I'm curious if anyone plugs their FiOS coax into a surge protector and if so which brand and model. I imagine it would have to be rated for 1 GHz frequencies as is the case for splitters but most surge protectors don't advertise this. Thanks.

@fifor wrote:I'm curious if anyone plugs their FiOS coax into a surge protector and if so which brand and model. I imagine it would have to be rated for 1 GHz frequencies as is the case for splitters but most surge protectors don't advertise this. Thanks....

Correct ... the installer would "disconnect" the coax from the ONT (on the customer side of the ONT) and connect their source coax to your apartment feed instead.In the case of my home, I have an external ONT installation ... the coax from my house comes out thru a hole in the side of my garage and goes into the customer side of the ONT where it attaches to the coax connection. Prior to that installation (or if I were to ever switch back to Comcast), the Comcast installer would come out and disconnect that cable from the ONT customer port and connect it to the old piece of coax which is presently coming up out of the ground and is anchored to a ground rod right below the electric meter and which runs back to their little box down the street.

By definition ... the Coax which feeds your FiOS installation is isolated from anything which the Comcast folks are using. The two systems can not co-exist on the same cable plant.

You really shouldn't need a surge protector on FiOS coax. It isn't connected to any external power source, or is it exposed to lightning, or live power lines.. The Coaxial Cable run is from the ONT (which is grounded) to the splitters to STB's and the Router. It would take a catastrophic malfunction of any of those devices to put significant energy into the coax. By contrast your normal Cable provider has long coax runs outside the house, that are subject to both lightning strikes and other events that could put substantial energy into the coax, in fact many cable company distribution systems actually use the Coax to carry power to the distribution amplifiers.As others have pointed out, unless the surge protector can support the FiOS bandwidth (basically 0-1200Mhz, it may cause bad things to happen to your FiOS service, without significant benefit since there really aren't any potential surge 'sources' within the FiOS cabling.

Just curious if you got the information you need? The 2012 storm season is just around the corner! FYI - Tripp Lite does have a couple A/V surge protection devices which claim to pass bandwidth to 2.2 Ghz. I have no way to test this but have ordered one for my FiOS installation and will post here what my experience is. I do recommend you install a coax protector anytime you are uncertain of the route or exposure in your coax feed, IF you can find one that is cost effective and will not negatively impact performance. I am not endorsing Tripp Lite at this point and have no financial interest in them, just input for your consideration. I'll let you know how I make out.

Thanks for your confirmation on this. It was just something I thought of while shopping for a new surge protector.

Okay that makes sense. Thanks for your help!

Interesting....so you're saying if we decided to switch to Comcast, some physical switch-over would have to take place on the cable lines inside or outside the building? Simplying disabling the ONT and signing up for Comcast wouldn't do it? In that case what you say about the ONT and fiber makes sense and it would seem coax surge protection indeed wouldn't be necessary.

Thanks. The ONT is inside. However, you can also get Comcast cable in this apartment building. Doesn't that mean our coax lines hook up directly to the outside world somewhere, or was that disconnected/switched to the ONT when FiOS was installed?

Surge protector for FiOS coax

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HI,

Great discussion. What about the copper coax tinside house from Verion equipment to devices. Is that not subj.ect to lightning and therfor requires protection?

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