We bought an Asus router n66U to be installed in a tourist bus along with a server.
The bus has a inverter to supply a 220V AC. However, there can be abrupt power fluctuations specially during ignition start. We need to ensure that our server and router run without disruption even during minor power outages.
We were brainstorming on how to solve this in a cost effective manner and came up with an idea that we can use a second hand laptop as our server. It has a battery installed and a charger to charge it. We could remove the display from the laptop to reduce weight and size of the unit.
Laptop for server sounded good. But we still have the problem of supplying uninterrupted power to the router. We could take out power from the battery and supply to router directly. But that could be challenge since AFAIK, the battery in laptops provide 12V and 5V output and our router requires 19V DC input.
We could also use PoE injectors like this. A PoE injector seems a good solution, but I'm not sure it's reliable. Will it damage the router, or is a better way to do this?
Best Answer
I second MadHatter's suggestion of using a desktop UPS. In fact, that's exactly the solution I settled on a few years back when I got a contract to set up wireless coverage for a couple million square feet of warehouse. To avoid needing expensive new fiber runs, the routers and switches for each building were hung up in the ceiling, and provided power with a small UPS usually used to power a single workstation. Worked flawlessly.