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Need Emergency Internet Advice

IHateMyTreo

IHateMyTreo

Android Expert
Need to tap into the Brain Trust that is and always will be The Lounge. Hello Chief, Early Mon and other mods! ;) Need your advice (and yes, I can post this elsewhere if I can figure out where).

Our Malibu neighborhood burned up. Our house is one of a few left. 80% are gone, so we are miraculously lucky. And we will be without all utilities and cell service for months, probably. It looks like a Martian war zone.

I can not operate my business without internet. I have a generator for power, but all the neighborhood poles carrying power, fiber optic cable (vzw), cell towers or cable (spectrum) got fried. The poles are down and the cables burned up.

Does anyone know how to get internet temporarily without a phone line, cell service, fiber or cable? Last I checked, DirecTv satellite internet was real expensive and required a substantial investment in hardware. And I think the upload still went via phone line.

I asked TMobile for a COWs or COLTs disaster cell tower temporarily but they don't reply.

I'm no expert (other than hating on VZW and Spectrum) so all advice is appreciated, including suggestions on where else to post.

Thanks.
 
IHateMyTreo said:
Need to tap into the Brain Trust that is and always will be The Lounge. Hello Chief, Early Mon and other mods! ;) Need your advice (and yes, I can post this elsewhere if I can figure out where).

Our Malibu neighborhood burned up. Our house is one of a few left. 80% are gone, so we are miraculously lucky. And we will be without all utilities and cell service for months, probably. It looks like a Martian war zone.

I can not operate my business without internet. I have a generator for power, but all the neighborhood poles carrying power, fiber optic cable (vzw), cell towers or cable (spectrum) got fried. The poles are down and the cables burned up.

Does anyone know how to get internet temporarily without a phone line, cell service, fiber or cable? Last I checked, DirecTv satellite internet was real expensive and required a substantial investment in hardware. And I think the upload still went via phone line.
Click to expand...

If there's no working terrestrial infrastructure at all, I think that much means you're going to have to use satellite internet. Apparently you do have a few options available in the US.
https://www.toptenreviews.com/services/internet/best-satellite-internet-providers/
 
I agree on several points. First, that since there isn't anything working via cables or towers, satellite is pretty much your only option. I also think the article Mike linked makes the best recommendation with Hughesnet but that's performance and reliability. The other factor would be cost and from what I've read these satellite hookups come with limited data and can experience intermittent issues in bad weather. Not sure what smoke does to the signal but it can't be good. Do your homework carefully.

And finally, thank god you're okay.

My brother had just moved into his new home in La Jolla in 2007 when they were evacuated due to the Witch Fires. Like yours, the fire stopped short of their property, but his landscape since has been quite barren.

Stay safe and good luck with your internet.
 
I was thinking something like this, I guess I should of just said this.
Very High Gain Antennas
Very high gain antennas are directional, which means they are effective at maximising your signal range when pointed directly at the mobile base station that provides the strongest signal in the area. Directional antennas can significantly improve your voice and data performance if you’re on the outer limits of the mobile coverage map, or you just have average reception in your region. They must be mounted on poles or high buildings - the higher the better – and aimed exactly at the best base station. They are not suitable for vehicles.

All good either way, hope they get it up and working soon.
 
IHateMyTreo said:
No because a cell provider signal has to be received below it can be amplified. And we don't currently have any cell signals. But thanks for the thought!
Click to expand...

Just a FYI, with a cellular extender (a.k.a. femtocell) it's not a matter of 'amplifying' a weak or non-existing cellular signal, it's dependent on your ISP's connectivity. A typical extender is just a mini-cell tower, receiving its phone signal from your carrier essentially through VoIP, and then broadcasting out a relatively weak (limited coverage range) cellular signal.
But until you get full electrical service restored it's a more or less mute point anyway.
 
I'm sure that modern satellite hookups don't need a phone line uplink. One of their premises is to provide internet anywhere, and a phone line requirement would negate that completely. They may well have limited data, also latency can be an issue which might rule out online gaming.
 
Sorry for your losses but just as you made this communication you can also use that source for communication in a more productive way. There are several fax apps in Google Play Store that could be used from your Android also if you have mobile hotspot on your device you can use your laptop and a wireless printer for printing if need be. I started a small business a few years ago with very little collateral to start with and all I had was a smartphone and a few wireless devices that I ran off my mobile hotspot. As for paper documents user smartphone camera to take images and save them to Google Drive and retrieve them as necessary to fax information. Google Mail or Gmail will be for your emailing source that you can also transfer documents from Google Drive.
 
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All of you are spectacular. Thank you so much for your advice and wisdom. I have an appointment for ViaSat to install next week. Apparently they are the designated provider here and will do a 'no contract' deal. It does require an up-front payment of $300 to cover equipment and whatever but it's not like I have any choice. It's better than having nothing, it might be reimbursed by insurance and is tax deductible, so whatever 😁

Also, I tweeted John Leger and TMo support and guess what... They sent out a cell tower on wheels to our neighborhood. So if that COW stays around (unknown factor), I may be able to use my cell phone to tether for internet access.

Thank you everyone! THIS IS WHY AF IS SO GREAT.
 
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