Power Outage
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Notebook pfSense and UPS supported network is great. Just survived a 40 minute power outage.
Power outages don't occur very often and are usually only a few minutes with they do. But this one had me wondering how much longer the UPS would hold up. After about 15 minutes though I did shutdown unnecessary equipment to help stretch battery life. Otherwise I'm guessing it would only last about 30 minutes.
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What kind of second NIC do you use on the laptop (usb?), or just one physical interface with VLANs?
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VLANs
WAN = VLAN (tagged 99)
LAN = Native (un tagged) -
in the process of making network power outage proof right or wrong purchased tripplite aps750 for $229 and now to couple it with golfcart battery
wife works from home with crazy have to be into work in 30min when we live 60min away policy -
Notebook pfSense and UPS supported network is great. Just survived a 40 minute power outage.
Hey NOYB, quick question about your UPS. I was just wondering what model you have and how much you got it for? I was recently looking into buying the APC Back-UPS pro1500VA and I wanted to know if anyone had some firsthand experience with it. Just to get a second opinion (in addition to the reviews).
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"now to couple it with golfcart battery"
Not sure that is a good idea ;) They more than likely are different voltages and amps, and charging etc..
If you need more run time.. I would suggest you go with approved external batteries for the ups.. Oh that is not a UPS that is APS.. Yeah it uses a 12V supply to provide 120AC.. Yeah that would be like a normal car battery.. Many golf carts use say a 8V battery(ies)…
That is really some mcgyver sort of setup.. I would suggest you just get an actual external generator to run your house if loss of power or a UPS with the run time you need for your wifes equipment/networking gear.. But I guess you could use a APS and then a bank of car batteries... Post pictures when your done!
I have a few different UPS in the house.. I have a 1350 and a 1500, and 650 they run my networking gear and my workstation and esxi box... I can get about 30 minutes total which maintains my whole network along with my 3 wifi AP which are POE.. I have never pushed it to crash - but for sure have gotten 20 minutes..
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We've had great luck with APC and specifically past and current generations of the 1500 you mentioned. Batteries are easy to find when they wear out (~2-3 years?) and you can opt for generic or shell out for the real thing.
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Picked up two of these APC Back-UPS 550 for $50 each ("on sale") a few years ago at a local BB.
http://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/APC-Back-UPS-BE550G-NEW-MODEL-AVAILABLE-BE600M1-/P-BE550G
One of them will run the ONT for about an hour. Maybe a little less. It's been a couple years since we've had a power outage last long enough to deplete it.
The other will run a NUC w/USB attached HD, 8 port switch, WiFi AP, networked TV tuner (Silicon Dust), and antenna pre amp, for about 35 minutes if I recall. So once an outage reaches the 10 or 15 minute mark I shutdown the NUC and TV tuner to extend the capacity for the network.
The pfSense notebook is pretty old (Dell Inspiron 5100 P4). So it's no power miser for sure. Think it's battery lasts somewhere in the 30-60 minutes range.
Have brainstormed the idea of an inverter connected to a bank of car batteries being supplied by a charger. But the maintenance, hazards, etc. is just not worth it.
A consumer product built to purpose is more appealing and practical by the time all is said and done.
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Have brainstormed the idea of an inverter connected to a bank of car batteries being supplied by a charger.
Wrong type of battery, deep cycle is what you want. Car batteries are't made to withstand multiple discharge and charge cycles.
But the maintenance, hazards, etc. is just not worth it.
Plus you would also have to engineer an automatic failover so the power kicks in automatically or run your invertor all the time. You'd likely kill your average inverter in no time, they're not made for continuous duty cycle and ones that are are not cheap.
Many golf carts use say a 8V battery(ies)…
6V actually and they are $$. They make a damn good backup source when wired in parallel/series for the desired output voltage and coupled with a good inverter.
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my battery are 6v not 8v version the tripplite aps750 is not a mickey mouse setup could use more $$ gel type if you wanted
this unit/setup gets used a fair bit in wisp setups cyberlink i had didn't like lightly loaded generator and would just cut output from unithttps://www.tripplite.com/750w-powerverter-aps-12vdc-120v-inverter-charger-auto-transfer-switching-2-outlets~APS750/
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There are deep cycle automotive batteries as well. But the battery type isn't really the deal killer. It's all the other stuff. As you know.
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The client got tired of tethering old car batteries to a large UPS to prevent the home office from shutting down during daily power outages. He decided it was time to spend real money…
I've done a power install for a client where power drops for hours. I installed an inverter/charger by Magnum. It was 24V so 4 250Amp/hr 12V solar batteries made a 24V 500amp/hr bank. The client runs his house off this setup for hours (8-10 depending on draw) then switches to generator as needed.
No more car batteries in the home office...
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Too bad MOSFET based UPSes with built in surge protectors should be replaced every few years because there is no knowing how much life is left on the MOSFET.
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VLANs
WAN = VLAN (tagged 99)
LAN = Native (un tagged)I guess to get back on topic. What is line speed you are serving through said laptop pfSense single NIC setup? Are you getting near rated line speed? VPN too or no?
I have a circa 2004/5 Dell Inspiron that could be repurposed. You are giving me ideas.
Thanks!
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ISP WAN connection is 15/5 mbps. The notebook VLAN setup sustains that throughput easily.
Used to have 20/5 mbps and it handled that too.You could install pfSencse on a USB flash drive to test and see if it will sustain your line speed.
To reduce power consumption and extend battery life, I removed the HD and CDRON drives and run pfSense on a USB flash drive.
Also using a USB extension cable to isolate the flash drive from the PC heat source. It stays much cooler that way. -
My point of
"Many golf carts use say a 8V battery(ies)…"
Is that there are different batteries for golfcarts - sure there are 6 and 8 and even some 12V.. But I don't think I have ever seen a Car battery that was not 12, etc..
But sure batteries designed for solar power storage would prob be ideal..
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To reduce power consumption and extend battery life, I removed the HD and CDRON drives and run pfSense on a USB flash drive.
Also using a USB extension cable to isolate the flash drive from the PC heat source. It stays much cooler that way.Thanks for the line speed notes.
Excellent optimization and heat reduction ideas. Poor laptop has no innards left… -
Picked up two of these APC Back-UPS 550 for $50 each ("on sale") a few years ago at a local BB.
http://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/APC-Back-UPS-BE550G-NEW-MODEL-AVAILABLE-BE600M1-/P-BE550G
One of them will run the ONT for about an hour. Maybe a little less. It's been a couple years since we've had a power outage last long enough to deplete it.
The other will run a NUC w/USB attached HD, 8 port switch, WiFi AP, networked TV tuner (Silicon Dust), and antenna pre amp, for about 35 minutes if I recall. So once an outage reaches the 10 or 15 minute mark I shutdown the NUC and TV tuner to extend the capacity for the network.
The pfSense notebook is pretty old (Dell Inspiron 5100 P4). So it's no power miser for sure. Think it's battery lasts somewhere in the 30-60 minutes range.
Have brainstormed the idea of an inverter connected to a bank of car batteries being supplied by a charger. But the maintenance, hazards, etc. is just not worth it.
A consumer product built to purpose is more appealing and practical by the time all is said and done.
Solid! Thanks for the response NYOB! $50 each sounds like a steal (then again i'm always trying to be cheap and cut costs whenever I can). The run time sounds pretty ideal as well, unless you are looking at a more prolonged power outage but that rarely happens - and at least the notebook doesn't hog too much power.
It would be cool to give your idea shot at some point, but you're right the hazards are glaring red flags…although think of the possibilities if you could actually pull it off?
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Notebook pfSense and UPS supported network is great. Just survived a 40 minute power outage.
Hey NOYB, quick question about your UPS. I was just wondering what model you have and how much you got it for? I was recently looking into buying the APC Back-UPS pro1500VA and I wanted to know if anyone had some firsthand experience with it. Just to get a second opinion (in addition to the reviews).
The APC1500 is all I run. I even purchased the external battery for two of them for extralong life. As mentioned replacement batteries are easy to locate for them. I usually hit batteries plus up for them. If you check out the show your pfsense thread I just posted a pic of 4 of them lined up. Totally recommend them
