Hello,
First a little background. We have a small office environment with two computers. Since no high speed internet is available, one computer is connected to an external (Serial) modem which it uses for dial-up, and it uses Windows XP Internet connection sharing to share that connection with the other computer. The two computers are separated by a 30'foot drop, and we have a network switch on each end, which connects to each respective computer, and also allows extra ports for a laptop, etc.
About a week ago something happened, most likely a power surge or lightening strike. Both network switches completely failed, no LEDs would light up. On each computer, the onboard network cards no longer function on any switch. In Windows Device Manager, both show "Device could not start". The dial-up modem is also completely dead. The Serial (COM1) port it was connected to on the computer is also non-functional, even a simple loop-back test fails.
As far as protection, everything was plugged into battery backups except one switch, which was plugged into a 2-year old surge protector (still functioning according to the indicator light). The phone line was plugged into the surge protection on one of the battery backups.
So here is the question, we need to replace this equipment and get it back up and running. What else could we be doing to protect it. I've already bought another battery backup, but the old still works and even lights with the indicator that the surge protection is active.
Any theories on how this happened, ever heard of a power surge or lightening strike frying all of the electronics, but leaving the protection equipment (battery backups and surge protectors) working normally.
Thanks for any advice,
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