I have experienced numerous hurricanes in the past. Following Katrina in Mississippi, the only reliable form of communication was a telephone landline that worked continuously. Those that had cell phones could not get reception because the towers were damaged. It was months before cable internet was available, yet my DSL connection worked. The only contact with the outside world was your battery powered radio, until those stations were knocked off the air.

Most people do not have a landline, what can the average citizen expect in terms of cell phone service and internet availability?


Thanks

I worked with Cox Communications and Nextel (and then with Sprint/Nextel) in the Florida Panhandle after Ivan as they worked to make their infrustructure more resiliant and failover implimentation.

A lot of fibre has been laid to enhance and replace older copper and coax for Internet and VoIP, so it is actually likely to be better than the copper POTS that was effected by flooding and downed trees and poles (line breaks).

A good bit of their traffic is over fiber, some cell to cell, and some copper.

In addition, tower design is much better and evolved from learing of the damage and the systems are more robust and capable of enduring a lot more than before.


I also learned how they tier and prioritize traffic.

I won't go into details, but to say that even if you have service, the congestion, the re-routing due to damage areas, and the "priority" to specific agencies based on national security, and regional, then local, to include Emergency services, the last person on the ladder is "Joe Cellphone", and available "links" are made randomly generated to spread the availabel service to all.

So, you may get a call or text through, and the next minute, even with full service "bars" get the "all circuits are busy" bit.


SMS is the best, as it is smallest bandwithc useage, and will queue and deliever, just not always "instant".

Hope that helps.

We had a bad storm in 2006 where we lost power for 9 days, landlines were down for 14. I drove over it every day to work. Throughout the whole thing cell service worked. I think it mostly depends if your landlines are hung or underground.

Satellite phone. But it's a little late to be ordering one now.

-Rob

Ham radio is a lifesaver.

About 4% of almost 8000 cell towers in the path of Harvey went offline. Carriers have learned a lot since Katrina. AT&T and Verizon staged fuel trucks along the path to refuel generators powering the cell towers in case power was lost. They also used drones to inspect for tower damage if the ground was flooded.

IF, there is any kind of cell service, SMS texting is best. That became apparent after the London Underground bombing back in '05. Uses less bandwidth and can communicate in succinct, short bursts. Out here in earthquake country, comms get really spotty and intermittent after a good shaker, took me a whole year to get my senior parents comfortable texting.

Ham radio when cell is down. Get certified and learn how to use it.
How to communicate when the world goes silent
How to get a ham radio license

Related: There is quite a bit of information getting out of the BVI on a public Facebook account. As of last night, not a lot of news organizations were covering that area as they were more focused on FL.

quote:

Satellite phone. But it's a little late to be ordering one now.

Maybe for next year. I understand those are EXTREMELY expensive. Is that still the case?

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

Satellite phone. But it's a little late to be ordering one now.

Maybe for next year. I understand those are EXTREMELY expensive. Is that still the case?

I've only ever rented one when I've been going into remote areas and wanted to have a lifeline handy. Renting isn't terrible, but it looks like most Iridium handsets are still retailing for > $1K.

-Rob

Plus monthly fees.

quote:

About 4% of almost 8000 cell towers in the path of Harvey went offline. Carriers have learned a lot since Katrina. AT&T and Verizon staged fuel trucks along the path to refuel generators powering the cell towers in case power was lost. They also used drones to inspect for tower damage if the ground was flooded.

That is encouraging, but apparently Puerto Rico lost most of its cell towers according to news reports. Harvey was flooding except for where the center made landfall. Irma will be both.

Am I correct in assuming that the communication system in Puerto Rico is not on a par with the Florida and the Gulf Coast??

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Originally posted by Fenris:
Plus monthly fees.

You could do pre-pay and leave it in your B.O.B.

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Originally posted by CPTKILLER:
Ham radio is a lifesaver.

This, plus, the FCC allows use of any radio communications means in a disaster. So, bottom line, life or death, you do not have to be licensed, though you should be to be a part of the comms network and do your fair share.

RMD

Landlines worked immediately after Charley in 2004. Then the wires were cut because the poles were blocking the roads. Much of Florida's wired services, especially the last mile, is above ground on poles. I'm sure improvements have been made in the last 10 years, but I'd expect any hard hit areas to be without communications for weeks. My guess is the power company will work to restore power and get the poles up, then the phone and cable companies will be able to fix their lines. We had power about three weeks after Charley and a week later the phone worked. My parents' cable worked about the same time as the phone, but I didn't get DSL until a week after my phome started working.

Cell service will be sporadic for the first few weeks as well.

Looking at a sat phone since Spectrum no longer does a true land line.

$499 and $65 a month for 100 minutes, globalstar does NA and Europe.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dewhorse,

quote:

Originally posted by CPTKILLER:
Ham radio is a lifesaver.

I looked at receivers a while ago and then back burnered the idea. It seems like something with transmit capabilities is the way to go. Are handheld units any good or do you need more power?

quote:

Originally posted by Spokane228:

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:
Plus monthly fees.

You could do pre-pay and leave it in your B.O.B.

I don't think they do that with sat phones.

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:

quote:

Originally posted by Spokane228:

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:
Plus monthly fees.

You could do pre-pay and leave it in your B.O.B.

I don't think they do that with sat phones.

Actually, I believe they do now.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:

quote:

Originally posted by Spokane228:

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:
Plus monthly fees.

You could do pre-pay and leave it in your B.O.B.

I don't think they do that with sat phones.

Actually, I believe they do now.

-Rob

Cool.