Ops-Normal.org

CharlieOneSix wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 15, 2022 12:16 am

Boac wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 14, 2022 9:22 pm

Thoughts you may have but you ain't got no choice! Mind you, wireless broadband via a tethered mobile which you can recharge in your car would work.

We have no landline but have wireless internet and mobile phones. With no near neighbours we felt at risk for the four days without power, internet or mobile signal when Storm Corrie hit. Mrs C16 was extremely concerned about how she would do CPR on me yet get to a neighbour several hundred yards away for help....until she realised they haven't got a landline either! Some days your number is just up!

I remember many years ago, when there was a major exchange outage, the local amateur radio emergency network was called out by the police to go loiter in prominent places with some official signage so that people could come and report emergencies which would then be radioed in. Perhaps you need to get some good radio gear with a big battery on it.

I sort of assume that if earthquake predictions mature and the Big One hits this area, we'll lose power and all phone and internet service for some time. We're supposed to have supplies to last several days, including drinking water and food for pets, on the basis that we might have to last that long before outside help gets around to us.

BT have announced an unspecified delay in the switch to VOIP on UK lines. https://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/918 ... e-roll-out

My router, security cameras and security system all depended on mains power. Each has its own CHEAP battery UPS. A system for the Router alone cost less than £30.

BT could provide such a short term solution for £15 or less, or sell it for £60.

I haven't tested mine to empty but they have run for at least 2 hours. Clearly for outage for longer periods bigger batteries or generators would be needed.

Pontius Navigator wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 31, 2022 8:34 am

My router, security cameras and security system all depended on mains power. Each has its own CHEAP battery UPS. A system for the Router alone cost less than £30.

I have a bunch of UPS boxes, some cheap, some bigger and better. It started when I lived near Cambridge (the we-known one with the university, not the one in Gloucester) and we went through a period where the mains would drop for 5-10 seconds, just enough to cause the computer to reboot, then would do the same again a few minutes later. One cheap 300VA UPS box (£30 I think) and I could laugh at the power glitches. I bought a bunch of used UPS, including a couple of 1500VA units, on E-bay. Had to replace the batteries, but I was expecting that so not a surprise. When I moved to the US and had to dump the 240V stuff in favour of 120V stuff I started again. Desktop computers and servers are now all on UPS boxes, as is the cable modem (which supplies the landline phone too), WiFi and a few bits of the network infrastructure. Most of it only runs for 15-20 minutes, but the phone-related stuff will go longer. If really necessary there's a 4kVA generator on-site which gets tested every month or so, and we swap out the fuel in the cans reasonably regularly too.

Wise moves llondel, but are the cell tower operators acting so meticulously?
After our local infrastructure installer failed to turn up for three precise appointments (between 09:35 and 16:20 was one) but wasn't arsed enough to make contact to cancel, one does wonder ...

Thanks BT (or Clarion or Open Retch or whatever your "brand" is now)