I'm writing this blog on July 26th 2010 but I am delaying the posting of it since the frequency of posting content is low, this way you get a bit more regular content.
As many of you know, the grid went down on July 26th 2010 around 7pm and I learned some good lessons about my grid down preps. This sparked a concern in my mind as to what I will do if the grid is down for a prolonged period of time. What would I do for basic communication since I run Hardware Voice Over Internet Protocol? (an Internet phone service that runs independently of the actual Internet line, the long and short is that it doesn't take up my bandwidth when I'm on the phone) I can do my best to back-up my modem which runs my phone and Internet with power. But what can I do if my provider doesn't satisfy my communication needs if the grid is down? I'll tell you flat out that my provider doesn't. In most cases a traditional phone line is run underground or on a tower and is much less likely to get damaged. Sure a tree can fall on it or a construction worker can cut the wire when digging but these happen much less than a cable line goes down. Cable now carries a large part of the high speed Internet connections in cities large and small. Therefore they often shut the system down to update their system on a regular basis. They update their server and Internet Service software; they add more speed and upgrade their lines often. Better hardware is coming out all the time and they need to update to keep up with their competition. If an Internet service provider doesn't upgrade to the new high speed cables or terminals they will soon be taken over by their competition. When I first got high-speed Internet I had a 52 megabyte connection, now my provider doesn't even have a 52 megabyte connection, they only offer 1 Gigabyte connection or more. The reason for this is that competition updated their service and if my provider didn't everyone would leave for the faster service.
For this reason the cable system is less reliable in a Stink Hit the Fan situation or even in day to day life. The lines just don't have the redundancy to be a viable emergency option. Do you ever notice how you often need to contact your cable provider to figure out why the service is down after a blackout? It is often because when the power goes off it trips a problem in the cable system that fries the connection until they can find the problem at their many terminals and junction boxes to get it fixed. This is what happened to me this evening. My cable is down right now, Internet, phone and cable TV. This happens almost every time that the power goes out for an hour or more. Unlike the traditional phone line cable needs power, once the modem in your home runs out of power it can't provide you with phone or Internet even if you have battery power left on your laptop. On top of that the cable lines need power at their main station to send out the signal. If the grid goes down for a very long time and the provider can't fund fuel for their generator system they will just leave it down. "Frazer, cable companies have cash by the truckload, why wouldn't they power their system?" I hear you say, my response is simple, if the cable provider doesn't get paid why would they bother powering the system? If people can't power their computers or TVs chances are they won't pay the cable bill! I know if I couldn't use my service for a month I'd wonder what I was paying for. I'd probably send the bill to the hydro company. So if no one was paying their cable bill or even if half the people were to not pay their bill since they couldn't use the service why would the company power those systems? They'd be losing money paying for the fuel to the generator and trying to keep their systems up. In a SHTF situation they would be constantly fighting to fix the problems that hit all the time when the power goes off, terminals and junction boxes will be stressed and they will need to fight to find problems. The cable company would be stretched to their limit. So why should we rely on this system? I'll tell you what I'm doing, I'm cancelling my VOIP service and going back to bell, for the few long distance calls I make to family in Manitoba I'm going to use Skype.
Why you ask? Because traditional phone lines need virtually no power, I've got an emergency back-up corded phone that needs no power to operate. This will give me more protection of my telephone service since my cable provider doesn't meet my requirements for communication especially if the grid is down long term. If I need to call 911 in a grid down situation I don't want my cellular phone to be my only hope since it is more likely to be bogged down and overused. Plus my alarm system is important to me for home security and I don't want to have to worry while sleeping if the grid is down. With my system monitoring for fire I want to make sure my apartment is secure, one thing that could happen is a power surge can spark a fire in one of my many electrical products and if I am not home I want to make sure the alarm system can contact my alarm provider.
[What is your 2010 preparedness plan?]
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