Last night a large number of properties in West Somerset were without power following a HV incident. With FTTP and Digital Voice telephone changes, landline phones will no longer work during power cuts and many of the 4G mobile masts locally have very limited backup power.
The Minister for DSIT, Chris Bryant, recently called on ISP’s to aim to offer an in-home backup power solution ideally able to last 8 hours. This loose ambition is far beyond the previous provision for vulnerable users of 1 hour battery backup, and poses a number of challenges.
Over the last few months we have been testing a wide range of products to meet this suggested runtime.
Traditional Battery backup systems are known as UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) and generally output 240v AC Mains voltage using an integrated Battery and invertor. These are designed to power Computers plus Routers for a limited period to allow safe shut down. There is an inbuilt inefficiency converting a DC Battery voltage to AC Mains voltage, only for the electronic device to convert back to DC via its original power supply.
We have tested a large selection of DC battery systems, these output the correct DC voltages to power our Fibre ONT & WiFi Router (plus other devices if needed). Only one product delivered the results we were seeking:
- Easy Installation
- Max 8 hour runtime (depending on usage) for ONT and Router
- No annoying beeping or self power down during discharge
- Included any cables needed
We are therefore happy to recommend the SKE Mini UPS available from Amazon using these links.
If you run a Whole Home WiFi Setup, such as TPLink Deco, we would recommend using a 2nd Mini UPS to power the main WiFi unit to ensure maximum run-time, the other WiFi units around your home would not be live but the main base unit would allow WiFi Calling to continue to work.
As with all battery based products in constant use, over time the battery capacity will diminish. We would anticipate 2-3 years of usable life before the battery capacity becomes less than optimal and the Mini UPS would need to be recycled correctly.
Hopefully this will help our customers enjoy uninterrupted Internet service next time the Power is off.
