Tupavco TP303 Ethernet Surge Protector Outdoor for PoE+ Gigabit 1000Mbs - LAN Network Thunder Lightning Surge Protection Suppressor/Arrester

Update 02 August 2018:Works as described!TL:DR - I've had this unit for 1 and 1/2 years now. A few weeks ago we had 5 days of continuous bad thunderstorms. I'm not talking about just rain showers, I mean bad lightning for 5 days every afternoon. It was miserable. Many fires in our county because of these storms.So how did these hold up?I have four in-line Tupavco protectors starting at the outside of my house to protect all downstream network connections before they enter my main house and ultimately into my core networking cabinet.The first and second Tupavco is on my guest cottage about 5 yards away from the first protector. It sits in-line for the ethernet entering into the guest cottage and a second protector for the main "backbone" ethernet extending down to my workshop, barn, and gym before feeding back into the core networking cabinet. The third and fourth Tupavco is at the base of my grain silo protecting my network from a weather IP camera mounted 33 feet up on my grain silo and the protecting an aerial (overhead) ethernet cable extending to my gym also protecting my network from the switch that is at the gym.Remember that lightning? At some point lightning struck my fields near my silo (and maybe the silo itself) enough that the UNPROTECTED ends of my network at the gym switch and the actual camera itself were fried. Like deep fried. The networking switch smelled like burnt silicone and the camera did as well. These two devices were UNPROTECTED and I didn't have any Tupavco protection on those ends. The Tupavcos at the base of the grain silo grounded whatever electrical current hit my switch and camera and protected the core network from any transient voltages. WORKED AS ADVERTISED! I lost about $100 in electronics (switch and IP camera) but over $2,000 in core networking gear (switches, servers, routers, access points, etc.) was protected.I replaced my IP camera and gym network switch and bought two more of these Tupavco protectors to protect my new gym switch and new IP camera.Original review:Well it's hard to review this because I won't know how well made it is until struck by lightning or some other surge.Beyond reviewing the actual functionality:The unit is gray in color as opposed to beige in the picture. I think it looks better being gray.The unit is built with a sturdy plastic housing (not thin, cheap plastic).The bottom includes a moisture-resistant cable pass through (which should keep the bugs out too).I have another communications project I am working on and will be purchasing two more in the near future.

AT&T U-verse gateway boxes are notoriously susceptible to nearby lightning strikes. Every time a thunderstorm comes through our area, the AT&T truck spends the next day replacing burnt out equipment. We lost numerous gateway boxes over a three year period. After installing this in several locations, not one gateway box has gone out in over a year and a half. Great product, very easy to install, just make sure it is connected to a very good ground. It uses gas-discharge tubes (just like AT&T used to install on land-lines) rather than diodes so it should last indefinitely. AT&T should be installing these and save themselves a lot of money replacing gateways and aggravated customers.

This product is a nice way to waterproof an ethernet connection. I don't know how well it works to protect the circuit, since that has never been tested, but operationally, there are a few issues. To mount the product, the circuit board has to be removed. Not a big deal, but handling the board isn't my idea of best practices. The hole where the cables go in is too small for Cat 7 or greater cables with hoods. I have a ground wire going in too, so it gets tight. I had to drill a small hole in the bottom edge, so that I could strap the ground and output cables to the side. Even then, it is a tight fit to get the input cable in - and that is done in the field, where conditions are less than ideal. The angles of the internal connectors are tough to work with. With all the cables going in the hole, the rubber glam can't be used, reducing the waterproof nature - although I hope it is good enough. There are less expensive options (Unifi), but at least this product keeps the cables secure once connected. In fact, I had trouble disconnecting one of the cables and had to remove the circuit board to get the leverage.

I can't speak directly to the lighning protection as I'm not sure how I'd know, but I can say this is well built AND isn't just gigabit. Between my 2.5g capable switch and PC I'm getting full speed per iperf tests. Very excited that I'm not giving up those speeds, though I'm not sure if it will reduce maximum cable runs or whatnot.

I use these often. They are inexpensive and meet the requirements. Plug & Play saves time, no stripping cables and punching down wires. Just plug in each RJ45, attach the ground wire and mount. The only "gotcha" is there should be 2 on each cable; one at building point of entry & one at the equipment. These are not great for outdoor use in high humidity areas, particularly near the ocean. Otherwise, at this price point, they work.Update: The rubber seals suck. They don't seal around the cable entry points. In high humidity areas, the electronics are exposed to the humidity or water splashes. This means I have to take the extra step to silicone seal the units, and it's a pain if a cable needs to be detached.