Generally a cell phone with a car adapter should limp you through a prolonged power outage. It's possible the cell service itself could be impacted -- the Florida hurricanes of a couple of years ago come to mind. The high winds knocked down towers directly in the path of the eye. But as I recall cell service was back up in a day or so -- it is a high priority because so many first responders depend on it these days when the police radios can't talk to the fire department radios. Bell South (now ATT) and Verizon mobilized portable cell towers where the winds knocked down permanent towers.
So worst case, power down for a week, so long as you can plug your cell phone in to your car's cigarette lighter you should be okay, even with FiOS. -Mike __________________ Michel David Lowe Purcellville, VA > -----Original Message----- > From: Computer Guys Announcements and Discussion List > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Duncan Yoyo > Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 12:20 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [CGUYS] FIOS > > There is no guarantee as to whether a power outage is short or not. I > do remember seeing generators chained to posts for a few days after > the hurricane passed through. A week without power is not that > unheard of in some areas of the country. > > > It is my plan to keep a POTS line in addition to a FIOS line but you > need to ask very carefully to make sure they leave the POTS line in > service. I think of it as an opportunity to leave all my junk callers > on a line that only rings in an answering machine. > > On 8/7/07, Art Clemons <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > John Duncan Yoyo: > > > It's not that I would switch from FIOS for data services but I don't > > > trust the fiber phone lines in an emergency where the power is lost. > > > I want my plain old copper phone lines to stay. > > > > I'm not sure how long 48 Volt Battery powered copper lines are going to > > remain viable. ATT for example now has its fiber to a node setup and > > then copper from the node. If the power failed, you would still be > > dependent on a rather small emergency power plan and the same problem. > > It would likely be cheaper for Verizon to do the same thing in cities, > > run fiber most of the way, then skip wiring the rest. It would however > > leave you without phone service in a relatively short period of time > > during a power failure. > > > > > The FIOS phone is powered in your house. There is a small battery > > > backup in the system that will keep your phone going for a few hours > > > but after that nothing. > > > > > > The POTS- plain old telephone service is powered by the phone company > > > and tends to stay up in emergencies better than the power grid. The > > > phone company is good at keeping the phone system running. When we > > > lost power for around 24 hours in the Hurricane a few years ago the > > > phone worked. > > > > > > > > The easy solution is to have a 2nd phone line, you don't need long > > distance service or even touchtone service, just a phone that doesn't > > require electricity to work. When you get FIOS, just leave the 2nd line > > as is and you've still got copper running to the home in case you hate > > FIOS. Me personally, I want FIOS, the people I know with it have better > > and quieter phone service than I have with copper and their internet > > service works better than mine too. Besides I also know folks with > > cable phone provided, they face the same problems as someone with FIOS. > > > > > > ************************************************************************ > > * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== > > * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== > > * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name > > * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST > > * Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L > > * New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L > YourNewAddress > > * Need more help? 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