APC Back-UPS Connect - CP12036LI - 12V DC 36W Lithium-Ion Mini UPS, designed for Routers, Smart Home Controllers, VoIP devices, Networking gear and more

I use this with an ONT to keep the Internet connection alive during the occasional power cuts where I live. It does the job nicely, and is small enough to fit neatly in the corner of the room.

Other than the Eaton3s mini, this Schneider APC CP12036Li is the only other widely recognised make of mini DC UPS being sold on Amazon and as such its a welcome addition to a market place full of transient clone-like products from short lived suppliers. With the planned withdrawal of the UK PSTN by the end of 2025 and the ongoing switchover to VoiP many more people will come to recognise the value in adding a battery backup to their routers. Given the importance of product safety when relying upon li-ion cells, its good to see a few established UPS manufacturers offering these small domestic products. The UPS doesn't come with an AC/DC adapter its assumed that it will be connected in-line with the one already powering the router etc. The guidance indicates the UPS can deliver 3A/36W.With around 22Wh of tested usable capacity this UPS should run a typical domestic router for between 2 and 3 hours, most routers seem to use between 6-10Watts. In the event of an extended power cut the device has a simple soft On/Off button, allowing it to be shutdown and restarted as needed. There is no audible warning to indicate an input power failure, the On/Off button just has an LED which flashes to indicate the UPS is discharging its battery.The battery max recharging current is <400mA, which means the AC/DC adaptor you use has to have around 5W of headroom to safely supply the UPS and the device it normally plugs into. The documentation doesn't make this point clearly enough in my view. If in doubt about how many Watts you router is really using then it makes sense to measure it and then decide if the existing AC/DC adapter is up to the small additional load.The unit itself is a solid performer with good voltage regulation across the discharge cycle and across different load. The output voltage held steady at 11.2Volts even @3amps.One observation is that APC used to sell a much larger capacity version of a similarly styled UPS; I still use a CP12142LI and nearly 5 years on it is still protecting my gateway router from regular power cuts; sadly they stopped making it a few years back. This new mini UPS is a good solution which could have been better if they had kept some of the features in the previous model, specifically capacity, audible warning, wall mounts. The price is also on the slightly high side, but you are paying for the name and all the safety, certification that goes with it.

Only just installed this, so no test on how long it powers our internet modem. But pulling the power plug worked fine with the unit indicating it is on battery power with 75% battery left. (A nice range of errors can be reported by the 5 LEDs, if you have the instructions handy to interpret them.)Instructions say batteries should be good for 3-5 years.We are out in the country and prone to short power glitches, which this will handle nicely, instead of losing the connection for say 10 minutes. The longer cuts, it should allow an hour or two of extended use on our battery powered tablet, laptops and mobiles. This will also cover the digital landline, when it arrives here.Jack plugs can come in several sizes. This uses the common 5.5mm x 2.5mm size with two pairs of converters, which seem to be for other common sizes 5.5mm x 2.1mm and 4.5mm x 1.7mm.However it seems that Plusnet use 5.5mm x 3.1mm! The socket in the APC unit copes with the difference, but the plug out of it into the modem needs a converter. In my case, I recycled the plug from an old Plusnet Hub 1 modem, wiring this to a 5.5mm x 2.5mm socket and now it functions fine. (Don't forget to check the polarity of such wiring).

Kept my ONT alive during a recent outage.

THIS DOES NOT WORK WITH BT ROUTERS!You can plug the router power supply into the UPS but the output wire and adaptors don’t fit the BT router.Had to return mine, very disappointed.

Ordered two, one for my modem, one for my router - I live in a location with frequent powercuts, and I got to test those well. My router lasts about 2h on this, and my modem about 3-3.5h. So far so good, and there is no power drop when switching to/from battery power.

Works perfectly. However do note be careful, the input is stated as 5 Amp but the instructions say you use your existing DC adaptor to charge the product. Purchased a 12v 5A power supply to go with this item as my router was only rated at 1 amp.

Unit is fairly small and neat. It has a useful light display to show status and deems to do the job it's intended for.Adaptors are provided for most routers / power supplies, but I had to order a different size adaptor for my particular router, but all works ok.