Child Item

Site Totals

61434 Questions Answered 270 Categories

UPS for ONT to keep internet alive

We have had a few power outages, and I have our entire network on battery backup, but this doesn't do me any good since the ONT in the garage cuts off the internet when the power is out. I'd rather the phoneline go out than the internet honestly.

Anyways, have any of you attached an APC UPS (or similar product) to the ONT so that in the even for a power failure it will maintain all functionality?

I also ran accross this blog which seems interesting, he re-wired the included battery to power the whole unit

click link

From what I see the ONT uses only 40W of power, so I might pickup a 700-1000VA unit for it, or maybe just replace the battery in a slightly older 1500VA unit I have from APC.

What do you guys think?

Thanks,

-Phil

Comments

Justin46

I have not used a UPS to power the ONT, we have had very few power outages for quite a few years now, but I know from threads here and at dslreports.com that others have successfully used a UPS. However, since your ONT is in the garage near your cars, I think you have another option or two:

1) Buy an inexpensive power inverter to convert the 12V DC to AC and use the battery in your car or a separate 12V batter to power the ONT. An example that should provide plenty of power:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/XOVision-XO440-XO-Vision-DC-to-AC-300W-Power-Inverter/17057038

2) If your car or truck has an built-in AC outlet you should be able to use that instead of a separate inverter. My Honda pickup does have one in the center console, if we have a power outage and I really want to use the internet I plan to try that with an extension code, should work.

3) Just buy a 12V battery (probably a deep cycle marine battery would last the longest) and use some jumper cables to connect it to the battery cables inside the battery compartment of the ONT. The downside to this option is that you also probably need a trickle charger to keep the battery charged.

I think it is a really bad idea to do anything that modifies the BBU. You don't own it, Verizon does, and if you break something they will probably want you to pay for it.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9.1
Keller, TX 76248

PhilBr

Justin, thanks for the reply.

The reason I'd like a UPS in there is to that I don't have to run in the garage everytime there's an interruption (although you're right, those are not very frequent.)

Hooking up a large 12v to the existing connectors as you suggest in your 3rd item wouldn't help me much because as I understand it, that only powers the voice portion right?

Also, regarding inverters if I go that option, do I need to get a nice sin wave inverter (a good bit more money) or the cheapo square wave type inverters are ok?

Justin46

@PhilBr wrote:
Justin, thanks for the reply.
The reason I'd like a UPS in there is to that I don't have to run in the garage everytime there's an interruption (although you're right, those are not very frequent.)
Hooking up a large 12v to the existing connectors as you suggest in your 3rd item wouldn't help me much because as I understand it, that only powers the voice portion right?
Also, regarding inverters if I go that option, do I need to get a nice sin wave inverter (a good bit more money) or the cheapo square wave type inverters are ok?

Oh, I agree, the UPS is a good solution. But it costs money, a really good one that will power the ONT for 10 or 15 hours or longer is going to cost a pretty penny. Plus you need the space to put the UPS, and remember that the typical garage is a pretty dirty place, I don't think putting one on the floor would be a good idea. For me, I would want to put it up on a shelf, but where my BBU and its little power supply are located there are currently no shelves, and no real space to put any that would be strong enough to hold a pretty heavy UPS.

You are right, the pure battery solution would only provide extended phone service, sorry....

Since I have never tried the inverter solution I really don't know if the BBU power supply would be adversely affected by the waveform of an inexpensive inverter. I would hope not, but I have no idea. My current thinking is that, if we get what appears is going to be an extended power outage, I will then try the AC connection from the inverter built into my truck and see what happens. I do have the rest of my network on UPSes, but that is primarily to protect them from surges and short power outages.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9.1
Keller, TX 76248

22Becca22

@PhilBr wrote:
We have had a few power outages, and I have our entire network on battery backup, but this doesn't do me any good since the ONT in the garage cuts off the internet when the power is out. I'd rather the phoneline go out than the internet honestly.
Anyways, have any of you attached an APC UPS (or similar product) to the ONT so that in the even for a power failure it will maintain all functionality?
I also ran accross this blog which seems interesting, he re-wired the included battery to power the whole unit
click link
From what I see the ONT uses only 40W of power, so I might pickup a 700-1000VA unit for it, or maybe just replace the battery in a slightly older 1500VA unit I have from APC.
What do you guys think?
Thanks,
-Phil

Hello,

Please see the following threads for added insights on using a UPS vs generator vs alternative power supply for the ONT:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r25766751-Detailed-questions-about-battery-backup-for-ONT

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-Issues/Battery-back-up-usage-during-a-power-outage/td-p/496351 -- read entire thread (3 pages)

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r24029966-Need-an-uninterruptible-power-supply

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r27682242-Alternative-power-supply-for-ONT

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r27673104-How-to-select-a-UPS-

Hope this helps!

PhilBr

Thanks that was quite useful, the only thing I'm still not sure of is if the UPS grade i have now is sufficient.

I have 3x1500va units, one is this:

apc bx1500g

another is

xs1500LCD (this would likely be the one going in the garage for the ONT

and I have an older

BX1500 (this one needs a new battery but no big deal)

All these are approximate step sinewaves, the one guy on the forum there recommends and has the 'smart' one that have a real sinewave output, and I was wondering if I needed that. They are a lot more money a 750VA sine wave is over $300, where as this 1500VA unit is maybe $189 depending where you shop.

Same storywith the marine battery, I'd have to get an inverter there, and the price for a sinewave vs an approximated stepped signwave is pretty significant.

a 300Watts sinewave inverter is roughly $140 and a marine battery is roughly $100 (plus I'd need a trickle charger) but the thing I like about the APC stuff is I could get a little display with runtime and all that info. The benefit of getting an inverter is I could use it in the car on trip, but it would take up a lot more space in the garage and I'd have to run over and switch it manually.

so any feedback on needing the sinewave APC product or are the cheaper ones like i havesufficient?

thanks again

PhilBr

I wanted to follow up for anyone interested.

I have the XS1500LCD in the garage now. The battery is on it's way out, but I can confirm that it will hold the ONT alive, TV and internet traffice will continue while the UPS is active as the only power source. I have disconnected the battery inside the ONT to make sure it wasn't supplying power. The ONT also doesn't use much power at all 6W or so if I remember correctly.

Browserson

So how has this worked for you? I live in an area with frequent but short (max 2 hours) power cuts, and it seems to me the best solution is to connect the ONT to a UPS. Have you had any problem using the approximate sine wave supply? Thanks.

Child Item