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But what happened on January 6 was enough that representatives had to flee. The people responsible for security would want to address the possibility of somethi

But what happened on January 6 was enough that representatives had to flee. The people responsible for security would want to address the possibility of something like this, or worse, occurring in the future. Why would they not respond to this with improvements? Security forces have their own separate communications, it makes sense for representatives to be reachable in an emergency also. January 6 may have been a reminder of that, at the least.

LinuxBender 3y ago
Why would they not respond to this with improvements? They had every opportunity to improve the situation by having the nation guard present. They were offered and declined. That small contingency of capitol police would have be overwhelmed by a Walmart super-sale stampede and it was not fair to make them absorb the known incoming riot. That is why it does not surprise me that the police let many of the rioters in without resistance on one side of the building. Those that resisted were easily overwhelmed. If anything I feel bad for those cops that were put in harms way. The incident was avoidable or at very least the national guard could have quickly asserted control. It was also not cool making the national guard members sleep in a cold parking garage. Most guard members were not dressed for sleeping in a garage in 20-30F weather.
- mikem170 3y ago
  > They had every opportunity to improve the situation by having the nation guard present. I would assume that the circumstances around the deployment of National Guard are being looked at, also. The article didn't comment on this, they were talking about satellite phones. And satellite phones would still be useful in situations, such as what happened January 6, even if the national guard were present.
  - LinuxBender 3y ago
    And satellite phones would still be useful in situations, such as what happened January 6, even if the national guard were present. Maybe it would be useful for a minute to the congressional folks on the upper floors. I would be surprised if either satellite or plain cellular would work at all in the hallway effectively a tunnel they were escorted to. Maybe cellular-over-wifi would work. Adding to this every office in the capitol building has a hard wired multi-line desk speaker phone. All logistical communications would be by UHF trunked and P25 encrypted 2-way radios by capitol police assuming they were on the tactical channels. Their radios can also operate point-to-point without the need for a repeater. Politicians would be instructed to end their call and "Come this way". Where cellphones would have been useful is if everyone started recording video and put their phones in shirt or pants pockets to act like body cameras.
    - mikem170 3y ago
      I agree with what you said that satellite phones would not have been useful the day of January 6, 2021. You weren't saying that they shouldn't get satellite phones, right? Or that a security review prompted by January 6 has nothing to do with the decision to offer them satellite phones? Why would it be hyperbole? I assume the security folks wanted to make them (the representatives) more secure in general, including having better communications, based on a review of January 6, and in some scenarios satellite phones would be useful. Like if they had to be evacuated, etc. Do you disagree?
      - LinuxBender 3y ago
        I respectfully think at this point we should agree to disagree as we are going in circles. There was no indication that cellular networks were at risk and all critical communication was being handled by capitol police over encrypted trunked two-way radios. The only thing members of congress should be doing is following directions from police. Senators being issued satellite phones would not have added an value to that incident. Those phones are useful on boats, islands and sometimes on trails but to jki275's point one needs a very clear view to the sky. I still think the phones are for something else entirely.
        mikem170 3y ago
        Yeah, we are kind of missing the bigger picture. The article said there was a new Senate Sergeant at Arms after January 6, he offered representatives the phones, "to ensure a redundant and secure means of communication during a disruptive event." So the phone may have been prompted by January 6, but were not necessarily intended for January 6 scenarios. For example, I assume these phones might come in handy if hackers or saboteurs took out or jammed the cell phone network while terrorists somewhere set off a tactical nuke, etc. It seems remiss not to have the infrastructure set up before hand. Senators using police radios may not be as secure as having communications prepared for them in advance, even if not perfect. Just in case. Is that what you meant when you said that you thought the phones were for something else?
    - jki275 3y ago

LinuxBender 3y ago

Why would they not respond to this with improvements? They had every opportunity to improve the situation by having the nation guard present. They were offered and declined. That small contingency of capitol police would have be overwhelmed by a Walmart super-sale stampede and it was not fair to make them absorb the known incoming riot. That is why it does not surprise me that the police let many of the rioters in without resistance on one side of the building. Those that resisted were easily overwhelmed. If anything I feel bad for those cops that were put in harms way. The incident was avoidable or at very least the national guard could have quickly asserted control. It was also not cool making the national guard members sleep in a cold parking garage. Most guard members were not dressed for sleeping in a garage in 20-30F weather.

mikem170 3y ago
> They had every opportunity to improve the situation by having the nation guard present. I would assume that the circumstances around the deployment of National Guard are being looked at, also. The article didn't comment on this, they were talking about satellite phones. And satellite phones would still be useful in situations, such as what happened January 6, even if the national guard were present.
- LinuxBender 3y ago
  And satellite phones would still be useful in situations, such as what happened January 6, even if the national guard were present. Maybe it would be useful for a minute to the congressional folks on the upper floors. I would be surprised if either satellite or plain cellular would work at all in the hallway effectively a tunnel they were escorted to. Maybe cellular-over-wifi would work. Adding to this every office in the capitol building has a hard wired multi-line desk speaker phone. All logistical communications would be by UHF trunked and P25 encrypted 2-way radios by capitol police assuming they were on the tactical channels. Their radios can also operate point-to-point without the need for a repeater. Politicians would be instructed to end their call and "Come this way". Where cellphones would have been useful is if everyone started recording video and put their phones in shirt or pants pockets to act like body cameras.
  - mikem170 3y ago
    I agree with what you said that satellite phones would not have been useful the day of January 6, 2021. You weren't saying that they shouldn't get satellite phones, right? Or that a security review prompted by January 6 has nothing to do with the decision to offer them satellite phones? Why would it be hyperbole? I assume the security folks wanted to make them (the representatives) more secure in general, including having better communications, based on a review of January 6, and in some scenarios satellite phones would be useful. Like if they had to be evacuated, etc. Do you disagree?
    - LinuxBender 3y ago
      I respectfully think at this point we should agree to disagree as we are going in circles. There was no indication that cellular networks were at risk and all critical communication was being handled by capitol police over encrypted trunked two-way radios. The only thing members of congress should be doing is following directions from police. Senators being issued satellite phones would not have added an value to that incident. Those phones are useful on boats, islands and sometimes on trails but to jki275's point one needs a very clear view to the sky. I still think the phones are for something else entirely.
      - mikem170 3y ago
        Yeah, we are kind of missing the bigger picture. The article said there was a new Senate Sergeant at Arms after January 6, he offered representatives the phones, "to ensure a redundant and secure means of communication during a disruptive event." So the phone may have been prompted by January 6, but were not necessarily intended for January 6 scenarios. For example, I assume these phones might come in handy if hackers or saboteurs took out or jammed the cell phone network while terrorists somewhere set off a tactical nuke, etc. It seems remiss not to have the infrastructure set up before hand. Senators using police radios may not be as secure as having communications prepared for them in advance, even if not perfect. Just in case. Is that what you meant when you said that you thought the phones were for something else?
  - jki275 3y ago