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How to pick
A cheap power strip is not a surge protector, it is just more outlets, and if your computer or TV is plugged into one of those then fixing it is inexpensive and worth doing. Look for a joule rating of a thousand or more. The step up is a battery backup, which keeps things running for a few minutes when the power blinks. That matters most for your modem and router, because otherwise a two second flicker knocks your internet out for ten minutes while everything reboots. Around here that is not a theoretical problem. Plug the modem and router into the battery side and nothing else.
What I recommend
Surge protection
A cheap power strip is not a surge protector, it is just more outlets. If your computer or TV is plugged into one of those, fixing it is inexpensive and worth doing. Look for a joule rating of a thousand or more.
APC surge protector power strip
Cheap insurance for a lot of equipment. If you buy nothing else on this page and your gear is on a dollar store power strip, buy this.
- Very cheap for what it protects
- Many include a connected equipment warranty
- Widely available
- Protection degrades with each surge and is not visible
- Does nothing in a power cut
- Cheap strips lie about their ratings
- Rating
- 1,000 joules or higher
- Outlets
- 6 to 12
- Spacing
- Room for chunky plugs
- Warranty
- Cover on connected gear
Battery backup
Keeps things running for a few minutes when the power blinks. That matters most for your modem and router, because otherwise a two second flicker knocks your internet out for ten minutes while everything reboots.
APC Back-UPS BE600M1
A battery for your modem and router. When the power blinks your internet stays up instead of taking ten minutes to come back. Around here that is not a theoretical problem. Plug the modem and router into the battery side and nothing else.
- Internet survives a brief outage
- Also protects against surges
- Quiet, sits under a desk
- Cheap for the aggravation saved
- Battery needs replacing every three to five years
- Beeps during an outage, which some find alarming
- Only a few minutes of runtime
- Heavy for its size
- Capacity
- 600VA, 330W
- Outlets
- 7 total, 5 on battery
- Runtime
- Minutes, enough to ride out a blink
- Best for
- Modem and router
APC Back-UPS Pro 1500VA
Bigger battery, enough to keep a desktop running long enough to save your work and shut down properly. Only worth the jump if you have a tower that would lose something when the lights go out.
- Enough runtime to save work and shut down
- Display shows load and remaining time
- Voltage regulation smooths dirty power
- Expensive and heavy
- Replacement batteries cost a fair amount
- Fan noise on some models
- Overkill for a laptop household
- Capacity
- 1500VA, 900W
- Outlets
- 10 total
- Extra
- Display and voltage regulation
- Best for
- A desktop computer
Related reading
Power goes out a lot where you are?
Common around here. I can set up your modem, router and computer so an outage is a non event.