Advice on grounding dataline surge protector

[97tbird]

So, since my router and all things connected to it got fried I've been thinking of adding some dataline protection, at least between the router and the modem.
First I thought of getting a UPS and using the ethernet in/out jacks in the back of it for this (so that the ethernet path between router and modem is protected by the UPS) but I've read reviews where this dropped the internet speed a lot. Also, it seems all USPs have some sort of trouble and are hard to return etc.

So I thought of in-line ethernet data line protection and came across these dongles which MOST reviews on amazon say did NOT downgrade speed. See the pic below:

As you can see, there's a tiny GROUNDING wire, and it isn't really clear to me how to ground this indoors.
Most reviews say just attach it the holding screw of a wall outlet cover. Easy enough - but is that considered a real grounding location?
Some said just open an outlet and use the GROUNDING LOCATION inside the panel - what is that? The screw INSIDE the receptacle that the bare copper ground wire attaches to?
IF SO, is it okay to attach this grounding wire to it ON TOP of the already existing ground wire?

Attaching this wire to the wall plate holding screw seems really easy but I just wanted to double check before I do it. Weirdly the google did NOT help much at all to the query "Can I use the wall receptacle mounting screw as a place to ground something?"

Thanks in advance!

 

[eljefino]

Both options will work.

 

[alarmguy]

Well, first you would need to check and make sure the electric outlet has a ground wire connected to it, you can also buy an outlet tester in a Home Improvement store to make sure it working, then if you decide to go that route, use a bare unpainted screw to secure it, or sand it so no paint.
Im not an electrician but know enough that this is what I would do if it was me.

 

[jhellwig]

What caused the surge? What type of internet connection do you have?

 

[Lubener]

Many newer homes have plastic workboxes and the outlet mounting screw may not cut it either. Older homes do not have a ground wire on the outlet. If you have a bare wire connected to the green screw in your outlet box, I would put a small notch on your wall plate, run your grounding wire in and connect your spade lug directly to the green screw on the outlet with your grounding conductor. Make sure you trip your breaker first before opening the outlet. That's a nice unit, how much did you pay?

 

[cpayne5]

My cable (Comcast) comes into my basement and all my equipment sits right next to my breaker panels. I ran a wire from my ethernet surge protectors straight to the panel grounds which go straight outside to my ground rod.

I use APC ethernet surge protectors. https://www.amazon.com/APC-PNET1GB-ProtectNet-Standalone-Protector/dp/B000BKUSS8

I also have multiple coax surge suppressors and DC blocks on any coax line that enters my house from outside. I lost a couple of devices three years ago and I put all of this equipment in place (I also installed a whole home surge protector in each panel - my house has two 200 amp panels) after that event. The only thing I've lost since then is one of the inline coax suppressors.

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted by Lubener
Many newer homes have plastic workboxes and the outlet mounting screw may not cut it either. Older homes do not have a ground wire on the outlet. If you have a bare wire connected to the green screw in your outlet box, I would put a small notch on your wall plate, run your grounding wire in and connect your spade lug directly to the green screw on the outlet with your grounding conductor. Make sure you trip your breaker first before opening the outlet. That's a nice unit, how much did you pay?


If the receptacle has 1 hot , 1 neutral and an earth ground to it & the ground wire is terminated at the green screw , the receptacle should be properly grounded . If it is properly grounded at the panel & there is / are no problems between the panel & the receptacle .

If all that is good , the threaded hole where the cover plate screw threads into should also be grounded . As has been stated , a metal screw ( plastic screws are / were sometimes used , for some locations , at least in the past ) should work as an attachment point for the ground pigtail on your device .

If the cable feeding the receptacle does not have an earth ground , then you will have to do some re-wiring .

As has been stated , a whole house surge suppressor is not a bad idea . I installed one after loosing the motherboard on a mini split condenser during a storm .

Best of luck to you ,

 

[alarmguy]

Its good to properly ground anything that is supposed to be grounded so dont misread my post, but its not the end all to good.
Many, many devices are destroyed by surges coming in the ground line, IF, IF its a nearby lighting strike.

More or less, for surges, all is good, nearby lighting, all bets off, a surge can come through any line possibly more through a ground with lightening.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by jhellwig
What caused the surge?
Based on OP's previous thread, it was a lightning that struck a nearby tree.

In such case, as impractical as it may sound, I think the best thing to do is to disconnect all cables and wires attached to the equipment.

http://stormhighway.com/surge_protectors_ups_lightning_protection_myth.php

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted by WyrTwister
Originally Posted by Lubener
Many newer homes have plastic workboxes and the outlet mounting screw may not cut it either. Older homes do not have a ground wire on the outlet. If you have a bare wire connected to the green screw in your outlet box, I would put a small notch on your wall plate, run your grounding wire in and connect your spade lug directly to the green screw on the outlet with your grounding conductor. Make sure you trip your breaker first before opening the outlet. That's a nice unit, how much did you pay?


If the receptacle has 1 hot , 1 neutral and an earth ground to it & the ground wire is terminated at the green screw , the receptacle should be properly grounded . If it is properly grounded at the panel & there is / are no problems between the panel & the receptacle .

If all that is good , the threaded hole where the cover plate screw threads into should also be grounded . As has been stated , a metal screw ( plastic screws are / were sometimes used , for some locations , at least in the past ) should work as an attachment point for the ground pigtail on your device .

If the cable feeding the receptacle does not have an earth ground , then you will have to do some re-wiring .

As has been stated , a whole house surge suppressor is not a bad idea . I installed one after loosing the motherboard on a mini split condenser during a storm .

Best of luck to you ,


The cover plate screw is not the best place to attach. Most wall plates are plastic and the screws are painted to match the cover plate. To do it right you would need to change those out to metal. If he has a two wire setup, he could run a green wire from a cold water pipe into the electrical outlet box.

 

[97tbird]

Thanks to all who replied, and sorry for the late response - work has been crazy.

First, answers to some questions you guys asked:
- we have a cable modem via Spectrum/Charter.
- that inline dongle costs about $25 and supposed to be 10/100/1000 compatible - at least MOST reviews said no drop in internet speed.
- it was a lightening strike next to our house, and a tree in yard got hit: It took out router and things connected to it via ethernet cables: port panel on modem, ethernet port on laptop, Roku. (so lucky i had the TV on wifi, due to being able to stream Youtube videos from my iphone; i did have the tv also hardwired to router a long time ago).
Rest of the modem was unaffected; just the ports were dead; router wouldn't even power on though - same with Roku.
Everything was connected to a good surge protector: all other electronics are fine; only the things that were connected to the router were affected. Modem was replaced for free by Spectrum.
Bought a new router (Asus RT-AC 66U - B1 version) = same as AC68U with the new Broadcom chipset.

No HDMI port damage to TV via Roku either. But this is something I never thought of - apparently there are dongles that surge protect HDMI connections too.
The Roku which got fried via ethernet cable to router, was connected to TV via HDMI... got lucky I guess.

Will replace Roku soon with a Roku Uptra (probably - Amazon fire tv cube with Alexa is tempting too, esp with its ability control other electronics....)

The lightening strike also took out sprinkler control panel, and the alarm system panel. We rent, so we cannot modify wiring and install whole house surge protector etc.
-------------------------------------------------

Topic continued:

So I didn't open the cover of the outlet yet - but they're all PLASTIC in our house. I will prob get a metal one and use the middle screw for grounding. I will also make sure that it is indeed a grounded outlet with a bare copper cable running to the ground terminal. (Will post pics when i open it up; it's at a hard to reach place behind a zillion cables from my a/v system and cabinet).
I do like the idea of connecting it to the INTERNAL ground screw along with the existing ground wire, but then I can't make a notch on a metal plate to route the grounding pigtail out from beneath the cover plate...
BUT I guess If I am grounding internally i can keep the plastic cover and make a notch easier....

However, getting a metal cover plate and connecting to the cover screw sounds much easier, and several of you said that should be good enough, provided that the screw is not painted (new one should come with plate cover), and that the cover plate is metal, RIIIIIIGHT? So that's what I am leaning towards right now.

Cable modem line was fine (So I am assuming whatever protection Spectrum has OUTside of house was enough - I am not gonna worry about surge protecting the cable modem line IN the house - I know there are inline cable line surge protectors but I am going to leave it alone for now, unless the UPS I am planning to buy for just modem/router has good cable in/out connections that does NOT affect speed) :

And then, provided i see no loss in internet speed with the inline ethernet dongle (it will be between router and modem), I might just secure the router and modem only with a SMALL battery back-up UPS so we have time to finish whatever internet related stuff we were doing if something takes the power out. Because I only intend to backu-up protect modem and router I am not going for a full on big UPS, which ALL seem to have noise problems and they can't be returned on amazon. Haven't decided which one I am going to buy yet, but something that has enough juice to keep power to modem+router for a few minutes should be fine. As the existing surge protector did the job well (I think router was DIRECTLY affected by lightening and not due to a surge only, hence that one got damaged; and the modem was fine except the port panel, and same with roku, and all those were wired to router) I will keep using it for other electronics.