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Ormond
Endless Peacock
Ormond
Endless Peacock
Thank you! I'm without power and potable water and may need a new roof. We're very happy no one was injured.
K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
We could use some of that rain in SoCal. I wonder how the X seals hold up against hurricanes, haven't tested mine with regular rain cause it hasn't rained here since I got my X in may!!
Curious on how long cell towers operate during an outage. And if you have your network equipment on a UPS does that mean you can have wifi during an outage?
Curious on how long cell towers operate during an outage. And if you have your network equipment on a UPS does that mean you can have wifi during an outage?
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
This UPS on my IT kit only last about 20 minutes after a power cut; static storage such as PowerWall would do better of course. We have an external socket on the outside of the building that allows us to plug in a generator [with corresponding change-over switch to isolate the grid - in case a linesman is working on it!], and ironically we need power (grid or generator) for the PV to operate!
K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
Does your network equipment work when you run the generator? Or does the ISP service go down
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
It depends, External connection to ISP, for us, is using ADSL across (a pair of) ordinary phone lines (i.e. nothing as "posh" as Fibre to the building). The phone lines are typically more resilient than the power company's supply. But if we have a major storm and, being out in the countryside, it is, for example, a few days until we are reconnected then my guess is that, most probably, the phone service would go down too.
Outage of several hours on our phone lines is very rare, whereas for the power utility its a few times a year, so perhaps some short distance from our house the phone converts to Fibre, and that is in a better protected / deeper duct / conduit than the power lines??
(If the phone line is "up" then using my generator is fine for maintaining network in the building and via Switch to the outside world.)
K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
Thanks for sharing, I am on the U-Verse Gigapower so I got fiber to home. During the last 2 outages, the system worked but I am curious if it would remain functional if a major earth quake (I am in SoCal) or something similar would occur.
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
My gut-feeling is that if that is important to you then you would need something that wasn't cable-based as a backup. Either satellite or some sort of line-of-sight (radio, microwave or somesuch) link to a tower (which is going to survive the disruption and have power!!)
The BBC do a birdwatching series once a year out on the coast near me. There is absolutely and definitely no high bandwidth service anywhere near there!!, but they erect a temporary microwave tower and carry on regardless ... and I presume the bandwidth they need for live TV broadcast is massive.
We had satellite instead of cable-based broadband at a previous address. Performance was dreadful, but only in terms of LAG not in terms of BANDWIDTH, so with some care (bulking up packets to be sent as-one, and organising the traffic to have as few round-trip communications as possible) it did indeed work. For example it would work better for EMail than it would for interactive web pages, particularly modern web pages with embedded AJAX and all that "cool user experience" stuff!!
Cell towers in most places have ups and emergency generators to keep them alive. You still can't get a call through, because ten thousand other people are trying. (FEMA and the like have some override codes to give them priority when that happens.)
K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
I think it will in theory, if there's enough bandwidth to handle the traffic. It depends on the details - you need to have a data connection to the tower in addition to having power, but you should have that until infrastructure starts getting destroyed, and maybe even after that.
K-MTG
Sunshade Captain of TMC
I really want to get the powrwall, but they are charging $15k for 4 circuits for one powerwall. I would be willing to pay $7k max, I only get poweroutages 3-4 times a year for a few hours.
I'm waiting to see what this Tesla integrated solution is at the end of the month. I have 4.6 kW of microinverters that cover half to two thirds of my usage, and I'm looking to expand that and add a battery pack when good options come along (and when I can afford them.)
In five years, I haven't had a power outage of more than a couple hours, but I was a good boy scout back in the day, and I believe in being prepared and self sufficient where it is practical.
Most cell towers don't have anything more than battery backup which may last only a few days if you're lucky. Some do have generator connections, but does the cell company have enough generators and can they get them deployed where needed?
Also, regarding the SpC release if the power fails, yes, simply press the button on the handle as always. Even w/o power the proximity release still works.
Also, regarding the SpC release if the power fails, yes, simply press the button on the handle as always. Even w/o power the proximity release still works.
Ormond
Endless Peacock
I haven't had power for two nights. I am using flashlights to see. I hope it comes back on tomorrow. My ice is melting.
Brovane
Member
The challenge with any battery backup is Heat. If the cell tower needs AC (some cell towers have electronics that can sustain higher heat loads) then even on battery backup the tower will not remain up for every long (hours) not days. As a general rule, AC units are not on battery backup because of the high draw. I know at my employer (Major Telecomm Company) they have large fans stationed at sites that if necessary in the event of AC power failure and generator failure, technicians will opens doors and position fans to help bring down the heat some.
What most major Telecomm companies probably have done as soon as the Hurricane path was forecasted is they implemented emergency procedures including the positioning of fuel trucks and generators outside of the impacted areas. For a lot of companies especially Telecomm companies, 9/11 was a wake-up call that they needed to get serious about DR.
Here is a video on AT&T teams for Disaster Recovery. Other major telecomm providers have similiar teams.
Verizon has a similar team.
