I used the Tiger DC UPS TDC-1100 Backup Battery for my Router, and it was terrible

From 8 hours backup time to zero for our home router, in a mere six months, the Tiger DC UPS TDC-1100 backup battery was a terrible disappointment.

This review is coming late, but it is better than never. When we set up our unlimited home Internet router in 2021, we needed backup power to keep it running, as we had not installed an inverter system yet in the building. So, I asked the team from the ISP and one of them said he had just the device to fix our problem. I paid him and he showed up with the Tiger DC UPS TDC-1100 pack. Yipeee!

Tiger DC UPS TDC-1100 Backup Battery specs

• Input Voltage range: 100V ¬ 240V (85 – 275Vac)
• Output Voltage: USB 5V – DC 5V 9V 12V – POE 15V / 24V
• Output power: 18W
• Battery Type: Lithium Battery
• Battery Capacity: 8800mAh
• Discharge Current: 5V (2A) – 9V / 12V (1A) – 15V  24V (0.5A)
• Protection: Overload / Overvoltage / Short Circuit

Our experience with it

He set it up and we were assured that the router would get 8 hours of backup power supply from it whenever mains power we t off. And that was what happened in the early stages. But within a few months, I noticed that runtime dropped to 6 hours and then 4 hours and then 1 hour and then, just a few minutes after mains power went off. It all happened so fast. Within a space of six months, the Tiger DC UPS TDC-1100 became a decorative item that provided no value to us.

Six months is a short time for any kind of device to stop working. The fella who supplied it stopped picking my calls and stopped responding to my messages. Essentially, it was game over. There isn’t one gadget I have bought in the last five years that disappointed me as much as this battery pack did. This one went from 100km per hour to zero, in 6 seconds.

Note that it was powering the Internet router exclusively. No other load was ever placed on it. The whole idea was that even if the whole house was in darkness, there had to be data, afterall, in the immortal words of Airtel Nigeria, data is life.

The Tiger DC UPS TDC-1100 backup battery appears to be a popular product and is widely available from a variety of retailers (at least, it is listed on their webpages and online stores), but after my experience with it, there is no way I am recommending the to anyone and for any reason.

If you are hell-bent on buying one, there are retailers offering the Tiger DC UPS TDC-1100 for as high as ₦32,000 on Jumia, and I have seen it for as low as ₦28,000 elsewhere. All the best of luck with it.

Do I have any recommended alternatives at this time? Not at all. I have not tried any alternative yet, as we went ahead with an inverter system for the house after this episode with the Tiger DC unit. If I do hear from people who have had good experiences with others router backup batteries, I will share the information here.

Update: I know someone who uses a ZLT UPS100 Mini UPS/Battery Backup with their Airtel 5G Smartbox and he says it lasts for about 3 to 4 hours. I don’t have information on how well it works yet, as it is just about a week old with him.

I am also aware that there exists the ZLT UPS50, which is slightly different from that. It has a 4000mAh battery capacity and costs ₦19,000 on Jumia. I did see two customer reviews of the product, on Jumia, saying that the battery is not dependable.

Author: Mister Mobility

Mister Mobility, a techie with a passion for storytelling. I have owned, used, and reviewed hundreds of mobile phones since 2001. I started Mobility Nigeria Tech Blog in 2008.