Does running pci lan card protect from power surge over ethernet cable ?

My internet service provider uses a cat5 cable which was directly 
connected to the onboard ethernet.Yesterday when the machine was 
running, suddenly there was a loud bang and the monitor went off.After 
restarting , there was no network device  - lspci did not show any 
ethernet controller.Same thing in windows xp - no ethernet controller in 
device manager.Luckily , everything else is working allright.

Is it possible that a power surge over the ethernet cable could have 
rendered the lan card dead ?. For the time being, i am using cheap pci 
lan card and a switch - the ISP cable is terminated at the switch and 
another ethernet cable is connected from the switch to the lan card ? 
Does it offer any protection ?

I should mention that the SMPS is connected to a spikebuster which is 
connected to a MCB switch and the eletrical wiring in my house is 
properly checked for earthing.
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