New Lightning Protection Plan for DRW

Due to the increased lightning activity and personal network damage (via the cable line) I have decided to implement a new network design to help protect the network and it's data from a lightning strike.

New DRW Network Layout

The heart of my improvements rests on the use of fiber optic cable and media converters to isolate expensive network equipment from Comcast WAN (Wide Area Network) and the outdoor underground ethernet cable.

The first set of media converters are located between the Linksys cable modem and my Linksys Router (10mbps). The second set (100mbps) is located between the router and the outdoor Ethernet cable (this media converter is also used to compensate for the difference in ground between in house and the river).

                                
                        Media Converter (100mbps)    Media Converter (10mbps)
                        from outdoor Ethernet line      between modem and router
 

To protect the webcam from a lightning strike a new 8ft copper ground wire was installed to aid in the channeling of "excessive voltage" to ground and NOT into my webcam or network gateway. An existing surge protector with Ethernet protection was reused. Also an APC 200 was added to supply backup power as well as protection from low voltage surges.

                                  
                          New 8ft copper ground         Linksys gateway and APC 200
                          rod
 

Linksys gateway and
Ethernet surge protector