Not what I meant by "Broadband is like Lightning!"

[major_clanger]

There's a old joke amongst electronics engineers that if you have a 10p fuse in the power line to a £10k widget, the widget will blow first to protect the fuse.

It's true.

Last night I was half-woken by the noise of a very intense thunderstorm. I half-dozed for a bit, thinking actually, yes, the sound of rain is quite relaxing, but isn't there something I should do during a thunderstorm? At this point there was a brilliant flash and immediate loud bang, which jolted me fully awake - not to mention alert enough to remember ...like disconnect my computer. The power connections are on a surge isolator, but not the phone line.

As I got out of bed I noticed that my iBook had just been jolted out of sleep mode, which was rather worrying in itself. I logged back in (I usually leave it on password protect) and found that it seemed to be working fine, but that I had no broadband. On checking my ADSL router I saw that I did have an ADSL signal (which was good) but that the LED for the LAN port the iBook was plugged in to was blinking slowly.

I'd not seen it do that before. This was not good.

I disconnected everything and tried to get back to sleep (not easy with a top-grade thunderstorm going on outside). After breakfast I took the iBook down to a communal internet PC and tried plugging it into its ADSL modem, which showed no LAN signal at all. By now I had a nasty idea where the problem lay, but to confirm it I borrowed a laptop from work over lunch and plugged that into my router. Yep, good LAN signal and broadband working fine.

Evidently, the surge went right through my router without causing any damage but then took out the iBook's ethernet port. Everything else on the iBook is fine, including the internal modem which I've now reverted to using via my old Cix dial-up account. But seeing as this is an iBook (only one ethernet port!) broadband is out for now.

The obvious step is to try to get it repaired. In theory I have extended warranty (well, I'm still in the initial cover) but apparently Apple can be rather sticky about repairing damage caused by lightning. Having said that, I suspect any exclusion is for the case where they get presented with a smoking chassis; seeing as it's just the ethernet port on the blink I'll put it in and see what they say. If Apple do insist on charging for repair (and that might be very expensive, given that ethernet is probably integrated on the mainboard) then I'll look at whether or not my contents insurance covers accidental damage - I think it does, but I'll have to check.

The alternative is to just not use wired ethernet and either replace my router with a wireless version like we have at home in Cambridge, or get an access point like an Airport Express. (I presume my Airport is still working, although I won't be able to check until the weekend). At least that way I ought to be reasonably safe from lightning!

MC

Comments

[autopope.livejournal.com]

Airport Extreme or Airport Express will both do the job, and can be configured wirelessly. (The Express is particularly nifty because of its audio-streaming ability ...) You can also use something boring but cheaper from Belkin or Netgear. Note, however, that a lightning strike that takes out an Airport is unlikely to prove cheaper to resolve than a lightning strike that takes out an iBook's ethernet port!

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

Greater love hath no iBook...

(and I'd go wireless, too - and would add Linksys to Charlie's list)

[blufive.livejournal.com]

If Apple do insist on charging for repair (...) then I'll look at whether or not my contents insurance covers accidental damage - I think it does, but I'll have to check.

Since Charlie and Simon already have the computer-geek angle covered, I'll put on my other professional hat: Unless your insurers are ludicrous tightwads, lightning damage will be covered by the standard contents policy, and an accidental damage extension shouldn't be necessary.

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

I've had good experience with Apple support and warranties. I am told that the way they define 'accidental damage' for portables is by case damage. If the case is broke, then you dropped it and its your fault, if not, then it'll be on warranty.

And anyway, you might have slept through the storm (I slept through the '87 London hurricane!) and it would just seem to be a flawed part. How are you or they to know that it was in fact the lightening?

WHS

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

it would just seem to be a flawed part. How are you or they to know that it was in fact the lightening?

exactly. Just tell them that the lan port seems to have stopped working and you want it fixed.

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

I once blew a modem in a distant thunderstorm. You can get surge protectors for telephone lines, but I wonder what they do to ADSL signals.