[152613] in North American Network Operators' Group
RE: VoIP vs POTS (was Re: Operation Ghost Click)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Brandt, Ralph)
Thu May 3 15:41:43 2012
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 15:40:40 -0400
In-Reply-To: <20120503192552.GD9744@luke.xen.prgmr.com>
From: "Brandt, Ralph" <ralph.brandt@pateam.com>
To: "Luke S. Crawford" <lsc@prgmr.com>,
"NANOG list" <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
Yep. What you experienced is exactly what I expected. And yes, sms MAY
make it when a call will not. In SAR demos we tell people, lost in the
woods, if cell doesn't work, send a message, hold the phone as high as
you can and slowly move it a couple feet back and forth.=20
I do lots of public service events in the Alleghenies (the PA portion of
the Appalachians) where cell towers are either non-existant, far away or
hidden by another hill. =20
I know this is off topic but if it saves a life, so be it.
When in this kind of area, TURN THE PHONE OFF WHEN YOU DON"T NEED IT.
My battery goes down in3-4 hours in the woods where in my home area it
stays up for nearly 30 hours. It goes on high power hunting for a tower
that is not there. =20
If you are planning to use a cell for emergencies, have an alternate way
to charge it. I have a home made 8 AA cell pack with a cigarette
lighter well that I carry - I can do a couple recharges. It will also
operate my ham radio Hand held for days which is far better to get me
out.
BTW if you are using a GPS, take at least 3 sets of spare batteries.
Other good things, a whistle, a mirror (to check your hair - you want to
look good for the searchers - grin), a garbage bag for an emergency
poncho and water. If you can read a compass and map they are good but
if you don't know what magnetic north is, take a class if you plan to be
in the wooded areas. It is also good to carry a snake bite kit, .38 and
9MM ones are great. The woods are fun.
=20
=20
Ralph Brandt
-----Original Message-----
From: Luke S. Crawford [mailto:lsc@prgmr.com]=20
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2012 3:26 PM
To: NANOG list
Subject: Re: VoIP vs POTS (was Re: Operation Ghost Click)
On Thu, May 03, 2012 at 10:59:47AM -0400, Brandt, Ralph wrote:
> One of the first things cellular companies can do is stop overselling
> cellular. The second is end or raise the price significantly on
> unlimited plans, both voice and data. Go to what the landlines
called,
> USS, that is you pay for every minute.... Even if that charge is
small,
> it will drive usage down.
>=20
> Otherwise on a bad day people will die waiting for the yackers to get
> off the call phone so they can call 911. Hopefully it will not be on
> VOIP and the internet is down.
A few years back, I was working late on the top floor of one of the
Yahoo=20
mission college buildings during an earthquake. It felt really
dramatic;
I was on the 9th floor and the lights were swinging back and forth and=20
yeah. So, I went outside (who knows how bad it was) figured out it
wasn't that bad, and so before going home, I decided to call some people
to tell them I was okay. Of course, it was as you describe, I couldn't
get through.
what did I do? I sent a text message. It got through and I got an
answer back in about the usual amount of time it takes someone to
respond
to a sms text.
It seems like SMS might be a reasonable backup during these periods of
high load. =20
