Lightning strike enters apartment through coaxial internet cable, blows up gamer's PC

A recent lightning strike incident reported on Reddit illustrates how electrical surges can enter homes through coaxial internet cables, causing significant damage to network equipment and PCs. The us... Read original →

This lightning-induced PC failure via coaxial entry reveals systemic vulnerabilities in residential network infrastructure under extreme electrical stress. Technically, Ethernet PHYs, TVS diodes, and common-mode chokes—when not designed to IEC 61000-4-5—fail catastrophically under kV surges, propagating damage to SoCs and memory controllers. Regulatory shifts in UL 1449 and EN 50642 now mandate dual-stage data-port protection, raising BOM costs for routers and set-top boxes by 5–8%. Strategically, Broadcom and Marvell are embedding LAN Guard into next-gen PHYs, while Taiwan, China-based Realtek risks losing premium certification due to cost constraints. Over the next 12–24 months, this 'edge-failure' pattern will accelerate a shift from power-only surge protection to full-stack electromagnetic resilience, driving demand for integrated SPD ICs and forcing telecom operators to enforce stricter grounding in FTTH rollouts.