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I feel like this article is over-representing how much SpaceX kept the country online. How much of Ukraine's traffic went over the SpaceX satellites? Even in th

by mempko 5y ago

I feel like this article is over-representing how much SpaceX kept the country online. How much of Ukraine's traffic went over the SpaceX satellites? Even in the east where most of the destruction and fighting happened, people have cell reception. Article made it sound like without SpaceX, Ukraine would not have internet. But doesn't Ukraine have connections to Europe through Poland and it's other neighbors? Russia would need to literally cut the cables or destroy every cellphone tower and ISP and backbone providers in the country (Russia didn't do any of these things). This also kind of reveals that SpaceX and other radio based technology is more vulnerable to attacks than wired connections. Also shows how resilient the design of the internet is! Routing algorithms FTW! I call BS that it was SpaceX that kept the country online.

agapon 5y ago
> where it was touched they mostly hit military targets Eh? Destroying upwards of 50% of residential buildings (apartment blocks) apparently counts as hitting military targets? But I agree on the role of Space X.
- mempko 5y ago
  What? You believe 50% of residential buildings in Ukraine have been destroyed?
londons_explore 5y ago
Many areas are without power, and most of those same areas are without cell service. Look at a live twitter geolocation heatmap and it becomes pretty clear which areas are 'offline'.
- mempko 5y ago
  Great idea! https://onemilliontweetmap.com/?center=48.1367666796927,33.49731445312501&zoom=6&search=&timeStep=0&timeSelector=0&hashtag1=&hashtag2=sad&sidebar=yes&hashtagBattle=0&timeRange=0&timeRange=25&heatmap=1&sun=0&cluster=1 https://onemilliontweetmap.com/?center=48.1367666796927,33.4... I found the site above. Is there a better map?
- simne 5y ago
  > same areas are without cell service Good idea but not exactly. - In Ukraine (similar to other ex-USSR countries) govt laws require from phone companies, to provide service "at least 8 hours after power off". To be exact, this is requirement of all phone licenses, land and cell. So in real life, on most cell towers accumulators withstand much more - I have worked in telecoms, 24h of work without power is normal for them. For smartphone power, in Ukraine most people have powerbanks, so also could tweet for 24h and more. But when without power for few days or more, sure business activity fall and less people will be active on internet. Also huge factor in this war, huge number of refugees. Even considering not all people flee abroad, but about 12 millions (from approx 40 millions) moved from east/north/south regions to west regions.

by mempko 5y ago

agapon 5y ago

> where it was touched they mostly hit military targets Eh? Destroying upwards of 50% of residential buildings (apartment blocks) apparently counts as hitting military targets? But I agree on the role of Space X.

mempko 5y ago
What? You believe 50% of residential buildings in Ukraine have been destroyed?

londons_explore 5y ago

Many areas are without power, and most of those same areas are without cell service. Look at a live twitter geolocation heatmap and it becomes pretty clear which areas are 'offline'.

mempko 5y ago
Great idea! https://onemilliontweetmap.com/?center=48.1367666796927,33.49731445312501&zoom=6&search=&timeStep=0&timeSelector=0&hashtag1=&hashtag2=sad&sidebar=yes&hashtagBattle=0&timeRange=0&timeRange=25&heatmap=1&sun=0&cluster=1 https://onemilliontweetmap.com/?center=48.1367666796927,33.4... I found the site above. Is there a better map?
simne 5y ago
> same areas are without cell service Good idea but not exactly. - In Ukraine (similar to other ex-USSR countries) govt laws require from phone companies, to provide service "at least 8 hours after power off". To be exact, this is requirement of all phone licenses, land and cell. So in real life, on most cell towers accumulators withstand much more - I have worked in telecoms, 24h of work without power is normal for them. For smartphone power, in Ukraine most people have powerbanks, so also could tweet for 24h and more. But when without power for few days or more, sure business activity fall and less people will be active on internet. Also huge factor in this war, huge number of refugees. Even considering not all people flee abroad, but about 12 millions (from approx 40 millions) moved from east/north/south regions to west regions.