Do you have to unplug a cable modem during a lightning storm? OR is it safe to leave internet on?
362774
the internet carriers will tell you lightning could fry your modem. personally it's worth the cost of a new one to save the inconvenience of turning everything off during a storm, for all the likelihood that lightning will strike my house.\n\nsigh hope i didn't jinx myself.....
893111
no it is not harmfull however if lightning stikes at your house or a neighbours your electricity will surge therefore damaging everything that is pluged into an electrical socket. \n\nit is not harmful if nothing near you gets struck by lightning!
796022
if you plug it in, and it goes online, you're online. you don't install broadband, you just pay the subscription and surf away!
1132815
This is taken from an article I used with my earth science students.\n\nOver 1,000 people get struck by lightning every year in the United States, and over 100 of them die as a result of the strike. Lightning is not something to toy with. \nIf you are caught outside in a storm, always look for appropriate shelter. Do not take any chances -- lightning can use you as a path to the earth just as easily as it can use any other object. Appropriate shelter would be a building or a car. If you do not have anywhere to go, then you should avoid taking shelter under trees. Trees attract lightning. Put your feet as close together as possible and crouch down with your head as low as possible without touching the ground. \n\nNever lay down on the ground. After lightning strikes the ground, there is an electric potential that radiates outward from the point of contact. If your body is in this area, current can flow through you. You never want the current to have the ability to pass through your body. This could cause cardiac arrest, not to mention other organ damage and burns. By making your body as low to the ground as possible and minimizing the amount of your body in contact with the ground, you can lower the possibility of a lightning-related injury. If a strike were to occur near you, the current would have a much more difficult time flowing through your body in this position. \n\nIf you are indoors, stay off the phone. If you must call someone, use a cordless phone or cell phone. If lightning strikes the phone line, the strike will travel to every phone on the line (and potentially to you if you are holding the phone). \n\nStay away from plumbing pipes (bath tub, shower). Lightning has the ability to strike a house or near a house and impart an electrical charge to the metal pipes used for plumbing. This threat is not as great as it used to be, because PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is often used for indoor plumbing these days. If you are not sure what your pipes are made of, wait it out.\n\nA couple of misconceptions:\nRubber tires keep you safe in a car because they do not conduct electricity.\nNope. In strong electric fields, rubber tires actually become more conductive than insulating. The reason you are safe in a car is because the lightning will travel around the surface of the vehicle and then go to ground. This occurs because the vehicle acts like a Faraday cage. Michael Faraday, a British physicist, discovered that a metal cage would shield objects within the cage when a high potential discharge hit the cage. The metal, being a good conductor, would direct the current around the objects and discharge it safely to the ground. This process of shielding is widely used today to protect the electrostatic sensitive integrated circuits in the electronics world. \n\nThe tallest objects in a storm always get struck by lightning.\nIt's true that taller objects are closer to the clouds, but as discussed previously, lightning can strike the ground at a close distance to a tall object. Taller objects may have a higher possibility of a strike, but where lightning is concerned, the strike path is not predictable.
10241
Skyscrapers are prone to lightning strikes that could cause damage if not safely conducted to ground.  The mast on the Empire State Building in NYC is apt to be struck more than once in a single storm.  The grounding system must be operable at all times therefore it is unlikely that the lightning that is grounded could be put to useful work.  Also, the lightning voltage is highly variable and may be as strong as 6,000 Volts.  Electric charge dissipated to ground on a clear day would also be lost.  Incidentally, the sky may have both positive and negatively charged clouds since lightning strikes from cloud-to-cloud are common.  Charge is a relative thing.  Airplanes are also struck while passing between clouds and must be able to conduct electrical surges across movable airfoils to avoid welding hinges in a fixed position.  Conducting cables or straps are used in some applications.\n\nAdded 12/21/05.  Actually atmospheric charge does cause a current to ground and also along a power transmission line, especially as a result of sunspots and ionization of air.  An electrical engineer buddy told me that it was a great nusiance affecting global communication by cable and causing power grid outages.  I imagine that the power could be arrested and utilized but is not cost effective or steady enough to count on.  Still someone may find a way.  As you say it is free although the equipment may be costly.  Good luck.
708052
It is very dangerous to work on a computer monitor at home !!!they will not blow up, but if you touch the wrong part, you can be electrocuted as it stores a charge even after unplugged for a long time, and can still give out a blast of 600 volts for a long time after its unplugged, believe me dont do it, I've seen what it can do in technical college!!
350368
A corded phone is more dangerous because if lightning strikes the telephone wire outside, the electricity could travel through the telephone wire then to your telephone's cord which is attached to the part of the phone you are holding. Thus, the electric current travels right into you! However, with a cordless phone there is not a direct path to you when lightning strikes the telephone wire outside.\n\n(If your telephone wires are buried and not in the air, then you're OK either way. Also, there is a way to properly ground aerial wires to protect against lightning surges.)
237908
In you control box there is a timer you will have to reset it so you will not be disconnected from the internet. But if you have a online service (like aol) you will have to take that off of your laptop first couse aol. will disconnect you from the internet.I had the same thing happen to me and I had to drop aol, and just go with my dsl.
1152151
Plug all your computer equipment into a surge protective power bar...although very rare...it is known to happen\n\nBut to keep your system running should the power go out...install a generator to your power fuse panel.
728572
Kerala, New York, or Madrid...\n\nYou should turn off all electrical appliances during a thunderstorm and disconnect your computer and its components to avoid possible damage to them.
923031
very, i lost everything in my computer once because of lightning. if you're sure to unplug your computer whenever theres a storm coming, you should be alright
399475
it doesn't seem normal.  I always unplug my computer during lightening storms and never have any problems.
6038
It depends on what you were doing before you switched off. If you were logged on to the Internet you will be automatically logged off by your ISP. Your hard disk could get damaged. However, I have seen that in most cases people escape without any damage.  But it is not a good practice. Also, next time you log on the computer will go through a thorough check which will prolong your boot up.
5816
I would recommend not.  Two years ago, my Sony Vaio's telephone modem suddenly stopped working during a lightning storm.  The lights hadn't dimmed or anything, so I thought it was just a glitch.  The technician said that just because the power supply was protected by a surge protector, the phone line (which was not plugged into a surge protector) experienced a surge when a telephone box blew a few blocks away (it was a bad storm, but I just had to check my email).  The surge wouldn't have hurt someone on a normal phone, but was just enough to disrupt my delicate computer.  So unless its urgent, or you can work off the power grid (like a laptop), I'd just leave the computer turned off in a storm.
77858
First check the cable ends (connectors) to see if they are in good shape. Sometimes power outages might damage electric devices overtime. When no connection is available, does the modem show any signs of problems, like red lights or no sevice.
732033
If you dont have a lightning protector,most probably your modem has been damaged.You can verify by checking to see if the light on your modem where it says LAN is on or not.If the light is off,it means the modem has been damaged and you need to call your ISP.I have gone through the same problem twice but since i have a 1 year contract with my ISP,they have to replace my modem,at their cost.
285914
You need to unplug the cable modem power for 30 seconds and plug it back in to let it reset after you change computers.  I just found that out from trial and error, while I was hooking up to my laptop.  On the laptop I had to restart the computer also, but on the desktop I didn't have to.  I think I am going to buy a wireless router next.