Edgerouter Ground Screw - needed?

[KenZ71]

So, based partly on rave reviews here and elsewhere I ordered a Edgerouter X from NewEgg - their cheap / free shipping got it to me faster than Amazon. Wow.

Anyway, so on the back of the case their is a ground screw mount but no screw was included. The little things really tick me off. The documentation encourages grounding but says no screw is provided. What the... If grounding is so important why don't they include one? Their cost would be a rounding error.

So, the caboose to this train of thought, what is the consensus ground or don't bother? Votes & opinions please

If I do ground the next question is how? Would be pretty ugly to run a wire back to the outlet & tap the screw that holds the plug cover. This will be mounted to a sheet of plywood with modem, switch and access point - no rack. I suppose I could wrap the ground around a nail that holds the plywood on the wall.

 

[System Error Message]

Grounding is required if the case is metal/conductive.
Grounding is needed at the PSU as protection but not on the actual device itself.

 

[L&LD]

Grounding is required if the case is metal/conductive.
Grounding is needed at the PSU as protection but not on the actual device itself.

What? That advice makes no sense.

 

[System Error Message]

What? That advice makes no sense.

If you asked this on eevblog this is the response you would get.

As i was saying from an electronics perspective you have to ground the device if it has a metal case by attaching ground to the metal case.

grounding is also needed on the PSU itself as a protective measure.

If you look at the PSU on higher end devices (like my CCR) the ground is connected to both chassis and the PSU.

 

[sfx2000]

some of the netgear switches have ground lugs for the chassis - in most cases, it's optional...

 

[netwrks]

That's what the back of the UBNT router's look like also. Personally, I have never used the ground. Device is grounded at the recpetacle. I haven't had any issues, so far..

 

[KenZ71]

Did some googling it seems the ground lug is meant for safety. If their is a short inside the case there could be a shock hazard when touching the case.

Ok, highly unlikely. Don't think I'll ground it.

Curious what the recommended process would be for those without a rack.

 

[sfx2000]

After giving it some thought - and the examples provided - one thing is in common - the ER-X and the Netgear GS-108T (the photos I posted) - these are POE-PD (Powered Devices).

Looking at 802.3af, we need to have 1500VAC galvanic isolation between the link, the chassis ground, and the attached data terminal equipment.

With non-POE, the chassis is usually tied to ground via the device's power supply, but in POE powered devices, we don't have that capability - so a chassis lug is provided to ground for the equipment to reduce EMI interference and eliminate potential differences across ground - as we cannot assume that the terminating end that is attached is grounded (for example, hooking up to a laptop that is running on battery without it's AC adapter being connected).

Makes sense to me...

If one is not using POE, then one should be able to safely disregard the ground lug, but if using POE to power the device, then it's a definite consideration to use it.

When it doubt - I would contact UBNT's support team - that ground lug isn't gratuitous, it's there for a reason, otherwise it wouldn't be...