So much for cellular backup

[Desert_AIP]

Today a fiber optic got cut in my town.
It took out the land line, Internet and three cell phones all on different carriers all at once

Single point of failure

 

[video321]

True. But a thief would never look for, and cut, a fiber trunk line - at least not one in my area.
However, that is just another reason why I like to use screamers in my home while in away mode to make it as painful as possible to be there!

 

[RobNJ]

I guess we need satellite phone back-up to be safe

 

[tmbrown97]

Cellular here is a crap-shoot too... any time there's a power outage, the cell network shows perfect signal but is completely unusable; I suspect it's all the people using their phones to call their friends or post on Facebook to whine about the power outage; but the result is >90% packet failure.

 

[apostolakisl]

I thought that was what the internet was supposed to prevent! Multiple routing options not so much for you. I imagine the guy who cut the line is feeling pretty special right now.

 

[foxtail22]

I spent a few years working with the carriers on Internet services. They try to make sure they have diverse routing but it is not always possible. The main trunks have it but the feeders are hit and miss. I would guess you got hit but what we called backhoe fade. One of the issues today is that one fiber bundle can hold such a large volume traffic information that a feeder outage can be major for a given locale. The other items you touched on is that most people think the celluar network is separated from the land line network. That is true for the last mile but after that, they it get mixed very quickly. It has also gotten very complicated. Today, few carriers own most of their transport. It is highly shared and often they think they have diverse routing when in fact they do not.

 

[Del91574]

Unfortunately, more common than most realize.

Same goes for POTS and slick sites. I've had the fun of trying to diagnose a large condo complex's issues (~500 individual units, each with a panel connected to a POTS line) and communications failures after an AC fail/restoral.

 

[wuench]

Yep, it is scary once you know the details of how carrier networks are run and some of the events they have had (And Satellite is no better...). Just go back to your happy little world... nothing to see here

 

[Del91574]

Yep...Witnessed this at an airport when we were having a slab cored for some conduit and the part for the CBYD and planning required xraying the slab for conduits and the like....to get a "you should be OK to core here". My coworker has the slug with the 4" conduits running fiber and 600 pair cables in it on his desk as a paperweight.

Nothing like a leased line and dry copper pairs or dedicated fiber, no carriers involved....it's how all the Govt. stuff is done.

 

[Neurorad]

Wow.

 

[nonumnos]

You've got to love a "backhoe-induced photon flow reduction"(TM). :rofl:

The "derecho" in our area took out power, and the towers limped along for voice service for perhaps a day. Data? Forget about it! No voice after a day? I guess they forgot to maintain decent fuel levels for the generators.

 

[wuench]

Lol, that is a good one. I've seen live fiber lying bare in a busted conduit in the bottom of a trench and had the contractor insist they have to keep digging because "they are on a schedule". It's so true, network guys pop up like Meerkats when we see a surprise backhoe working near the building.

As far as satellite, there are people whose sole job is to fly around, locate sources of satellite interference, land just about anywhere, and have the authority to shut it down by any means necessary as quickly as possible. Think black helicopters and bolt cutters....

 

[drozwood90]

Yep, it is scary once you know the details of how carrier networks are run and some of the events they have had (And Satellite is no better...). Just go back to your happy little world... nothing to see here

why do you think Sat. is no better? There, depending on your network (Global Star, Irridium are the two I am familiar with), you either have 1 or 3 drops from the sky to earth.

As long as you have relatively clear view of the sky, they work. I've even used them in an electrical storm. Couldn't get my 9600baud internet to work, but voice went through...(this was Global Star and about 5 years ago).

--Dan

 

[wuench]

Sorry, you're right, for phone it is probably ok, I don't have any experience with that. I was talking for internet/network connectivity.... 2 second latency, rain fade, expense, and lack of redundancy make it a last resort for network connectivity.... I just meant Satellites fail, just like anything else, and you have to have your dish re-pointed (not a DIY job for transmitting dishes). And when it happens all the installers are tied up re-pointing for big customers, you may have to wait weeks to get it fixed.

I have worked with Sat networks, and I have had DirecPC at home. There are a lot of caveats to going that route, it is really designed for non-real time apps like web surfing only.

 

[apostolakisl]

Sorry, you're right, for phone it is probably ok, I was talking for internet/network connectivity.... Latency, rain fade, expense, and lack of redundancy make it a last resort for network connectivity....

I have worked with Sat networks, and I have had DirecPC at home. There are a lot of caveats to going that route, it is really designed for non-real time apps like web surfing only.

I don't think you guys are talking about the same thing. Sat phones are a completely different things from satellite internet service like Hughes. Satellite phones work off of a bunch of low Earth orbit satellites that you can think of as cell towers zooming by a few hundred miles over your head. Iridium is named as such because it has the same number of satellites as an iridium atom has electrons (assuming a zero charge) orbiting it (at least that was the original idea, I believe that actually settled on a few less). Hughes and the like are geo-synchronous satellites that are 26,000 miles away and require a dish secondary to the need for amplifying a very weak and distant signal.

Satellite phones work essentially anywhere on the surface of the planet because the satellites are in multiple orbits. With Hughes, you are more limited, especially the further North or South you go as a result of the geo-synchronous orbits needing to be over the equator.

You'll also notice a lag with the geo-synchronous satellites. When you send a request, it goes up 26,000 miles, then back down 26,000 miles, then the response goes up 26,000 miles then back down 26,000 miles. That is more than 100,000 miles and at 186,000 miles per second, you are well over a 1/2 second lag not including any processing that occurs.