Putting any antenna into the air, especially if it is mounted on a metallic pole, can invite lightning in areas prone to thunderstorms. Grounding and protecting your AyrMesh hubs can help them perform better and protect your property from lightning damage.

You don't want to lose your AyrMesh hubs to lightning, but, more importantly, you don't want them to invite lightning into your home, where it can do real damage.

If you live in an area prone to lightning, we strongly suggest, first, that you have a lightning protection system on your house and that the antenna of your AyrMesh hub NOT extend above your lightning rod or rods. We also strongly suggest you place a lightning suppressor on the Ethernet cable between your AyrMesh hub and the power supply, as close to the hub as possible, and ground it properly.

A lightning suppressor like the one shown here (taken from the catalog at L-com.com) is relatively inexpensive and, properly installed, will protect your house if your AyrMesh hub is struck by lightning. You want to install it outside, of course - under an eave works best, but you can mount it on the same pole as your AyrMesh hub. Make sure the cable holes point down so water runs away from the cable inlets. You'll need a short length of Category 5 or 6 Ethernet cable to connect the hub to one side of the lightning suppressor, and then you'll plug your existing Ethernet cable into the other side of the lightning suppressor. Finally, make sure the lightning suppressor is grounded. 

Grounding the lightning suppressor is as simple as connecting it to the grounding system for your lightning rod - use AWG 6 solid copper wire or even 3/4" copper braid for best results. If you don't have a lightning rod, run the wire or braid down to either a grounding rod (at least 4' long copper spike driven into the ground) or a good water pipe that goes underground for at least 4'. Either way, make sure the grounding wire makes very good electrical contact with the grounding rod - a "grounding clamp" is useful for this.