I realize 99% of the internet are experts on electricity, lightning and grounding concepts, most of the internet wears a lab coat at all times, but seriously… I need a 100’ run of buried ethernet (likely direct burial 24" deep) from my house to my shed that has no power, for PoE camera & AP. Companies like APC sell ethernet surge protectors, other than biased unfounded fear, what are real world implications of a nearby lighting strike if things are properly grounded (full 6-8’ grounding rods outside each building etc…).
I feel like it’d be perfectly fine and if not, oh well, a router gets fried or wire burns up in the ground, doesn’t seem like a big deal on the off chance of real close strike or is that just me?
Maybe you’ve seen this already: https://www.truecable.com/blogs/cable-academy/when-lightning-strikes-ethernet-data-cable-and-lightning-protection
I’m of the persuasion of your second paragraph. I don’t take any special precautions with what I inherited (the cable is a direct-bury with 2x coax and 2 x CAT5E. I figure if something hits nearby there are going to be a lot of problems. (A disclosure we were given when we bought our house - lightning hit the well head something like 15 years prior!
I agree with the great suggestions by u/RedFive1976 in terms of what you can reasonably do.