Thinking to get this UPS to protect the ONT box

[Phil2008]

So a few days ago the ONT box got fried somehow when I turned the electric on to the house.. The power and lan light lit up but the other green light was off. BT came and replaced the box, I was going to ask him if I could have a spare one but its not as easy as that is it, dammit.. So Ive came across this cheap UPS that will not just protect the box but will keep the phone and router working in a powercut for 30mins or so.. and and apparently its generator friendly, so it should play nice with my generator too.. Your thoughts?.

UT650EIG - Backup UPS Systems | CyberPower

CyberPower UT650EIG guarantees power protection for computers, networking equipment, and storage devices. The product adopts line-interactive topology with Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) function to offer stabilized AC power output. The patented GreenPower UPS™ Bypass design helps UPS...

www.cyberpower.com

 

[Meddling-Monk]

That's a fine unit to grab I would say.

You're not running anything that requires an actual sine wave output, so the simulated one will be fine most likely. It'll provide enough surge protection whilst also providing enough (for you I imagine hence why this was chosen) power in an outage.

The only thing is, its battery is not user replaceable, as in it's not really designed to make it easy for users to replace the battery and keep using it - once it's done (no longer functional) your only option would be to take it to recycling, as local waste is unsuitable for such a device. Whilst it's not super heavy coming in only at around 4-5KG, if you don't have a local recycling center that will take it, lugging it around to your nearest one might be the biggest issue down the line in the future (depending on your location and availability of transportation to reach there).

Otherwise, it looks OK.

 

[Phil2008]

Well apparently the battery is quite easy to change and with the UPS being plastic you have less chance of shorting the dam thing... Yeah its not a 10second job but it looks much easier then my £350 1800watt UPS to change that batteries that Ive just done btw

My PowerWalker 1800watt online UPS...... The 2 compartments are cool, 1 half contains the batteries as you can see in the pic and the other contains all the electrics. But the metal case doesnt help and the batt terminals face inside the case, so the batts are a real pain to connect when you cant really see or get to the terminals easy.

The CyberPower 360watt UPS.... That looks sooo much easier to replace the battery and theres only 1 battery to replace aswel.. But I did a search for that battery, but I couldnt find 1 online?

 

[Meddling-Monk]

It's because that battery is not available for consumer purchase I believe, their other products that have user swappable batteries specifically have those batteries for sale. I think you can purchase other ones to replace it with, but that's outside my ballpark of experience so I can't say which ones to replace with or how safe it'll be. I think we have some more experienced users on the forum about this topic though, and if they don't pop up here, you might want to drop a thread over by the PSU sub-forum to ask, as that's where I got info from for UPS last time also.

 

[Phil2008]

I wonder how many others use small UPS or some form of battery backup to keep the internet on during a powercut.. For me its been a bit of a downgrade with not being able to use the old copper phone line, because we rely on the landline as mobiles dont work where I live, so I dont have access to a phone if the net goes down or I have a powercut... Thats the worst thing about going full fibre, its like putting all your eggs in 1 basket scenario. It took BT 3 days to come and replace the ONT box, I just hope I dont get charge for the new box because its inside the house?

 

[Meddling-Monk]

I think it heavily depends on each user group and their reason for looking into UPS in the first place.

I personally wouldn't be impacted much by a power outage normally, since I can just use my mobile connection. And that could be shared with anyone in the household who might need it in such a situation. So under normal circumstances, not even I would have seriously looked for battery and protection for a hard line connection like FTTP for internet or VOIP.

However, since my parent had a medical issue last year, and I became a full time (unpaid) carer, I basically had to look for all sorts of backup options in case mobile connections go out or they get swamped when everyone starts using them; I've had o2 engineers accidentally cut a cable back in 2005/2006 that killed their o2 mobile for hours on end (not even emergency call access), at that point we had two mobiles with o2, and swore off from staying with just one provider from that point onwards to mitigate any chance of something like that happening again.

So I began looking into UPS backup in case mobiles aren't working (or get swamped), and of course, if the national grid ever ran into the threat of needing to do rolling blackouts. So, I went looking for something which could power the comms equipment at my parents place for 3+ hours. Thankfully was able to find the Cyberpower 1500va Sinewave UPS, which had a battery (swappable) just about big enough for just over 3 hours, so I'm no longer worried about rolling blackouts impacting my parents place either, nor surges burning anything out in the comms section (ONT/Modem, Router, Landline DECT Phone, VOIP box).

If anything, I'm more worried about how long our providers backup power will last if a rolling blackout hits our area. Ours is tested to last the 3 hours of blackout, but I'm unsure how much battery backup their local connection system has. So we might be up, but our connecting point to their network might not be up for all 3 hours.

But yeah, it wouldn't impact me and the extra expense for a large UPS that can outlast a rolling blackout for 3 hours would put me off from grabbing one. However, circumstances have pushed me into researching, considering and grabbing one. So, as said, it all depends on each user group and their reasons for looking for a UPS.

As for getting a replacement ONT, assuming it's not from something you obviously did to damage it, I would assume they would replace it for free. But no personal experience with that, so can't say for certain. Someone with more experience with BT FTTP might be able to offer you more accurate insight into the matter.

 

[Simon42]

I personally wouldn't be impacted much by a power outage normally, since I can just use my mobile connection

I looked into mobile operator backup and it appears many masts have none, and some others have anything from and hour up to 6 hours when new at least. This matches with my observation of some towers disappearing as soon as the power fails and the remainder becoming swamped in my area at least. A power cut may not cover all that area but it was a surprise that cellular has so little backup.

I am fortunate to have VM and OR based FTTP as well as 4G which I used before FTTP became available hence the tests above. The VM (coax) service dies the moment the power does and the OR FTTP one has managed for nearly an hour (longest power cut to date).

Lets hope we don't get any very long and wider ranging power outages in this country as it appears we would have serious issues with connectivity!

 

[Phil2008]

Its a shame that BT didnt provide there own way of powering the ONT boxes like with the old copper phone cables, as Im guessing it wouldnt be hard todo, putting a power cable alongside but in the fibre cable so to keep everything in 1 cable?

 

[Dangerous Dave]

I wouldn’t rely on the exchange or mobile mast having backup power during a power outage.

I’ve got my ONT and network kit on a UPS. The ONT lost its fibre connection 20mins ish after the power went off, the local mobile mast had no UPS and went off with the house power.

Luckily it was the first power cut in 10 years ish so hopefully not another one for a while.

 

[Meddling-Monk]

@Simon42 @Dangerous Dave

Yeah, I was aware that the exchanges wouldn't last long, but was hoping given our place is probably the ONLY household that's been kitted out with UPS for the comms equipment on the entire street (quiet residential, mostly retiree's, elderly or family who wouldn't be tech savvy or had the spare to invest into UPS), that the local exchange can last a little longer just serving our one unit that's remained on.

@Phil2008

I think the old system only worked precisely because of the copper being able to send the current down along it as well and everything in use was copper. But in the newer exchanges, because they're going fibre only for lines and being powered remotely at the exchanges, they only have the backup power/generator only to serve as power and recharge. If lines were included like the older system, they add additional maintenance costs for that specifically and also failure points of that system that costs more to maintain if anything goes wrong. So to cut costs for that, they skimped on it. Which is where we are at now.

 

[TheVoice]

Its a shame that BT didnt provide there own way of powering the ONT boxes like with the old copper phone cables, as Im guessing it wouldnt be hard todo, putting a power cable alongside but in the fibre cable so to keep everything in 1 cable?

It's a lot of extra work and expense when they're installing the ONT to premises which will have power anyway.

 

[the-evaluator]

Its a shame that BT didnt provide there own way of powering the ONT boxes like with the old copper phone cables, as Im guessing it wouldnt be hard todo, putting a power cable alongside but in the fibre cable so to keep everything in 1 cable?

Openreach branded ONT's were originally installed into a larger housing that included a battery backup. They were phased out back in 2019.

Putting an additional cable in the duct to your house would be easy. The challenge is that the technology that Openreach FTTP is delivered over is called GPON - Gigabit Passive Optical Network. The key word there is passive, meaning that the box your fibre connects (either under a manhole cover or up a telegraph pole) to is unpowered so it's highly unlikely that there's a power supply that this extra cable could connect to.