Fried my laptop through my router

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lostmylaptop

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Hello anyone who will read this.

I need help. Today a lightning storm took out my router which proceeded to take out my brand new laptop.

I am not an IT orientated person but I work on websites for a living.

This is the third planet router that has been struck by lightning in my house. I am sure many of you are probably laughing by now when you hear this. I know...I know...stupid to have this happen to me three times and it seems i still havent learnt my lesson.

Please dont rag me (although Im sure you are itching to) just read on, have a good laugh, tell your friends what stupid mistakes i have made (it gets worse) and then offer me a word or two of advice please.

My last laptop went 6 months ago when the screen died. Quoted R7500 to fix it - well you can imagine I didnt pay that. my new laptop (which i have had less than two weeks) seems to have been struck by lighting just today and its not insured. Yes keep laughing. Further to that just to add to the 'sweet taste' in my mouth my geyser went earlier this week.

So in having a grand week, i wanted to ask two questions:

Has anyone had such issues with a planet router before?

What do you think is gone on the laptop? I have taken out the battery and try to power up through the ppack but the machine just flickers lights. The ppack is still working. The router was connected through LAN when it died. Any ideas?

I would appreciate any advice and input... :sick:

thanks so much
 
a) the geyser should be covered in your house insurance.
b) Laptop screen's are quite simple to replace R7500 is way too much, do you still have that laptop?
c) plug your router in through a ups with lightening protection on the landline.
d) I'd say that new laptop is fried
 
Sorry about your lighting, and geyser, mines been broken since Sunday :)

The type of router should not cause it to attract lightning.... The laptop sounds like its totally buggered, everything is integrated and lightning just screws everything - what laptop is it, perhaps somebody could help with spares?

What laptop was the other one, I have an HP 8110 that needs spares?
 
No surge protector can protect you from a close by lightning strike. 3 of our PC at home and printer/fax machine were fried 2 years ago, all connected via these Belkin surge protectors. And the surge protectors are still in working order but whatever it supposed to protect were gone.

Unplug your hardware from power and telephone line physically (NOT JUST SWITCH OFF) when you see a storm coming or when you are going away.

When you need to use your laptop during lightning storm, unplug power and connect it via your 3G phone.
 
Messugga - maybe i should have mentioned that ragging along with telling on me :-) im feeling pain enough already and dont you worry the first thing my boyfriend asked me was "did you get it insured" - **trust me, I am kicking myself**

I have lost two expensive laptops through this whole process.

The first is an HP something something - I cant even remember now - 17"
The second is the HP 8730w - yes very ouch to have lost this...I figured the motherboard, i was just hoping someone would be able to give me some hope about this. I know the warranty wont cover this :-(

Geyser im not worried about - its the cold baths, when you have a stressful week thats catching me :-)
 
Yeah learnt my lesson, I will be unplugging all the time. Today i was focused on a deadline, didnt think to switch to iBurst or my 3G (i have backups for when my T line goes down) but of course this time it stayed up.....

What I dont get is that only the Planets are being taken out. I tried Vox for a while and that router made it through very heavy storms, my telkom routers have made it through storms too - its just the planets that are getting nailed and the storm today wasnt even a bad one....
 
Laptop warranty repairs usually take weeks.

If you want to have it repaired quickly, rather go here:

www.locanet.co.za (If you can get it to Gauteng)

If your laptop is still covered by a manufacturer warranty, they will send it to the manufacturer representative and have them repair it in a shorter time if you're lucky. (Which I guess you're not this week. Sorry, I couldn't resist!) :cool:

I don't think that Planet's routers are the problem, but rather that you didn't have the router plugged into a surge protector.

If you have an ADSL connection, get something like the WTX (powerline and phoneline protection) that is sold by www.africasurge.com to protect your equipment in future.

If you don't have an ADSL connection, get the WMC instead of the WTX.

They are also sold at Matrix Warehouse, Computer Corp, etc.

Your Ethernet NIC (the onboard LAN card) on the laptop is most probably fried too, but in future you might be able to connect to your router via the Wi-Fi connection.

Hope your weekend will be better than your week! ;)
 
lostmylaptop said:
What I dont get is that only the Planets are being taken out. I tried Vox for a while and that router made it through very heavy storms, my telkom routers have made it through storms too - its just the planets that are getting nailed and the storm today wasnt even a bad one....
Click to expand...

That's because Vox routers and Telkom routers have surge protectors built into the power adaptors!

But other brands usually don't feature that...
 
Thanks so much to all of you for your advice - tomorrow is another day and I suppose time to call HP and possibly locanet.

Do you think it would be worth a shot to look for spares when this is quite a recent machine on the market? not sure there will be spares...

Conradl - hope your geyser is fixed. Ill let you know tomorrow what the model is - as soon as i get into my office.

Drake2007 - still got the machine, will let you know model as well.

Maybe i can do something with one of the two...

Thanks again
 
You could get a wireless router which would provide isolation from the line. It's also a lot more convenient :)
 
jip, connect wirelessly to router (but during heavy storm its best to keep that unplugged too).
If u gotta use laptop & internet in storm, rather use lappie on battery with 3G modem.
I guess none of the advice reeeely helps make things better, we all have our moments, where we know better, but just split second lapse in judgement results in tragedy :)
I myself have been taking chances... playing games on pc, storm comes up, doesnt sound too bad, so I take chance to keep playing... oooone day, I will probly get zapped too.
We've had a storm here at the office during December, got fiber optic cable between the office buildings, but lightning hit, the one switch got fried - and the 3 computers connected to it, some total mobo death, one just LAN connection on mobo stuffed, so got PCI LAN to keep working.
At least insurance paid up.

Sympathies dude!
 
Sorry to hear.
It's a longshot, but take it back to the the place where you got it from, and say it just died. Sometimes the damage from lightning or power surges does not leave any tell-tale signs, so it looks like it just packed up. It is new, so it will have a warranty and you might just be lucky enough to have it replaced. Worth the effort if you ask me.
 
JohnnyQ said:
Sorry to hear.
It's a longshot, but take it back to the the place where you got it from, and say it just died. Sometimes the damage from lightning or power surges does not leave any tell-tale signs, so it looks like it just packed up. It is new, so it will have a warranty and you might just be lucky enough to have it replaced. Worth the effort if you ask me.
Click to expand...

I'd do this first, along with buying surge protection and setting up a WiFi connection between your PC and the (new) router.

(Resisting the urge;) This way you can even work whilst having a bath...
 
Lightning striking 3 times in one place - what are the odds?
I would say your place is not properly earthed for that to happen so frequently - Do you live in a stand alone house or townhouse/flat? Check if any of the neighbors also had lightning strikes the same time you did. Sees to me as if your property has a lot of underground water to attract lightning that much - Are you perhaps in Midrand (lightning capital of SA)?
Older properties always used to have a thick band (about 3/4 in) copper strip running from the roof (or small conductor), down along the wall and about a meter into the ground. Because of the prohibitive cost of copper this is not done any more - although builders will tell you different. I live on a plot in Midrand, building about 40years old & has the similar earthing as above and although plenty of lightning in our area - no strikes. Running off my original D-Link ages now!
 
"D" said:
Laptop warranty repairs usually take weeks.

If you want to have it repaired quickly, rather go here:

www.locanet.co.za (If you can get it to Gauteng)

If your laptop is still covered by a manufacturer warranty, they will send it to the manufacturer representative and have them repair it in a shorter time if you're lucky. (Which I guess you're not this week. Sorry, I couldn't resist!) :cool:
Click to expand...

D - i am taking my machine to locanet, they sound great, thank you. Have you used them before?
 
elmorya said:
Lightning striking 3 times in one place - what are the odds?
I would say your place is not properly earthed for that to happen so frequently - Do you live in a stand alone house or townhouse/flat? Check if any of the neighbors also had lightning strikes the same time you did. Sees to me as if your property has a lot of underground water to attract lightning that much - Are you perhaps in Midrand (lightning capital of SA)?
Older properties always used to have a thick band (about 3/4 in) copper strip running from the roof (or small conductor), down along the wall and about a meter into the ground. Because of the prohibitive cost of copper this is not done any more - although builders will tell you different. I live on a plot in Midrand, building about 40years old & has the similar earthing as above and although plenty of lightning in our area - no strikes. Running off my original D-Link ages now!
Click to expand...

i completely agree - i think there is something up with my house, perhaps i am cursed. thanks for the input - i will get the house looked into.
 
Yup, WIFI would have stopped the surge to hit the laptop, but it would have fried the router.

A surge protector is 50/50 chance you take. I use it, but for spikes or dips in the grid, not lightning!
People underestimate lightning, it can hit a wired fence and kill cattle leaning on the fence 1km down the road. Very powerful stuff your are trying to contain.

Just plug out the telephone line from your router next time. It will still hit the line, but everything will be safe. I'm sure you can wait +/- 2 hours for the storm to pass or until you hear the lightning is moving on?
 
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