Burner phone for 911 backup

[KevinC]

Also, before you open one, make sure you beat the hell out of it with the can wrench. Known gathering places for snakes, large spiders and other angry insects. Learned that the hard way.

Been there, done that. My biggest one is checking the levels on propane tanks. Now that I know, I beat the cover and open it from behind. I've had wasps, rats, mice, snakes and all sorts of other things jump out at me.

The pedestals around here are usually full of fire ants.

 

[Hdc30474]

Ya, I think they think there's still usable signal but in reality there isn't. (or at least calling and texting don't work on the normal network. I'll. check about the SIM stuff, I honestly get a notification that I've switched to satellite but, I've tried to send a text or two just to text it and it's not working or, hasn't yet. Thanks.

Our phones definately work. Depending on the phone model, there should be a second signal meter. On my Samsung they are side by side. On my wife's iPhone, one is on top of the other. On the iPhone the original signal meter was split in half and both meters stacked, are the same height as the original single meter. Do you have signal for the satellite SIM?

 

[K9KLC]

Our phones definately work. Depending on the phone model, there should be a second signal meter. On my Samsung they are side by side. On my wife's iPhone, one is on top of the other. On the iPhone the original signal meter was split in half and both meters stacked, are the same height as the original single meter. Do you have signal for the satellite SIM?

Still trying to figure out where the screen is to select the SIM. I've seen a signal meter up there before different from the normal one but, I can't randomly get it to pop up.

 

[MUTNAV]

During the hurricane that hit our area last year we couldn't make cell phone calls or text or use data. We had "bars" so our phones wouldn't go into SOS mode. We also lost our home phone after my backup power ran out* as it's a VoIP phone** and relied on our ISP and dependent on us having power.

Any thoughts on getting a burner on a different carrier than we currently have and using that for backup 911 usage? I understand a phone doesn't have to be activated to be able to call 911, so I wouldn't buy any minutes or however they do that.

* I've rectified the power issues and we'll positively have power next time this happens.
** We had a POTS line until around 4 months before the hurricane, but it died and AT&T no longer repairs them in out area so we ported to a VoIP carrier.

I'm still trying to figure out what could have happened.. Was the A T and T network overloaded? or maybe hacked? Bad phone firmware? Were other networks good at the same time?

I have to wonder, if all of the possible issues exist (like failures across the board--hacking/terrorism, equipment failure, etc...) , it would be best to bypass as many of the currently used system components as possible by using a texting Garmin in-reach as the best option, if affordable.

Best wishes
Joel

 

[GTR8000]

I'm still trying to figure out what could have happened.. Was the A T and T network overloaded? or maybe hacked? Bad phone firmware? Were other networks good at the same time?

I have to wonder, if all of the possible issues exist (like failures across the board--hacking/terrorism, equipment failure, etc...) , it would be best to bypass as many of the currently used system components as possible by using a texting Garmin in-reach as the best option, if affordable.

Best wishes
Joel

Or maybe the nearest cell site simply lost power and/or backhaul connection. People would be surprised at how little the networks care about these cells sites, some of which have a bank of batteries for backup power with no generator on-site, and so once the batteries are exhausted...game over. Or the site may be up and running but the connection to the network goes down due to wide-area power outages and/or natural disasters that impact the infrastructure.

I really doubt it had anything to do with "hacking" or "bad firmware", that's a bit of a stretch and a hell of a coincidence to have happened at the same time a hurricane rolled through the region.

 

[mmckenna]

I'm still trying to figure out what could have happened.. Was the A T and T network overloaded? or maybe hacked? Bad phone firmware? Were other networks good at the same time?

Lost backhaul. The cell site is still powered up, but nothing to connect to. I experienced that with a NexTel site many years ago. Phone could see the control channel, but no way for the traffic to get anywhere.

Garmin in-reach as the best option, if affordable.

I'm happy with mine, but a new one is around $300 (unless you find a sale) and you still pay around $7.50 a month for basic service.

The chances of all cell carriers going down at once really depends on a lot of things. Easy for one carrier to go down due to simple failures or backhaul issues. Carriers might be sharing towers locally, but that's not always the case. Backhaul can use a lot of mediums, fiber, RF links, microwave, etc.
Last I looked, FCC had some requirements that cell sites have 8 hours of battery backup minimum. In California, the PUC has mandated that most have back up generators with onsite fuel storage to extend run time in emergencies.

Still, a lot of things that can go wrong, but cell systems are not as fragile as all want you to believe. But having your own redundancy is a good plan if you can't survive with a connection. In Kevin's case, and his wife's medical needs, having some alternatives is a good plan. Since budgets are real, not everyone wants to go with expensive solutions for the rare cases that a system might be down -and- an emergency is needed.

An unactivated cell phone on a second carrier is a good option.
Going next door and asking the neighbor to call, either on their own cell phone with a different carrier, POTS, different internet/phone carrier, or whatever is another 'free' solution.

Eventually we can dig down far enough that we can imagine every single service failing, but the reality is that is unlikely.

At least this hasn't deteriorated into someone telling you to just buy a Baofeng or hacking a ham radio and programming it up with the local public safety agencies frequencies….

 

[Hdc30474]

Still trying to figure out where the screen is to select the SIM. I've seen a signal meter up there before different from the normal one but, I can't randomly get it to pop up.

SIM manager on android. Cellular settings on iPhone.

 

[KevinC]

I'm still trying to figure out what could have happened.. Was the A T and T network overloaded? or maybe hacked? Bad phone firmware? Were other networks good at the same time?

I have to wonder, if all of the possible issues exist (like failures across the board--hacking/terrorism, equipment failure, etc...) , it would be best to bypass as many of the currently used system components as possible by using a texting Garmin in-reach as the best option, if affordable.

Best wishes
Joel

I have no idea if other carriers worked or not as we only have AT&T. Hence wanting a backup on another carrier

Bad phone FW? I'm about 99.999999% that wasn't the issue.

Hacked? Yeah, that was probably it. They decided to hack the AT&T network in my area only and they picked a hurricane day to do it and undid the hack about 36 hours later.

My guess is the backhaul or other sites were down and the ones in my area were way overloaded.

 

[KevinC]

Lost backhaul. The cell site is still powered up, but nothing to connect to.

I drove around the next morning to try and get call/texts out to let everyone we're fine, it was a large area that I couldn't get calls out. I suspect whatever backhaul they use in the area lost a hub that serves numerous sites in the area. But that's just a guess.

I experienced that with a NexTel site many years ago. Phone could see the control channel, but no way for the traffic to get anywhere.

That would have been on a site with dual T-1's then, one for interconnect and one for dispatch. On those the RF stayed up if you lost one or the other. I never liked that idea, but no one ever asked for my input on it.

Trivia of the day...iDEN had an "ISO" feature (Isolated Site Operation), basically site trunking. If it lost the T-1 the dispatch side would still work, but you were isolated from the network so you could only PTT subscribers registered on that site. We implemented it on a site that covered a nuclear plant as they used Nextel PTT service a lot.

 

[mmckenna]

I drove around the next morning to try and get call/texts out to let everyone we're fine, it was a large area that I couldn't get calls out. I suspect whatever backhaul they use in the area lost a hub that serves numerous sites in the area. But that's just a guess.

Probably a safe guess.

Locally, all our sites are on fiber. Fiber is usually provided by the local exchange carrier, the cable TV company, or Crown Castle.

Some more remote sites are still running microwave.

The smaller cells around here are usually RRU's connected via fiber back to a main hub somewhere. One well placed fiber cut will take down a whole string of sites.

That would have been on a site with dual T-1's then, one for interconnect and one for dispatch. On those the RF stayed up if you lost one or the other. I never liked that idea, but no one ever asked for my input on it.

I seem to recall that. We had an earthquake once and the local NexTel site was saturated on the phone call side for about 45 minutes. Dispatch calls were OK, but a bit hit or miss.

 

[EAFrizzle]

I have no idea if other carriers worked or not as we only have AT&T. Hence wanting a backup on another carrier

All the carriers had outages to one degree or another after Beryl. Power outages, backhaul problems, and enough wire down in the region to force even the Luddites to the wireless systems.

Depending on where you were/are, a backup burner may or may not have worked at the time. Good idea to have one, but not a foolproof solution in H(urricane)-town.

Might be a good idea to scout pedestals and move the test set up the decision tree a bit.

 

[nd5y]

ATT. Although frankly I'm not sure it really matters when you dial 911, as the phone should find a cell site on any band that it's capable of operating on.

That's what is supposed to happen.
If something is wrong with your network you could try removing the SIM and see if the phone worked on other networks. I don't know what would happen with carrier-locked or eSIM phones.

 

[KevinC]

I'm impressed that no one mentioned the MARS/CAP or CCR route. Along those lines if I was still working I could get on the regional trunked system and attempt to get help. But even as someone that had ID's on almost every trunked system in the state that would be my absolute last resort. I'm a field guy, almost no one in dispatch would know who I was and trying to explain what was going on to an already overworked dispatcher would probably be a disaster. I can just imagine how it would work for Joe CCR.

 

[GTR8000]

But even as someone that had ID's on almost every trunked system in the state that would be my absolute last resort. I'm a field guy, almost no one in dispatch would know who I was and trying to explain what was going on to an already overworked dispatcher would probably be a disaster.

In those scenarios always best to KISS. "Radio repair to 911 dispatch, I need PD/Fire/EMS for such an such an emergency at such and such a location, copy?" They normally won't care who you are if you identify as radio repair and give them only the info they need to get someone rolling to your location.

 

[mmckenna]

I'm impressed that no one mentioned the MARS/CAP or CCR route.

At least this hasn't deteriorated into someone telling you to just buy a Baofeng or hacking a ham radio and programming it up with the local public safety agencies frequencies….

 

[prcguy]

I would check with my local drug dealers, they will know the best places to buy, the best carriers and the cheapest plans.

 

[KevinC]

In those scenarios always best to KISS. "Radio repair to 911 dispatch, I need PD/Fire/EMS for such an such an emergency at such and such a location, copy?" They normally won't care who you are if you identify as radio repair and give them only the info they need to get someone rolling to your location.

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Adjusted for the local vernacular of course. Calling for "911 dispatch" around here would probably get you ignored. But yes, that would probably suffice.

 

[KevinC]

I would check with my local drug dealers, they will know the best places to buy, the best carriers and the cheapest plans.

Shockingly I have no ties with any drug dealers, local or otherwise.

 

[GTR8000]

Shockingly I have no ties with any drug dealers, local or otherwise.

Except for your local pharmacist, but that's getting into dangerous off-topic territory 🚩 so I'll make my quip then exit while you delete the post 😂

 

[vagrant]

Cell service during an emergency:
1. Is the nearby tower still powered up and working?
2. Is the tower saturated with others using it and or switched to priority calls?

Garmin InReach:
- Satellite service for $7/month. Out of cellular range is not a problem.
- Can be used for emergency, or non-emergency as one can either hold the SOS button, or text the message center your needs/situation using a paired phone via BT. Perfect for non-emergency when a vehicle is "stuck" and you're outside of cell service, or the service is down.

Another difference is the initial cost of the Garmin InReach device versus a cell phone. There's one on eBay for $180. That Garmin InReach SE+ is what I have, but there are others. The "burner phone" may be had for free if you find a friend, or pay for shipping for an old Verizon phone. Still, points one and two are something to consider. You obviously value yourself, family, friends and neighbors to even consider this, but budget can be the unfriendly factor for a better solution.