UPS for Modem and Router

My internet keeps dropping out, and I think it may be due to unclean power. Therefore I was looking at this UPS simply because it's $30. I figure a low-powered UPS would be fine for a modem and router, right? But, is 'Cyberpower' a decent brand? Bestbuy reviews don't like them as much as APC, but I don't think I should rely on those reviews too much...

Also, will this be a simple plug-n-play deal, or do I have to connect it to a PC to set things up? I've never used a UPS before.

A fairly light load, any UPS should do, however, it sounds like you need a power
conditioner. A UPS generally won't clean up noisy power, as the unit is in standby
so long as AC is available.

By unclean I meant I occasionally get brown outs, thus making my internet drop out (which is a pain while playing games). I thought a UPS would help out in a situation like this?

bz2klag said:

A fairly light load, any UPS should do, however, it sounds like you need a power
conditioner. A UPS generally won't clean up noisy power, as the unit is in standby
so long as AC is available.

Click to expand...

Depends on the UPS. Most newer/quality UPS's will switch to battery if it sees a drop in power. That is sort of the point of them. However, I do recognize he said "unclean" instead of "brown out" initially.

neonblingbling said:

By unclean I meant I occasionally get brown outs, thus making my internet drop out (which is a pain while playing games). I thought a UPS would help out in a situation like this?

Click to expand...

You'll only know the answer to this question, but if the brown out effects where the cable is coming from your ISP, a router with full power won't help a darn thing if you have no source of internet anyway. You need power to generate a signal to send through the cable. If there is no power at the source, your router/modem has nothing to work with. It is still of course, safer for your components

most ups are cheap sine wave which wont matter because ur modem and router use diodes to convert the a/c to dc.

they generally monitor the mains voltage and frequency. if any goes out of spec it drops the mains and switches on the inverter.

any ups should be fine.

Sorry using the term 'unclean' improperly; I though it covers all the bases of 'when power is not the normal 120v alternating current' or something along those lines, meaning brownouts (lack of voltage) would fall under it. Could someone clarify?

Also, I believe my ISP isn't encountering brownouts, so I'm hoping this will eliminate my dropping. If not, they'll be getting a call from me.

I was curious about the brand 'Cyberpower' just because it has sub-par reviews, and are noticeably cheaper than APC.

Lastly, do I need to 'program' a UPS via computer, or is it plug n play?

I picked up one of these about 6 months ago, bit pricey I imagine but had been putting a lot of HD's into my second RAID array, etc and various things and wanted to try something that was a bit more solid.

Has been working very well here.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101067

haha, a bit pricey for just a modem and router, considering shipping is $100 to Hawaii.

Well, I'm going to hop on the deal before it sells out locally. Figure can always return it if someone raises a red flag.

Ah, I kinda missed the Hawaii thing to begin with I used to live there in the 80's

For some reason, the local sale was $32.99, although it was $29.99 online. I take it to the checkout, tell them about the price difference, got it verified, and paid the online price.

And it seems to work! A couple times last night my lights flickered and I could hear the click from the UPS (sounded like a big relay?) and my internet didn't drop! Success!

Thanks all for the help. I also wouldn't mind if someone else has things to say.

Hafa Adai, Neon

Cyberpower is actually pretty decent. Our power situation in the CNMI is incredibly bad, and their units outlast all others*, including APC. This is day-in, day-out use with blackouts, brownouts, huge spikes and slow-death run-downs over a period of years.

While the 425VA does not provide Automatic Voltage Regulation, it does provide protection against power surges as well as voltage drops, so for a router and modem, you're in great shape. (I use the same unit for my laptop/monitor/docking station in one of our remote offices and it does a great job).

*Our file server and main workstation both run on a single 1500AVR (an upper-end unit) that's over 5 years old. It will still power both rigs for over half an hour, using the original batteries. We currently have nearly 200 Cyberpower AVR-series units in the field.

Mahalo, Hafa, for your experience. It sounds like you have (involuntarily) tested your UPSes, and know they work. I feel much more confident in my purchase.

HECO power is pretty good where I live, haven't have much problems since that earthquake blackout a couple years back. Unless you live on another island, then I guess that would explain it.

I been meaning to buy a massive UPS off of Amazon. They honor the free shipping to Hawaii. I'm sure it really eats into their profits when they have to bump it up to 2day air. But that is why I'm a valued Amazon customer. They got small APCs too.

We had that outage the day after christmas...


But I think it's an issue within my house. :/ Hate to cover up a bigger problem, but...