If you’re on a tight budget, the Amazon Basics Standby UPS 800VA is an affordable UPS with the battery and run time of a more expensive model: It can keep a typical router and modem running for up to one and a half hours.

Measured surge protection: 593.2 let-through volts.

Measured run time with a 300 W (modem, router, PC, and hard drive) load: 21 minutes.

Lastly, its backlit screen provides helpful information such as the remaining battery life and the total wattage of the devices plugged into the unit. Because it has a pure sine-wave inverter, its power is as smooth as that of a standard wall outlet, making it safe and reliable for even sensitive equipment such as a CPAP machine. Roughly the size and shape of a small PC tower, it has 10 outlets in total, six of which it backs up with the battery, and it adds two USB ports (one USB-A and one USB-C) for charging small devices without the need for an extra power adapter. Like our top pick, it can keep the average modem and router running for up to four hours, giving you more than enough time to save your work and wait for the blackout to end. If you need to provide power to more (or larger) devices at your computer workstation during an outage, it can deliver up to 847 W-we had trouble finding home-office gear powerful enough to overload it in our testing. The APC BR1500MS2 is the most expensive UPS we recommend for most homes or small offices, but it offers a lot of value in the extra features it includes.

Measured surge protection: 540.4 let-through volts.

Measured run time with a 300 W (modem, router, PC, and hard drive) load: 17 minutes.

Measured run time with a 20 W (modem and router) load: 4 hours.

Five of its 10 outlets are backed up by a battery, and its compact shape-about the size of a three-ring binder-and its 6-foot cord make it relatively easy to stow under a desk or nightstand. It requires no setup aside from plugging it in, and it includes automatic voltage regulation-an important feature that some cheaper models lack. In our tests, it provided enough power to keep a household broadband modem and Wi-Fi router running for four hours, which means you can stay online while the power is off and get in touch with emergency services, follow news and weather changes, or just pass the time on your favorite websites.

The CyberPower CP900AVR will cover the basics for most people during common, short-term blackouts.

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