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bushman4

macrumors 601
Original poster
Mar 22, 2011
4,272
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Being reported that 24 Celltowers have been down do to storm damage or lack of power in Northeast-Tri-State area.
If you are noticing that your 4G & LTE speeds are not what they should be this may be the reason.
 
I'm sure the number is way bigger than that. Here in Long Island 90% of the island lost power, also I was able to find 1 tower set to emergency calls only. Anyways, I hope everyone it's doing ok.
 
ah so that's why Verizon has been pretty spotty yesterday. Well you'd think they would storm proof this stuff but guess not, some people really need those towers to make calls and see if people are ok. I lost power too but then somehow my part of town that's very prone to flooding since I live like right across from the river actually got their power back on while most other parts of town are still in the dark. Guess that's why I don't have school until tomorrow.

Just goes to show how unprepared the northeast can be and how violent nature can be!
 
ah so that's why Verizon has been pretty spotty yesterday. Well you'd think they would storm proof this stuff but guess not, some people really need those towers to make calls and see if people are ok. I lost power too but then somehow my part of town that's very prone to flooding since I live like right across from the river actually got their power back on while most other parts of town are still in the dark. Guess that's why I don't have school until tomorrow.

Just goes to show how unprepared the northeast can be and how violent nature can be!

It's virtually imposible to protect a cell tower from a Hurricane of Sandy's power. The cost would simply be astronomical. Nature wins in these situations every time...I hope all folks in the North East are okay. I have friends in NYC and Boston, but all are well...More important than a day or so with lousy cell coverage.
 
It's virtually imposible to protect a cell tower from a Hurricane of Sandy's power. The cost would simply be astronomical. Nature wins in these situations every time...I hope all folks in the North East are okay. I have friends in NYC and Boston, but all are well...More important than a day or so with lousy cell coverage.

you don't know how much people depend on that cell coverage, what if they need to inquire about a relative that lives a few miles away or even worse, someone died? I'm sure those things can't wait a few days and with everyone trying to use the working towers they can't get to that point. To make matters worse somehow every wifi connection stopped working yesterday lol then the cable went out. It was a powerful storm and I just happened to be right in the middle of it's path.
 
Verizon wireless stopped working completely in Brooklyn NY yesterday. But the funny part is it was working perfectly during the hurricane. And I'm in an area that has power, yet it still doesn't work! Other carriers work perfectly
 
Verizon wireless stopped working completely in Brooklyn NY yesterday. But the funny part is it was working perfectly during the hurricane. And I'm in an area that has power, yet it still doesn't work! Other carriers work perfectly

My Verizon works it's just terribly slow. what used to be 2-3 bars of LTE is now 1-2 bars of very spotty LTE, like it'll just lose connection randomly. I even reset the network settings/restarted the phone.
Good thing my Wifi came back on thought, I was like "wtf is the point of having electricity if nothing works lol"
 
Help is on the way. From what I understand portable cell towers on trucks are on the way. These units are used just for this purpose and for special events like Super Bowls, etc. Things should be getting better within a week when it comes to cell service.

From looking at the pictures on TV, it will be months before some place even approach normal. Some places will never get back. If your house burn or was damaged by a tree insurance will cover but unless you had flood insurance, some will suffer a total loss. Few had flood insurance compared to coastal areas of Florida or the Gulf. It is all sad!:(
 
Help is on the way. From what I understand portable cell towers on trucks are on the way. These units are used just for this purpose and for special events like Super Bowls, etc. Things should be getting better within a week when it comes to cell service.

From looking at the pictures on TV, it will be months before some place even approach normal. Some places will never get back. If your house burn or was damaged by a tree insurance will cover but unless you had flood insurance, some will suffer a total loss. Few had flood insurance compared to coastal areas of Florida or the Gulf. It is all sad!:(

How much to buy one of these portable cell towers lol it would be so cool to have full coverage everywhere I go.
 
How much to buy one of these portable cell towers lol it would be so cool to have full coverage everywhere I go.

LOL! I think they call the "Cows" not sure but why I do not know. I have never seen one but they would have to be mounted on a Semi to hold all the electronics and antenna array.

The cost?

Priceless!
 
LOL! I think they call the "Cows" not sure but why I do not know. I have never seen one but they would have to be mounted on a Semi to hold all the electronics and antenna array.

The cost?

Priceless!

God damn. Well at least I'm with Verizon so I get coverage in most places. Everywhere I went since getting this phone a month and a few days ago had LTE coverage, so Verizon has central north and southern nj covered :O. Except I don't get service inside like brick buildings, it'll drop down to 1-2 bars of GRPS
 
You guys should consider yourself lucky that we still get some signal. Some towns towers are set to priority 1 emergency calls only.
 
glad to see you have your priorities straight :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

these kinds of responses amuse me. Why should I worry about other people when I have problems of my own? I'm paying $135 a month for a cell service that doesn't work when I need it the most. I shouldn't pretend to care about people who I don't even know. That's not how the world works. But you're right, instead of using your iPhone you should donate it to someone in africa, you don't need it right? You can always just buy another one.
 
these kinds of responses amuse me. Why should I worry about other people when I have problems of my own? I'm paying $135 a month for a cell service that doesn't work when I need it the most. I shouldn't pretend to care about people who I don't even know. That's not how the world works. But you're right, instead of using your iPhone you should donate it to someone in africa, you don't need it right? You can always just buy another one.

Well I guess it's a good thing you signed a contract with a ToS saying that events such as weather can cause you not to have service and your company will do everything -within their power- to get things running back as normal... Because when you signed it you told the company you accept those terms :)
 
Hmm I just did a speedtest in Mansfield, MA yesterday. I think I got pretty good speeds.

IMG_0947.PNG
 
Well I guess it's a good thing you signed a contract with a ToS saying that events such as weather can cause you not to have service and your company will do everything -within their power- to get things running back as normal... Because when you signed it you told the company you accept those terms :)

we all know how fast it takes them to repair things. Hey just look at PSEG. the mayor of my county lives right across the street from me and we didn't have power for a week. It's not like she isn't very important or anything. All they did was cut a wire and connect a new one, took like 20 minutes of labor to do, but when they got around to it it took like 3 hours because they kept talking and taking random breaks
 
we all know how fast it takes them to repair things. Hey just look at PSEG. the mayor of my county lives right across the street from me and we didn't have power for a week. It's not like she isn't very important or anything. All they did was cut a wire and connect a new one, took like 20 minutes of labor to do, but when they got around to it it took like 3 hours because they kept talking and taking random breaks

Until you become privy to the information and processes it takes to repair these things, you have nothing but your frustration to fuel your misguided judgements.
 
Until you become privy to the information and processes it takes to repair these things, you have nothing but your frustration to fuel your misguided judgements.

I was outside with them. Some guy waited until his friend in another truck showed up, they put down some cones, extended the ladder and cut the wire down, then they got in their truck and ate a sandwich then pulled out another wire and connected it in it's place. That was literally all they did for 3 hours. That can't be dastardly difficult.
 
The ironic thing is during a mass emergency, cell phone service is the first to go. Your cell phone is actually the most unreliable thing that you will have in your arsenal.
 
you don't know how much people depend on that cell coverage, what if they need to inquire about a relative that lives a few miles away or even worse, someone died? I'm sure those things can't wait a few days and with everyone trying to use the working towers they can't get to that point. To make matters worse somehow every wifi connection stopped working yesterday lol then the cable went out. It was a powerful storm and I just happened to be right in the middle of it's path.


If you want a hurricane proof phone get a satellite phone of course the person your calling would have to have one also.
 
Cell Towers are supposed to have a battery backup that lasts 8 hours. Major towers, or towers in rural areas have diesel generators so they last as long as the fuel.

In Manchester, CT during Sandy, I lost power for about 50 hours. I had 4 bars 3G/1 bar LTE, as usual. After the first 24 hours, all our verizon phones went to 1X mode only... maybe as a power saving measure for the batteries/generator?

Last year during Alford/Irene, i lived about 10 miles away in a much rural area. We lost power for 12 days.... my local tower chugged along with full 3G the whole time.

If you're looking for emergency backup communication and on a budget, pick up a HAM radio. They are relatively cheap and a great way to keep in touch with people all over the state/country/world! I had my HAM tuned to our local SKYWARN frequency throughout all of Sandy/Irene/Alford and knew what was going on.

If you've got $$$ falling out of you know where, get an Iridium Satellite Phone...
 
these kinds of responses amuse me. Why should I worry about other people when I have problems of my own? I'm paying $135 a month for a cell service that doesn't work when I need it the most. I shouldn't pretend to care about people who I don't even know. That's not how the world works. But you're right, instead of using your iPhone you should donate it to someone in africa, you don't need it right? You can always just buy another one.
Talk about a self centered brat. Oh, such a tragedy. You have a $135 cell phone bill to worry about. Why arent you out helping clear up the debris in your area? You are so self absorbed with yourself and not having 4 bars of service, that you dont even give a damn about the people in your city. You pathetic sniveling little brat.
 
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