Keeping my copper landline and DSL (don't really have many choices). Watch 4K US Football with no buffering) but just my wife and me. System is not taxed with five users. If Starlink comes down in price I may try it.
Shut off fuel, run gen dry, drain the fuel from the tank and adding transmission fluid in the carb via the fuel line should keep the varnish from forming is what I do. Takes a few pulls the first time to blow out the ATF but after that it works fine. Fuel stabilisers can fail after 8 months so I would rather drain the tank. I only use the gen in winter when the storms knock out power so I store it dry. Some years I only test start it at the beginning of the season.I reckon 2 generators is going a bit far, unless they see a lot of work. Ours gets so little use, I had taken it to the offsite storage and you guessed it, a few weeks later, I needed to go get the thing.
Started immediately after 5 years of no use- but, the fuel line looked a bit cracked (no leaks but...). So, off to the autoparts store for some better fuel line and a few SS screw clamps before I put it to work. Oil was fine, only had to top-up about 150ml after 4 days (12-14hrs per day) of operation. It paid for itself- again.
Do you think it's best to drain the fuel tank and float bulb or just start the thing every 6 months? (It has a fuel cock I turn off)
I've winterized and put into storage several 4 and 2 stroke devices and I always drained the float bowl by running the engines till they run out of fuel. I've never had a issue after doing this.I reckon 2 generators is going a bit far, unless they see a lot of work. Ours gets so little use, I had taken it to the offsite storage and you guessed it, a few weeks later, I needed to go get the thing.
Started immediately after 5 years of no use- but, the fuel line looked a bit cracked (no leaks but...). So, off to the autoparts store for some better fuel line and a few SS screw clamps before I put it to work. Oil was fine, only had to top-up about 150ml after 4 days (12-14hrs per day) of operation. It paid for itself- again.
Do you think it's best to drain the fuel tank and float bulb or just start the thing every 6 months? (It has a fuel cock I turn off)
Here's a little trick I learned with my the pull start gas lawn mower that sits for months. When fuel lines are drained or go dry, put a little gas in a small spray bottle and spay your air cleaner a few spritzes, then pull the rope once rather than dislocating your shoulder.Shut off fuel, run gen dry, drain the fuel from the tank and adding transmission fluid in the carb via the fuel line should keep the varnish from forming is what I do. Takes a few pulls the first time to blow out the ATF but after that it works fine. Fuel stabilisers can fail after 8 months so I would rather drain the tank.
What @Blumlein 88 said... Mostly rural areas count on cell towers or satellite. 5G, operating at much higher frequency, is going to be an interesting rollout as it will require many more towers or at least repeater cells. We have cable service, which provides TV and internet, but storms and animals tend to take it out about once a month or so. Usually short glitches, but sometimes for hours to a day or more. It's gotten to where I will wait a day to call as they inevitably say they see nothing wrong and want to send out a tech, then it magically fixes itself later. Since we do not have fiber, and are a long way from the CO, phone internet would be painfully slow.Is fixed wireless a thing in the rural parts of the US?
Just be aware the voltage varies a lot, from something like 130 V max (near a central office (CO) relay and phone on-hook and ringing) to <12 V for a typical line away from the CO with the phone off-hook (in hand). I think it is typically around 48 V on-hook and 12 V off-hook but I have measured 80 V or so when ringing fairly often through the years. Current is also pretty low, ~100 mA IIRC.In the US, interesting trivia.
Our land lines are powered separately from our electrical lines, so even when the power goes out, our landlines are often still live.
They make "phone jack" chargers for your cell phone so, if you lose power, that is a potential great way to stay charged!
They can even give enough power for a small night light to give a little illumination.
Yep, but but ....Alas, copper is doomed. It's just aging out. If you insist on keeping it for the last mile connection to your property, you can be certain that the gear it connects to in the local CO has been upgraded. TDM networks have been and/or are being replaced by IP networks.
If you can still order T-1 circuit, for a PBX for example, know that it's fiber or coax to the premises, with a local a device that offers a T-1 interface for the convenience of connecting to your legacy gear.
Cellular towers are typically back-hauled by fiber, or ocassionally point-to-point wireless links.
Also, not all 5G is at higher frequencies as someone else stated. Different carriers have different frequency inventories. Some have 5G deplyed at low frequencies. This is great for coverage distance, and penetration in buildings, but terrible for bandwidth. To offer the impressive bandwidth requires wider channels that are only available at higher frequencies.
But we shoud be clear. IP network does not mean "The Internet." Private IP networks can be just as relaible as TDM networks once were.
IP networks are simply cheaper to install and maintain. As old age and weather kills off copper this transition is unavoidable.
I am currently on day four of a power outage and have 7 hours of power from yesterday on my PowerWall and it is darker and raining now. Hope to get some sun this afternoon to recharge it. Neighbors have lost their cell phones but my landline and DSL have been alive and well so I type this and send this message. I will keep my land line as long as I can.In the US, interesting trivia.
Our land lines are powered separately from our electrical lines, so even when the power goes out, our landlines are often still live.
They make "phone jack" chargers for your cell phone so, if you lose power, that is a potential great way to stay charged!
They can even give enough power for a small night light to give a little illumination.
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Another individual who avoided disaster by being prepared. Well done and good luck.I am currently on day four of a power outage and have 7 hours of power from yesterday on my PowerWall and it is darker and raining now. Hope to get some sun this afternoon to recharge it. Neighbors have lost their cell phones but my landline and DSL have been alive and well so I type this and send this message. I will keep my land line as long as I can.
Network providers have long offered IP based networks that were wholly separate from the public internet. Enterprises typically use these when they need high reliability, defined performance links between sites. Of course, they pay for this.Yep, but but ....
"Private IP networks can be just as relaible as TDM networks once were." :
1) what does "private" mean in this context? as eg opposed to public? why is just private networks more reliable? The access IP network may be called public, but the transport and core networks ..... aren't those private?
From the time that the Pubic Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) went digital (1950s & 60s) it was based upon TDM trunks. A POTS line is the analog manifestation of one 56k bearer channel. That's half an ISDN connection (2B+D) Or 1/24th of a T-1.2) analog telephones, aka POTS, were not TDM (time division multiplex). consequently, access networks were not all TDM. Some access networks were TDM, like ISDN and GSM, but ISDN was not much of a success (apart from Germany and Japan).
3) "reliable" is rather blunt. Circuit Switched (CS) networks are deterministic which IP networks are not; CS networks also has a given bandwidth which IP doesn't. Thus, with VoIP (Voice over IP) you may get connected, but maybe only with a unusuable bandwidth. Thus the user may regard bandwidth as a part of reliability.
I have this repeating problem in my rural cabin. When the internet is down, I have to drive quite a few miles to get any cell signal and report it. They are always like "OK, can you tell me what your router lights are doing?'....No matter how many times I explain that if I'm talking to them when I don't have service, I'm miles away from home, they want to take me through the crtl-alt-del playbook.How do you use the phone if your internet is down...well, you don't!