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"I live in a cell phone dead spot and I depend on a landline because it will work when the the power is out and I really need to call 911. Cell phones, cordless

by antidoh 14y ago

"I live in a cell phone dead spot and I depend on a landline because it will work when the the power is out and I really need to call 911. Cell phones, cordless phones, skype, dsl, cable and "magic jack" all disappear when the power goes out." Yes, mostly, WRT cell vs land line. But a cell handset will work as long as it's charged, unless the towers in your area have themselves lost power, which is fairly likely in a disaster like Sandy. Land lines work in power outages because the lines are powered from the central office, so they are subject to the same natural disasters as cell towers. The central offices likely have diesel backups. I suppose towers have battery backups? Not disagreeing with you, I've always had landline comms during my power outages, but it's not black and white, especially as you rise up the disaster scale.

geetee 14y ago
Unfortunately some providers like Verizon are forcing customers to switch to a digital line that has an 8 hour battery backup. During Sandy we didn't have cell towers or landlines to rely on. It was an incredibly uncomfortable feeling to have no easy means of communication with family just a couple miles away.
- wiredfool 14y ago
  The local phone company here is rolling out fiber to near the house, then dsl from there. But we're in an area that's very prone to power outages, and the fiber terminators require power. The phone company is serious about providing service through power outages, they even advertise that unlike the power company, they bury all their lines. So, at every fiber terminator, they've got a small generac unit and some underground fuel storage. We've had our share of 2 day power outages over the years, but the landline service has never gone out.
  - wmf 14y ago
    The problem comes with FTTH networks like FIOS where every customer would need a generator if they want to survive long power outages.
    - wiredfool 14y ago
      Yep. We've got the generator. What's more important is fuel. Gasoline generators suck fuel, so we use them as necessary to recharge the UPSes and cool down the fridge/freezer. Not so good for keeping the phone lines running. It helps that we have wood heat, can cook on propane, and the well (for 6 houses) has it's own generator.

by antidoh 14y ago

geetee 14y ago

Unfortunately some providers like Verizon are forcing customers to switch to a digital line that has an 8 hour battery backup. During Sandy we didn't have cell towers or landlines to rely on. It was an incredibly uncomfortable feeling to have no easy means of communication with family just a couple miles away.

wiredfool 14y ago
The local phone company here is rolling out fiber to near the house, then dsl from there. But we're in an area that's very prone to power outages, and the fiber terminators require power. The phone company is serious about providing service through power outages, they even advertise that unlike the power company, they bury all their lines. So, at every fiber terminator, they've got a small generac unit and some underground fuel storage. We've had our share of 2 day power outages over the years, but the landline service has never gone out.
- wmf 14y ago
  The problem comes with FTTH networks like FIOS where every customer would need a generator if they want to survive long power outages.
  - wiredfool 14y ago
    Yep. We've got the generator. What's more important is fuel. Gasoline generators suck fuel, so we use them as necessary to recharge the UPSes and cool down the fridge/freezer. Not so good for keeping the phone lines running. It helps that we have wood heat, can cook on propane, and the well (for 6 houses) has it's own generator.