A surge protector is an absolute necessity if you use many types of electronic equipment, such as computers. This is because the electronics in your device can be severely damaged if there is a power surge. But surges can even attack your equipment through cable lines. For this you need a cat 5 surge protector.
A power surge, also known as transient voltage, happens when there is a sudden increase in voltage, to where it is substantially higher than the level it is supposed to be at. For instance, in the U.S. in most homes, the voltage should be 120 volts and a surge would be if it went up to 150 volts or more. A surge protector absorbs this increase and stops it from reaching your appliance.
Most protectors are designed for surges in regular electrical cables, while a cat5 surge protector is for use with coaxial cables such as those that are hooked up to televisions.
Cat 5 cable surge protection is a must if you have a home theater setup or a large flat screen TV. Also known as cable surge protectors, cat 5 surge protectors work in the same way as standard protectors, by diverting the extra electricity away from the appliance to the grounding wire of the outlet that the protector is plugged into.
The difference is that these models have a receptacle to receive the coaxial cable coming out of your wall, and another one for another length of cable to go from the protector to the TV or cable box or VCR. This means you need to buy the extra cable, but they are not very expensive. Many surge protectors have receptacles for cables, telephone modems, and regular electrical plugs all in one unit. For a quality cat 5 surge protector, Home Plug Alliance has many manufacturers under their umbrella.
There are also many other brands and models available through several manufacturers, and your choice of which one to purchase will depend on your budget and the level of protection you need. A home theater salesman will probably try to sell you a very expensive device such as the Monster Power Home Theater model, which costs around $150, but you really do not need to spend that much to get adequate protection.
At a minimum, your protector should have a light that indicates whether it is working, since a strong surge can fry it. Moving up in price, a backup circuit breaker is a nice feature, and a backup battery will allow you to save work you have been doing on a computer and then shut it down when the power goes out completely.
Whatever you do, do not try to save money by doing without a cat 5 surge protector altogether. You will end up spending far more money if a power surge destroys your big TV.
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