The problem with whole home surge protection is they do nothing for excessive surges and spikes that originate from
within the home. For example, let's say your daughter just bought a new $15 1500W hair dryer made in some back woods factory in China with parts manufactured in a similar factory upriver and assembled by an underaged labor force
supervised by unscrupulous management
over-watched by corrupt government officials
(breathe, breathe). And that hair dryer fails catastrophically, the whole home arrester will not protect your computer from any excessive surge or spike that might be interjected into that circuit.
Actually, any electronic device, if damaged, can interject destructive surges and spike down the line. So for sure, a "good" UPS with AVR is highly recommended - whether your home has a whole-home surge protection or note.
Plus, not sure you can even install whole-home surge protection if you rent your house or live in an apartment.
I don't know - those might be one of those things 20/20 hindsight makes you wish you bought it. My power company is constantly bugging me to get it. If it was a one-time purchase, I might consider it. But after paying $125 for the initial equipment, there is a recurring $7 monthly fee ($10/month if I add cable and phone line protection). But worse, the coverage is horrible, IMO. If a direct lightning strike burns down my house, and the power company (not me or my insurance company) determines the arrester failed, it will only pay up to $50,000. That will not rebuild my house. And it only covers up to a measly $500 "per event" should an "event" zap my computer or my big screen TV. In other words, it will cover my home owners insurance deductible and that's it.
Now of course, the idea is that it is a proactive measure, instead of after-the-fact but I'm not really seeing the value and I live in
Tornado Alley.