This is a very short term problem.
The market is going to fill with battery storage sooner rather than later.
Solar is just exploding.
Your car will "house tie".
6G will solve your data problem.
D
--
Don Gould
5 Cargill Place
Richmond
Christchurch, New Zealand
Mobile/Telegram: + 64 21 114 0699
www.bowenvale.co.nz
-------- Original message --------
Date: 26/12/19 2:33 PM (GMT+12:00)
Subject: power to the internet
This article details some of the issues with California's "new reality"
of planned blackouts. One of the big things that came to light with
these blackouts is that our network infrastructure's resilience is
pretty lacking. While I was (surprisingly to me) ok with my DSL
connection out in the boonies, lots and lots of people with cable
weren't so lucky. And I'm not sure how bad the situation is with
cellular infrastructure, but I assume it's not much better than cable.
And I wouldn't doubt that other DSL deployments go dark when power is
down. I have no clue with fiber.
So I guess what I'm wondering is what can we do about this? What should
we do about this? These days IP access is not just convenience, it's the
way we go about our lives, just like electricity itself. At base, it
seems to me that network operators should be required to keep the lights
on in blackouts just like POTS operators do now. If I have power to
light my modem or charge in my phone, I should be able to get onto the
net. That seems like table stakes.
One of the things we learned also is that the blackouts seem to last
between 2-3 days apiece. I happen to have a generator since I'm out in
the boonies and our power gets cut regularly because of snow, but not
everyone has that luxury. I kind of want to think that my router+modem
use about 20 watts, so powering it up would take about 1.5kwh for 3
days. a quick google look shows that I'd probably need to shell out $500
or so for a battery of that capacity, and that's doesn't include your
phones, laptops, tv's, etc power needs. What does that mean? That is a
major expense for a lot of people.
On the bright side, I hear that power generator companies stocks have
gone through the roof.
On the dark side, this is probably coming to a lot more states and
countries due to climate change. Australia. Sigh.
Mike