Quote:
Originally Posted by wdfifteen
It's more than download speed. We mostly depend on internet for emergency event information from the local TV stations, but if the event is a power outage in our area, Frontier's server (or whatever device it is that provides DSL service to us) goes down. I don't know where this "box" is located, but it is very local to us, because it goes down whenever there is an outage in our local area. I was not aware of this and got a UPS for our router so we could still have internet access in a power outage. Nope.
We have apps on our phones for local news broadcasts for tornado or thunderstorm warnings, so it isn't a game changer.
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I worked for a communications company for 32 years as an engineer/planner. One of my jobs was to design the hardware layouts for the switches that provide the internet service for each area. Initially each of these remote serving areas was linked back to a central office via T1 circuits. Eventually the bandwidth requirements became large enough that fiber optic cable was extended to each site with the internet service going over copper cables for the last mile or so. If there is an area blackout, the remote switch and its associated hardware will run off of imbedded batteries for about 6-8 hours but will eventually go out of service. In some areas, the remote sites serve customers that really can't afford to lose service (such as hospitals, etc.) so there will be an automatic generator mounted at the switch site. If, in the case of a blackout, your cell smartphone is still working, you can use it as a wifi hotspot for a short while. Other than that, you are pretty much out of luck! The only other alternative for local weather info, etc.,would be a battery powered radio. Like it is said, technology is great until it doesn't work!