Battery backup for WIFI
Discussion
I’m tying myself in knots over this!
I’m looking for a solution to power cuts and loss of WiFi . We seem to have a power cut each week, usually only a few minutes but sometimes a couple of hours or so.
My wife works from home so ideally looking for a solution that would keep the WiFi working for around 2 hours in the event of a power cut.
I’m struggling to see what brand is best and what capacity is needed for this scenario.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
I’m looking for a solution to power cuts and loss of WiFi . We seem to have a power cut each week, usually only a few minutes but sometimes a couple of hours or so.
My wife works from home so ideally looking for a solution that would keep the WiFi working for around 2 hours in the event of a power cut.
I’m struggling to see what brand is best and what capacity is needed for this scenario.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Use mobile phone wifi hotspot, or a 4g/5g MIFI dongle and suitable data sim card, so not reliant on the broadband connection if the power outage covers the area, presume the telephone junction boxes are reliant on local power for fibre to the cabinet/premises.
Basic UPS (uninterruptable power supply) which is basically a battery in a fancy box will do for stuff inside the house but need to ensure everything in the chain is plugged into one.
Basic UPS (uninterruptable power supply) which is basically a battery in a fancy box will do for stuff inside the house but need to ensure everything in the chain is plugged into one.
SteBrown91 said:
I have the 850va version of that UPS to power my "core" network bits (VDSL modem, firewall, switch). Haven't tested the runtime on it for a while but IIRC, it would do an least an hour when we had an electrician in and he needed to turn off the MCB to do some work.OP - what do you need to power? Maybe a couple of things like the ISP router and a fibre/cable ONT/modem? Or do you have a more complicated setup with additional WiFi access points or mesh nodes?
I'm another one who will say "Just use a UPS".
I have a few UPSs, dotted around the house at strategic points, the main ones being:
M
I have a few UPSs, dotted around the house at strategic points, the main ones being:
- Office - This will power the fibre ONT, BT Hub & mesh network. The laptops have enough power to sort themselves out.
- Living room - TV & AppleTV.
M
You can get 12v UPSs with just a bunch of barrel sockets for powering router/ont and any nearby wifi aps.
Assuming they are all together, work off 12v and have standard barrel sockets too
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yuuki-Power-Battery-10400...
Because they dont do AC>DC>AC they are more efficient
Oh that one has POE too, thats neat.
Assuming they are all together, work off 12v and have standard barrel sockets too
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yuuki-Power-Battery-10400...
Because they dont do AC>DC>AC they are more efficient
Oh that one has POE too, thats neat.
I'm another UPS user, but I'd maybe not go with another APC one. I have a 750VA APC which should be sufficient to power my modem, router, POE switch, access points, NAS and miniPC for at least half an hour or so, but for some reason it seems to be set to send a shut down command at something like 95% battery, and there's no way to change it.
If you just plan to use it for the modem/router/wifi that's not a problem though as you don't need to use the shut down command. For me the main purpose is to protect my NAS so it's doing what I want, but it means it shuts down within a minute or so of the power going off, and because the miniPC is running piHole I lose my DNS server so the wifi's still up but I have no internet access.
If you just plan to use it for the modem/router/wifi that's not a problem though as you don't need to use the shut down command. For me the main purpose is to protect my NAS so it's doing what I want, but it means it shuts down within a minute or so of the power going off, and because the miniPC is running piHole I lose my DNS server so the wifi's still up but I have no internet access.
The way mine runs is:
A pair of APC BackUps 1400s - selected this model as it has replaceable batteries - some of the cheaper ones don't have user replaceable batteries.
These power my gateway (UDM Pro Max), ONT, PoE switch that drives all my access points and security cameras.
With new batteries, I get about 2.5 hours out of this before the UPS powering the gateway fails, followed shortly after by the second UPS. I've just replaced the batteries in both boxes - they last 3 - 4 years, which isn't bad considering the number of power cuts we get here.
I also have a backup generator for the longer cuts that we get at least once every winter. The joys of rural living, where we're last on the list for reconnection due to there being about 4 homes on our substation.
A pair of APC BackUps 1400s - selected this model as it has replaceable batteries - some of the cheaper ones don't have user replaceable batteries.
These power my gateway (UDM Pro Max), ONT, PoE switch that drives all my access points and security cameras.
With new batteries, I get about 2.5 hours out of this before the UPS powering the gateway fails, followed shortly after by the second UPS. I've just replaced the batteries in both boxes - they last 3 - 4 years, which isn't bad considering the number of power cuts we get here.
I also have a backup generator for the longer cuts that we get at least once every winter. The joys of rural living, where we're last on the list for reconnection due to there being about 4 homes on our substation.
CAH706 said:
Thanks all
It s basically just to power the ISP router and a fibre/cable ONT.
I hadn t thought about WiFi not working though if there was a wider power cut!
Using the phone as a hotspot is a no go as the reception in our village ( inside the house) is dire.
Then you're kind of left with a UPS.It s basically just to power the ISP router and a fibre/cable ONT.
I hadn t thought about WiFi not working though if there was a wider power cut!
Using the phone as a hotspot is a no go as the reception in our village ( inside the house) is dire.
Not much you can do if there's no power upstream in those circumstances outside of something like Starlink where you've "only" got to worry about local power.
I have 3 of these
https://www.amazon.co.uk/APC-BACK-UPS-BE650G2-UK-U...
1) Sky BB, TP Link Router and POE Switch, ASUS WiFi 6 router
2) TV, Sky Box, Soundbar
3) Office - desktop PC, 3 x monitors, WiFi Mesh node
We have loads of power trips (about a second or so) and often power outage up to 30 mins. All works great for me.
The longest I have been without power is 3 hours, but I could keep internet going that long, not so for TV or Office.
IMHO a great investment if you do a considerable amount of working from home.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/APC-BACK-UPS-BE650G2-UK-U...
1) Sky BB, TP Link Router and POE Switch, ASUS WiFi 6 router
2) TV, Sky Box, Soundbar
3) Office - desktop PC, 3 x monitors, WiFi Mesh node
We have loads of power trips (about a second or so) and often power outage up to 30 mins. All works great for me.
The longest I have been without power is 3 hours, but I could keep internet going that long, not so for TV or Office.
IMHO a great investment if you do a considerable amount of working from home.
.:ian:. said:
You can get 12v UPSs with just a bunch of barrel sockets for powering router/ont and any nearby wifi aps.
Assuming they are all together, work off 12v and have standard barrel sockets too
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yuuki-Power-Battery-10400...
Because they dont do AC>DC>AC they are more efficient
Oh that one has POE too, thats neat.
That looks like a neat solution.Assuming they are all together, work off 12v and have standard barrel sockets too
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yuuki-Power-Battery-10400...
Because they dont do AC>DC>AC they are more efficient
Oh that one has POE too, thats neat.
If you’re on a budget you can sometimes get used ones via the usual auction sites. I bought an APC one years ago with a knackered battery, replacement Lucas lead-acid battery was something like £18 from the same auction site. Beware though, the socket shutters on some (at least the older) APC ones can be a bit fragile, I ended up with bar sockets in the few good sockets on the battery and mains/spike cleaned sides of mine & they’re just left connected permanently. The individual appliances then get plugged into the bars.
FunkyGibbon said:
Has just the router and ONT plugged in, kept them both running for 6 or 7 hours during a power cut in February.
abzmike said:
Why is your power so flakey?
No idea but it’s been terrible since we moved to the village. Usually short outages.Not a problem for me to be honest but can be difficult for my wife who works from home most days. A short outage usually results in abandoned conference calls which isn’t ideal.
The BT/EE/Vodafone Broadband Battery Backup units will power the ONT and a router. Assumes the router will take 12V, and you'd need the spliter cable and then maybe an adapter for the router plug depending what yours takes.
Very pricy new but there's usually a few kicking about on Ebay new for much less.
Achieves a few hours runtime plus a reserve, quite nice little high capacity unit in a small package.
Tried running the same kit on a regular UPS, problem is the efficiency isn't great and the 12V units will run a lot longer and probably survive longer too.
I've ended up with more than one so I can split the load completely, the ONT gets about 12 hours runtime and the router about 5.
Very pricy new but there's usually a few kicking about on Ebay new for much less.
Achieves a few hours runtime plus a reserve, quite nice little high capacity unit in a small package.
Tried running the same kit on a regular UPS, problem is the efficiency isn't great and the 12V units will run a lot longer and probably survive longer too.
I've ended up with more than one so I can split the load completely, the ONT gets about 12 hours runtime and the router about 5.
I built my own backup battery based on a AGM car battery. It's not auto switching, so I need to switch power sources in the event of a power cut.
Like the o/p we have occasional power cuts, and the mobile signal is rubbish even for sms.
I test it now and then and we get 9 hours use out of it. As has already been said, if the power outage is that severe than the FTTP wil have probably died as well!
Like the o/p we have occasional power cuts, and the mobile signal is rubbish even for sms.
I test it now and then and we get 9 hours use out of it. As has already been said, if the power outage is that severe than the FTTP wil have probably died as well!
I would be getting a bt broadband battery from eBay.
I have one of these plus a few lead acid based UPS devices and the BT device seems much better. The UPS devices are meant for short term high loads and whilst they work for low loads for a longer period, the efficiency is poor and the batteries wear quite badly.
I have one of these plus a few lead acid based UPS devices and the BT device seems much better. The UPS devices are meant for short term high loads and whilst they work for low loads for a longer period, the efficiency is poor and the batteries wear quite badly.
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