapter [BC3030] Requires Configuration
and Integration
|
|
| |
|
600W
Line Isolation UPS with Web
Remote Management Option [K63670] $399.00
Connect802 recommends using this unit with
the Remote Management Option
to protect a wireless LAN controller,
an access gateway and the associated
Ethernet switch and/or router
whenever maximum protection is
required or power line problems
may occur (i.e. marinas, military
bases, campgrounds, thunderstorm-prone
areas, etc.)
|
|
| |
|
Remote
Management Adapter for 600W Line
Isolation UPS (Above) $219.00
- For Web-based
(and SNMP)
remote monitoring, management
and remote power-cycle capabilities
add the Tripp Lite Remote
Management Adapter [F75582]
Requires Configuration and
Integration
|
|
| |
|
1050W
Line Isolation UPS with Full
TCP/IP Remote Management Option
[E77654] $979.00
|
|
| |
|
Remote
Management Adapter for 1050W
Line Isolation UPS (Above) $249.00
- For Web-based,
SSL, SSH, SNMP and Telnet monitoring,
management and remote power-cycle
capabilities add the APC Remote
Management Adapter [BC3030] Requires
Configuration and Integration
|
|
| |
|
Redundant
UPS Power Transfer Switch $595.00
Connect802 recommends the use
of two UPS power supplies and
this UPS Transfer Switch when
the failure of a single UPS power
supply would be a critical single
point-of-failure. If the primary
UPS fails the Transfer Switch
automatically begins sourcing
power from the secondary UPS
with seamless transfer time
|
|
| |
|
CAT5e/CAT6
Ethernet Lightning Surge Protector
[CAT6HPJW] $75.00
/ $65.00 2 or more
|
|
| |
|
Cable
Modem “Fail Safe” Surge
Suppressor [516350] $30.00
|
|
| |
|
NP02
Automatic Power Cycle / Reboot
Unit $210.00
|
|
|
| |
|
Targeted
Discussion
|
|
| You'll
find numerous Web references relating
to power and surge protection. Below
are some targeted discussions to
provide you with additional perspective. |
|
| |
|
