starstuff
Fly By Wire
Premium
join:2001-12-05
Mcallen, TX
| reply to RARPSL
Re: Not even cable?
said by RARPSL  :said by TexasGuy :Good point. No 911 with localized power failure... The FIOS connection comes with a short-term UPS so you do not IMMEDIATELY lose your ability to call 911 (and others). I do not know how long it is rated for (either stand-bye or usage) but it is not going to be as long as a POTS Copper Connection. Most of the households nowadays use AC powered phones so what is the use of POTS when your phones don't work? Besides in the past 10 years I've lost power 2 or 3 times due to lightning strikes and only for a couple of minutes with this kind of reliability the power outage issue is irrelevant. |
|
emptywig
Huh? What?
Premium
join:2002-08-05
Pasadena, TX
| No, you've got it all wrong. You don't look at how often or how long you HAVE lost your power, you should be looking at what would happen IF you lose your power, just once, for a long time.
People who have loved ones at home that require 24/7 care, or who live in storm-prone areas and may need emergency help during a storm, or a long-term power-outage, would never make an argument like this.
And what is the use of POTS when your A/C powered phones don't work? The use is that you can still get that $5 non-powered phone out from under the counter and you plug it in. |
|
TexasGuy
49 States And Texas
Premium
join:2002-12-02
Houston, TX
| Where I live power at times goes out for an hour when there is a heavy rain and it floods something on the polls. At times you can hear explosions... and power goes out.
--
-- Who drank has died, who drinks will die; is he immortal who is sober? --
-- I started out with nothing, I still have most of it -- |
|
starstuff
Fly By Wire
Premium
join:2001-12-05
Mcallen, TX
| reply to emptywig
said by emptywig :No, you've got it all wrong. You don't look at how often or how long you HAVE lost your power, you should be looking at what would happen IF you lose your power, just once, for a long time. People who have loved ones at home that require 24/7 care, or who live in storm-prone areas and may need emergency help during a storm, or a long-term power-outage, would never make an argument like this. And what is the use of POTS when your A/C powered phones don't work? The use is that you can still get that $5 non-powered phone out from under the counter and you plug it in. You are loosing the perspective here. POTS is not the answer to any emergency situation. You can easily substitute POTS with another service like a cellular or run across the street to use your neighbor's $5 non-powered phone to make the emergency call.
Nothing is 100% fail-safe, just ask Katrina survivors. I would feel perfectly safe with a fios-only phone system and probably my loved ones would be better off if the emergency response doesn't arrive  |
|
starstuff
Fly By Wire
Premium
join:2001-12-05
Mcallen, TX | reply to TexasGuy
Looks like Houston is worse now than when I attended college at UH in the 80's |
|
TexasGuy
49 States And Texas
Premium
join:2002-12-02
Houston, TX | reply to starstuff
If power is down in the area then the cell towers are dead as well... |
|
state
stress magnet
Premium,Mod
join:2002-02-08
Hampton, VA
clubs: 
Host:
Webhosting
Sonic.net
UK Broadband
Washington & Balti..
UK Chat
| said by TexasGuy :If power is down in the area then the cell towers are dead as well... That's not necessarily true.
A couple of years back when Isabel hit our area the power was out for well over a week...the cellphone towers and facilities they communicated with had backup generators and were actually more reliable than the land-lines because of all the downed trees and power lines.
There was of course a slight bandwidth problem, everyone trying to use their cellphones at the same time taxed the towers and sometimes we had to try making a call several times before it actually went through.
--
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research." --Steven Wright |
|
