Finally a UPS for your ONT

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Finally a UPS for your ONT

1 | 2 | 3

3352 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 644

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1596201 21-Jul-2016 12:55

If you can excuse my ignorance, but what are the advantages to running this compared to an off the shelf UPS? I have a standard UPS on a shelf beside my ONT.

Cheers, Matt.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

timmmay

20858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5350

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1596205 21-Jul-2016 12:58

With a standard UPS you convert 240V to 12VDC, store it in a battery, then put it through a DC to AC converter to get to 230V, which then converts it back to 12V DC. Those multiple conversions are inefficient and affect runtime. A standard UPS has quite a lot of overhead, for example my old Dynalink one uses 20W when it's turned off! So by using one 12V power supply, storing in directly, and powering all devices from a single PSU or battery you get much more runtime for the same battery size.

There's no word from anyone whether you're meant to use a different power supply, so there's a risk there, but I've accepted that minimal risk.

timmmay

20858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5350

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1596206 21-Jul-2016 12:58

jonathan18:

Thanks for following up with those questions, Tim.

That battery life's not as bad as I'd thought it may be, but that it is not swappable makes it somewhat inflexible compared to the current option. Apart from the neatness of a single box, I don't think it's got many meaningful advantages over the current model, so will probably go with the latter.

Agree. I think the all in one unit would be ideal for someone like parents or grandparents who want Internet to work if the power goes out for a short time, but isn't really suitable for long term power.

MadEngineer

4591 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2570

Trusted

#1596416 21-Jul-2016 17:28

plus, they're bigger

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80652 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41037

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1597276 23-Jul-2016 15:05

MadEngineer:
freitasm:

As per Tim's reply above, not sure about "finally" as Constant Vigil Sentry UPS has been in the market for months already.

are they supplied with the 8 pin connector used by the ONT?

Here is the Sentry Lite and the ONT connector. It comes with an extra output cable too if your router is not next to the ONT.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80652 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41037

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1597284 23-Jul-2016 15:33

I have just swapped my ONT and Synology router from the Dynamix UPS to the Sentry Lite. The Synology is about three metres away from the ONT (on a desk whle ONT is on a wall). The long output cable came in handy here. Both ONT and Synology powered up with no problems.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

MadEngineer

4591 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2570

Trusted

#1597373 23-Jul-2016 17:56

Awesome. _b

Can these only be purchased through their website?

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

timmmay

20858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5350

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1597392 23-Jul-2016 18:05

The new unit not available for six weeks. Older (and better IMHO) units available only from their website AFAIK, but I'm not an expert on the company.

webwat

2036 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 145

Trusted

#1597746 24-Jul-2016 15:07

bcourtney:

Any idea what these go for? Not having luck googling a NZ reseller

Cablemax

Time to find a new industry!

MadEngineer

4591 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2570

Trusted

#1597784 24-Jul-2016 17:11

or, any computer shop.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1601803 31-Jul-2016 18:36

timmmay:
With a standard UPS you convert 240V to 12VDC, store it in a battery, then put it through a DC to AC converter to get to 230V, which then converts it back to 12V DC. Those multiple conversions are inefficient and affect runtime.

That's only with an online UPS though, with a standby UPS the only time you're ever running the inverter is when there's a power cut. In addition a "12V UPS" isn't just a 12V battery, you need to run a buck/boost converter to get 12V out from whatever the battery voltage currently is. So in normal operation a 240V UPS is 240V in -> UPS -> 12V power supply (the UPS is a dumb wire), and a 12V UPS is 240V in -> 12V out, the same thing. Only when there's an outage does the 240V UPS run the inverter to produce 240V out, while the 12V UPS runs the buck/boost circuitry to produce 12V out directly. However, you can also get a pretty decent second-hand UPS off Trademe for less than the cost of a 12V UPS, and it'll run things other than 12V devices, so it's a bit hard to find a strong argument for using a 12V UPS. I've been trying to convince myself that it's worth getting one to replace/complement my 1500SUA and it's pretty hard to find a convincing reason to get one.

HP

Shop now for HP laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

timmmay

20858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5350

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1601819 31-Jul-2016 18:55

Runtime from the same battery is higher using the DC directly, rather than going DC -> AC -> DC. I looked it up, the difference is really significant
I can connect a cheap ebay device to the battery and charge my phone directly, again more efficient than conversions
I can have multiple batteries, giving me much more runtime (I have 100AH of batteries).
New DC UPS is cheaper than a new AC UPS

I actually have an AC UPS sitting on the floor not doing anything, though it might need a new battery. The size of the battery is probably around 8AH.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1601829 31-Jul-2016 19:27

Hmm, I'm still not convinced. My current UPS will run all the stuff off it for many hours (never managed to run it to zero), any decent UPS will have extended battery packs available, and as a bonus they have graphical displays telling you when you need to start shutting things down. In addition a lot of stuff will talk to the UPS via USB and automatically shut itself down as needed. Now I'm not saying don't use a 12V UPS, I just haven't been able to find a really compelling argument to do so.

timmmay

20858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5350

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1601914 31-Jul-2016 20:46

neb: Hmm, I'm still not convinced. My current UPS will run all the stuff off it for many hours (never managed to run it to zero), any decent UPS will have extended battery packs available, and as a bonus they have graphical displays telling you when you need to start shutting things down. In addition a lot of stuff will talk to the UPS via USB and automatically shut itself down as needed. Now I'm not saying don't use a 12V UPS, I just haven't been able to find a really compelling argument to do so.

I suggest you don't buy one then ;) That's why there are different products, because everyone wants something different. Yes a standard AC UPS would work as well, but it's less efficient and less flexible for what I need. I have a standard UPS for other stuff.

I can run for something like 5 days, I can charge everything (phone, batteries, etc) and it cost me a total of $200. I got a pretty crazy good deal on the batteries though.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1602301 1-Aug-2016 15:03

Oh, absolutely. I was trying to find a reason to get one, but hadn't managed to convince myself either way. Like you with the batteries, I got a good deal on the 1500SUA so it's an easy solution to go with.

1 | 2 | 3