- Joined
- Sep 10, 2025
I've recently set up an Ubiquiti U7 Pro Outdoor AP to cover the property which is powered by a (grounded) PoE+ injector. Though it's currently up and running, I'm trying to figure out how to reasonably reduce the risk of electrical damage to the rest of the network as I'm in an area prone to thunderstorms.
It's currently attached to a wooden post beside the front porch. I did purchase two of these ethernet surge protectors, but the intended use of those is that the one nearest the AP would be connected directly to earth with the other placed immediately prior to connection to the network with the majority of the cable run being outdoors. The problem is that the AP is too far away from the building's grounding rod and I don't want to introduce a ground loop by driving in another metal pole and attaching to that. Also, there's currently no AC power readily available near the porch/AP. So, what to do?
Right now, I'm considering buying a small, dedicated UPS for indoors and attaching the injector to that. The ground of one of the ethernet surge protectors could be connected one of the grounding pins of the UPS. At the network entry point, I could install the second ethernet surge protector and similarly attach it to another ground pin though I'm unsure how helpful that will be if the rest of the cable run is indoors.
Another option I've read about is using media converters and introducing an optical path from the PoE injector to the network. There's still the power connector concern, but I imagine it couldn't hurt (aside from the loss of 1.5Gb of bandwidth from the AP). Also, the indoor cable run value perspective mentioned above would apply.
I've read a couple of threads elsewhere on other forums about similar scenarios but I didn't see any resolutions so I figured I'd post here and see if any Kiwis could put me on some knowledge/experience.
As far as the AP itself goes, my first impressions are very positive. Despite the obstruction by many trees and other structures, the coverage is superb. I was already in the Ubiquiti ecosystem with my near-decade-old UAP-AC-PRO so UniFi Network was already running via Docker container. Adding it to the network was genuinely a plug-and-play affair.
It's currently attached to a wooden post beside the front porch. I did purchase two of these ethernet surge protectors, but the intended use of those is that the one nearest the AP would be connected directly to earth with the other placed immediately prior to connection to the network with the majority of the cable run being outdoors. The problem is that the AP is too far away from the building's grounding rod and I don't want to introduce a ground loop by driving in another metal pole and attaching to that. Also, there's currently no AC power readily available near the porch/AP. So, what to do?
Right now, I'm considering buying a small, dedicated UPS for indoors and attaching the injector to that. The ground of one of the ethernet surge protectors could be connected one of the grounding pins of the UPS. At the network entry point, I could install the second ethernet surge protector and similarly attach it to another ground pin though I'm unsure how helpful that will be if the rest of the cable run is indoors.
Another option I've read about is using media converters and introducing an optical path from the PoE injector to the network. There's still the power connector concern, but I imagine it couldn't hurt (aside from the loss of 1.5Gb of bandwidth from the AP). Also, the indoor cable run value perspective mentioned above would apply.
I've read a couple of threads elsewhere on other forums about similar scenarios but I didn't see any resolutions so I figured I'd post here and see if any Kiwis could put me on some knowledge/experience.
As far as the AP itself goes, my first impressions are very positive. Despite the obstruction by many trees and other structures, the coverage is superb. I was already in the Ubiquiti ecosystem with my near-decade-old UAP-AC-PRO so UniFi Network was already running via Docker container. Adding it to the network was genuinely a plug-and-play affair.
