How to Keep Your Internet Running During Load-Shedding in Zimbabwe
6 minute read · 10 November 2026
A power cut should not take your internet with it. Most homes and small offices lose connectivity during load-shedding for one simple reason: the router, the fibre box and the WiFi access point all run straight off the wall socket.
The fix is small and affordable. Three devices normally draw between 20 and 40 watts between them, which is well within what a modest battery backup can carry for several hours.
This guide walks through what to power, what size backup to buy, and how to keep your network online when one internet line goes down.
1. Work out what actually needs power
Do not try to back up everything. The devices that matter are the ones that carry your connection:
- The fibre terminal or LTE box your provider installed — usually under 10 watts.
- Your router or firewall — 10 to 20 watts.
- Any WiFi access points or switches that feed the rest of the building.
2. Choose a UPS that matches the load
A 600–1000VA UPS will typically run 20–40 watts of network equipment for several hours. Add up the wattage printed on each device's power adapter, then choose a unit whose wattage rating sits comfortably above that total.
Lithium battery models cost more upfront but last far longer than sealed lead-acid units, charge faster between outages, and are lighter — worth it if you are on daily schedules.
Do not plug printers, heaters or kettles into the same UPS. They draw surges that trip it and drain it in minutes.
3. Use PoE so one backup powers many devices
A PoE switch powered from the UPS sends electricity to your access points and cameras through the same cable that carries their data. One battery then protects the whole network instead of one socket.
This is the cleanest setup for offices and lodges: UPS in the cabinet, PoE switch inside it, and every access point on the ceiling fed from there.
4. Add a second internet line that fails over automatically
Fibre providers can lose power at their own exchange or tower. A router with dual-WAN — such as a MikroTik hAP or a UniFi Cloud Gateway — watches both connections and switches to LTE the moment fibre drops.
Keep the LTE line on the same UPS and the switch is invisible to whoever is on the call.
5. Put the recorder on the same backup
If you run CCTV, the network video recorder and its PoE switch must sit behind the UPS too. Otherwise the cameras stay online but the footage from the outage is never written to disk.
A small backup is not a luxury. For the cost of one UPS you keep the point-of-sale system taking payments, the cameras recording and the office online while the neighbours sit in the dark.
Send us your device list and we will tell you exactly what size backup you need before you buy.