Belkin Surgemaster Surge Protector - We Unfortunately Found Out How Much We Need It!
Pros:
easy to use and set up, indicator lights, six outlets, wall mounted
Cons:
can't tell for sure if it's working till we get hit by lightning
The Bottom Line:
If you need peace of mind about your electronic devices and phone lines, this home series surge protector is a great option at a great price.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
A fierce lightning storm blew out the power supply in one computer and the modems in two others a few weeks back. The one with the power supply issues wasn’t on a surge protector at all (in the residence of one person I work for) and the other two machines were on UPS for the electric only, not the phone lines.
Having learned our lesson the hard way, I immediately went out and purchased Belkin Surgemaster Surge Protector. The office is small and my main concern was the phone lines since we already had UPS for the computers. With that in mind, I purchased this Protector with the primary focus being protecting the incoming telephone lines. We didn’t have to spend a fortune on a high-end Protector since we already had the computers plugged into a UPS with a good protection system.
The Belkin Surgemaster Surge Protector is labeled as being part of the Home Series good for Entry-Level Computers (up to 1Ghz - Intel, AMD, Cyrix, and iMac), Phone/Fax./Modems, and Household Electronics (including televisions up to 27”). It’s rated for protection up to 1045 joules and 45,000 amps maximum spike current. The phone lines are rated up to 160 joules. Each of the six outlets is grounded with 3-line protection.
The Protector has six AC outlets and mounts right onto the wall where the outlet is, meaning there is no strip to have to worry about getting kicked or accidentally pulling the plug out. It can be secured to the wall with a screw which will hold it in place, but we didn’t use it. There is one phone line into the protector and two coming out. I can plug the computer and a phone or fax machine into the Belkin Surgemaster Surge Protector.
I set it up easy enough by myself, running the wires into it and fixing the phone lines. There was one extra phone line in the package, so I didn’t have to make a separate purchase to run the line from the wall into the Protector and then back out to the computer. Once it’s plugged into the wall, there are two lights which come on to indicate that the Protector is working properly and is grounded. As soon as our modems had been replaced, I confirmed that it worked and we had no trouble with connecting to the internet through the Protector.
Although there’s no way to tell that it worked for sure unless we got hit by lightning again, what made me choose the Belkin Surgemaster Surge Protector is the warranty which comes with it. Belkin warranties up to $50,000 worth of equipment plugged into the surge protector against surges, spikes, or lightning strikes. There’s also a lifetime product warranty on the Protector itself.
I like the Belkin Surgemaster Surge Protector a lot. There are enough outlets that we could plug our entire system into it if we had to. At the same time, with the wall mount it doesn’t seem to get in the way. I’ll definitely consider this in our new house as we have to reconfigure our current set-ups and possibly invest in more surge protection. At just $17.98 each (I bought two) they are well worth the added peace of mind.
© 2005 Patti Aliventi
