Well heck!

[Webheadfred]

So the wife-unit and I were sitting and relaxing watching the TV. There was a thunderstorm passing and things were firing up. The CM3000 modem and the GT-BE98 Pro (with the latest Merlin of course) were sitting about 15 feet away doing their thing. The BRIGHTEST FLASH I’ve ever seen and the sound like a huge bullwhip. I immediately run to the garage to get a fire extinguisher thinking that something had to be on fire. I saw a little smoke and the smell of electricity. Seems the lightning had hit the cable equipment in the neighborhood. The box entering the house had been installed dubiously. The ground wire had come loose and the lightning blew up the modem and zapped the BE98 Pro through the network cable. I had a little conversation with the internet provider and I may be getting free internet for the next year. What. The. Heck.

 

[Justinh]

I have a modem you can have if you are not renting one ...

 

[Webheadfred]

I have a modem you can have if you are not renting one ...

That’s very generous of you to offer. Thank you. I have a backup ARRIS S33 and an old RT-AX88U that I’m limping along until the new GT-BE98 Pro gets delivered Monday. It was indeed spectacular and a lesson to me that the lightning will travel the Cat5 cable between the modem and router. The mains weren’t hit or the surge protector did its job. Afterwards, the BE98 Pro had a faint power light and the color lights were working. Interesting.

 

[Aiadi]

That sounds pretty scary and equally horrible. Glad you are safe.

 

[sfx2000]

What. The. Heck.

Been there - good to hear you are safe and the damage somewhat limited...

 

[CaptnDanLKW]

Ground wires - The unsung heroes of the electronics world. We get wicked storms in my area, glad my ISP switched over to fiber a couple years ago.

We're going through some home construction and my ISP laid to lay fiber above ground, running between me and my neighbor. Grass got long and he mowed over it, missing the orange tape and my warning 5 months ago. (yes its a looong project)

 

[degrub]

So the wife-unit and I were sitting and relaxing watching the TV. There was a thunderstorm passing and things were firing up. The CM3000 modem and the GT-BE98 Pro (with the latest Merlin of course) were sitting about 15 feet away doing their thing. The BRIGHTEST FLASH I’ve ever seen and the sound like a huge bullwhip. I immediately run to the garage to get a fire extinguisher thinking that something had to be on fire. I saw a little smoke and the smell of electricity. Seems the lightning had hit the cable equipment in the neighborhood. The box entering the house had been installed dubiously. The ground wire had come loose and the lightning blew up the modem and zapped the BE98 Pro through the network cable. I had a little conversation with the internet provider and I may be getting free internet for the next year. What. The. Heck.

If that is a through hole under the grounding screw, the original install was technically wrong. The wire should have been inserted in the hole and the green screw tightened down NOT the wire curled around the base of the head on the screw which is prone to come loose.

You may want to get the earthing connections checked by the city/county inspector.

Generally, in the US, white insulation for safety earthing wire is not code correct, IMO. It should at least have green tape near the end to distinguish it from Neutral return wiring back to the Neutral bus and it should be connected to the earthing rod at the power distribution box, or a separate earthing rod that is connected back to the power distribution panel earthing rod, IMO. The local electrical code inspector will have the final say, usually from the city/county permitting office.