Which suggests faulty wiring inside the home, and/or possible RFI/EMI from some other devices - perhaps due to a faulty ground or damaged shielding on a cable.
Make sure all your computer components are connected to the same wall outlet. This ensure they share a "common" ground. I also recommend checking each wall outlet for proper wiring and grounding. Every home and every computer user should have access to a
AC Outlet Tester to ensure the wall outlet is properly wired
and grounded to Earth ground. I recommend one with a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupt) indicator as it can be used to test bathroom and kitchen outlets (outlets near water) too. These testers can be found for your type and voltage outlet, foreign or domestic, (like
this one for the UK) at most home improvement stores, or even the electrical department at Wal-Mart. Use it to test all the outlets in the home and if a fault is shown, have it fixed by a qualified electrician.
Gee whiz. I did not ignore it. I have mentioned dips, sags and brownouts multiple times. You were just incorrect.
So let's look at what you really said. You implied ripple suppression is a factor in deciding whether or not to use a UPS. That is incorrect. Ripple and ripple suppression play no role at all. Why? Because ripple is unwanted AC riding the DC output of the power supply. It has nothing to do with input voltage to the PSU. And an UPS outputs AC, not DC.
You said a PSU provides a small degree of "brown out survival". That also is wrong. The ATX Form Factor standard only requires ATX PSUs maintain ("hold up") output for 16ms should the input voltage drop below 90VAC/180VAC thresholds. A "brownout", by definition is a long duration sag. And a sag typically lasts from 3 to 10 cycles, or
50 to 170 milliseconds. Therefore, no way will an ATX PSU provide any protection or "survival" from a brown out - or even a sag.
Note the average human eye/brain can detect power fluctuations (flickering lights) that last 30ms or longer. This means a "dip" (opposite of a spike) of just 20ms is more than a enough to cause a PSU to stop output and crash the computer - all without the user ever being aware a power anomaly occurred.
Then you said, in your mind, their only advantage is providing power during an outage. It has repeatedly been mentioned that it is the AVR (automatic voltage regulation) that is their primary advantage and backup power during a power outage is just a minor bonus. But you keep ignoring that fact and accuse me of only seeing my perspective.
And you suggested one has to spend 1K to protect 3K! Total nonsense.
Then of course, a UPS also protects more than just the computer's PSU. It can also protect the monitor(s) and all your network gears. If you have VoIP, it can keep your phone service running. Not to mention, the UPS can keep the computer from crashing, thus protecting the data from corruption. And I note for many, the data is MUCH MORE valuable than all the hardware.
No - they definitely prefer underground utilities. It does cost more to lay/install underground, but once in place, it takes very little maintenance as there is very little need for repair. Wind, ice, and falling trees and tree branches are not a concern. The outer insulation is essentially rodent-proof. Plus, in most cases, those cables are buried at least 24 inches deep - even deeper (below the frost layer) in cold climates. And rodents prefer grubs and roots to hard plastics and metal shielding. When buried in sewers, the cables run through metal conduits.
If there is a break in the line, a crew of just a couple people in 1 repair truck can repair it. If lines are pulled off polls, it could take many people in several trucks.