That's BS! Lightning might affect a wireless keyboard and mouse, but not wired. Lightning, however, can sure introduce significant surges and spikes in the power coming off your grid - especially if you house has poor or faulting wiring.
None defines appliance protection. Plenty of hearsay exists when one only believe a first thing told. Many do not do what is always necessary to learn. A recommendation must say why with numbers. No numbers indicate classic junk science reasoning.
Another indication of a lie: a reply is based in soundbyte rationalizing rather than reality that takes paragraphs and specification numbers.
Begin with BS about damage via wireless. Lightning strikes within maybe 30 feet of a long wire antenna. Antennas maximize E-M (wireless) effects; ie create a highest voltage from an adjacent lightning strike. That antenna lead might be at thousands of volts. An NE-2 glow lamp - a less than 1 milliamp conductor - causes thousands of volts drop to tens. Why? E-M field energy content is trivial. Made irrelevant by a tiniest energy consumer - a neon glow lamp. Damage from E-M (wireless) fields are routinely averted by something that conducts maybe less than 0.001 amps. Protection from lightning fields is that routinely made irrelevant. Tens of times greater threat is to a wired keyboard; not on a wireless one.
Second, unplugging is a least reliable solution for so many reasons. For starters, surges too often occur without any warning. Appliances that need unplugging cannot be - ie dishwasher, bathroom and kitchen GFCIs, furnace, clocks, refrigerator, smoke detectors, etc. Best protection operates in microseconds. And costs about $1 per protected appliance.
Your telco's CO computer suffers about 100 surges with each thunderstorm. Using his reasoning, then everyone is without phone service for four days after each storm while they replace that $multi-million computer. Reality. 100 surges with each storm and no damage. Using a proven solution that every homeowner can install for about $1 per protected appliance. One can be scammed with magic box protectors. Or one can never sleep, never shower, never leave the house, etc so as to protect by unplugging. Only wild speculation assumes unplugging is effective.
Third, AC outlet tester says nothing about protecting appliances. Only the uninformed believe a wall receptacle safety ground does what an earth ground must. That safety ground protects humans. It does not protect hardware - for a long list of reasons associated with electrical numbers.
That outlet tester cannot even define safety ground good. It can only report some safety ground defects. Often recommended by many who have no idea what is being reported. Meanwhile appliance protection means a ground connection must be low impedance (ie wire without splices or sharp bends). Low impedance is another critical number completely unknown the many who use a word "BS" as science fact.
Four, back to well proven science. A "$1 per protected appliance" whole house solution is effective because (a) it makes a low impedance (ie less than 10 foot) connection to (b) single point earth ground. As was done over 100 years ago. Then a facility (ie telco CO) suffers about 100 surges with each storm - without damage. That says where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate. Then a direct lightning strike (ie 20,000 amps) results in no damage. Every sentence explained with numbers.
If a surge is permitted anywhere inside, then well proven 'whole house' protection (with the always required low impedance connection to earth ground) is missing. Routine should be thunderstorms without any indication that a nearby strike existed (other than noise). Interruptions to USB devices or "irreversible damage" indicates a human mistake exists. Learn starting with how surge protection has always been done. If any wire enter without connecting low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) to earth ground (directly or via a protector), then a consumer has literally invited that surge inside to do damage.
Protection from lightning (and many other surges) is so routine that damage is traceable to a human mistake. Effective protection means one knows where hundreds of thousands of joules are harmlessly absorbed. Even a receptacle safety ground or old wiring is completely irrelevant. Protection is only as effective as its single point earth ground. As demonstrated by so many facts with numbers. And by over 100 years of well proven science and experience.
If numbers were learned, then he could explain why that UPS and AVR do not even claim to protect hardware. Where is one number to justify that wild speculation? Too many are only educated by hearsay, wild speculation, and junk science reasoning.
What many above did not have and need is described - for about $1 per protected appliance and other numbers. And without emotional BS fiction.
