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Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

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Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#41

Post by rightbyte »

codetrotter wrote: post #2

> some information services were still able to stay online and available I’m in Valencia, Spain. The mobile internet connectivity here during the power outage was very unstable. Cellular phone signal strength was also very very low for the majority of the time. Even sending SMS or WhatsApp messages would not work most of the day, because of just how unusable mobile connection was for me and my girlfriend and our fami…

> And I only managed to load news pages, national or foreign, a few times during the hours of outage

I think this is a problem with https. I remember intermittent connectivity as way better before Google forced the issue.

And yes I like https. But it comes with drawbacks. E.g. no isp caching.

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#42

Post by makeitdouble »

sillyfluke wrote: post #16
codetrotter wrote: post #2

> some information services were still able to stay online and available I’m in Valencia, Spain. The mobile internet connectivity here during the power outage was very unstable. Cellular phone signal strength was also very very low for the majority of the time. Even sending SMS or WhatsApp messages would not work most of the day, because of just how unusable mobile connection was for me and my girlfriend and our fami…

> All my money is electronic Yes, one positive aspect of these types of events is that the hazing against the cash-first minority worldwide has ebbed slightly. Sweden seems to be backtracking from their cashless push due to the threat of Russian cyberattacks as well. In related news, high-speed trains appear to have been sabotaged in Spain today, causing transportation chaos again. This happened while they have not b…

> hazing against the cash-first minority

That's...a pretty strong opinion.

Otherwise cash will still have it's issue during a blackout. For instance I'm not sure most shops would operate their POS during a blackout or without any connectivity, at least if there is any hope of resuming normal operations within days, it would screw the ledgers. ATMs of course are dead. Vending machines are also probably not ready for that (Japan has emergency ready ones, I can't imagine other countries doing that)

We're already in a world where cash is second class citizen, and it won't just get back to the "good old days" because of a temporary outage.

And it will also be a different story altogether if power/internet never comes back. Having cash stashed somewhere might not help you that much.

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#43

Post by cft »

sillyfluke wrote: post #16
codetrotter wrote: post #2

> some information services were still able to stay online and available I’m in Valencia, Spain. The mobile internet connectivity here during the power outage was very unstable. Cellular phone signal strength was also very very low for the majority of the time. Even sending SMS or WhatsApp messages would not work most of the day, because of just how unusable mobile connection was for me and my girlfriend and our fami…

> All my money is electronic Yes, one positive aspect of these types of events is that the hazing against the cash-first minority worldwide has ebbed slightly. Sweden seems to be backtracking from their cashless push due to the threat of Russian cyberattacks as well. In related news, high-speed trains appear to have been sabotaged in Spain today, causing transportation chaos again. This happened while they have not b…

The cause is the frequency drop that was not compensated by the inertia of rotating turbines due to increasing use of photovoltaics. See https://x.com/shellenberger/status/1916893181876326868?t=32a... A high level engineer in a Spanish generation plant confirmed this to me.

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#44

Post by rightbyte »

bazoom42 wrote: post #12
INTPenis wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once heard a Danish head of a university say that they wanted more Swedes to come over and work because Danish workers tend to question orders more than Swedes do. I have no idea if this is true, just sounded funny to me.

What I have heard: Danes question orders. Swedes follow orders. Norwegians does not question orders, but does not follow them either unless they feel like it. Don’t know if this is true.

I guess the joke should be 'there are no orders' not 'follow orders'.

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#45

Post by wkat4242 »

amelius wrote: post #21
lopkeny12ko wrote: post #19

Related: Starlink was still online and its usage surged during the outage: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1919360047005528193

Would it be possible to sign up for Starlink __during__ an outage like this?

You mean online? Using what connection exactly? :)

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#46

Post by prof-dr-ir »

codetrotter wrote: post #2

> some information services were still able to stay online and available I’m in Valencia, Spain. The mobile internet connectivity here during the power outage was very unstable. Cellular phone signal strength was also very very low for the majority of the time. Even sending SMS or WhatsApp messages would not work most of the day, because of just how unusable mobile connection was for me and my girlfriend and our fami…

> The next day the first thing I did was walk to the nearest ATM and withdraw several hundred euros, and I bought a bunch of water.

That is a very good idea for everyone. Putting together an emergency supplies kit is what various European governments, and now also the European Commission, are beginning to officially recommend:

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/03/26/brussels-ask-e...

> What’s going on? How bad is it? How long is it going to last?

I think some governments suggest that people buy a battery-powered or hand crank radio to address exactly this issue.

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#47

Post by wkat4242 »

Thaxll wrote: post #25
lopkeny12ko wrote: post #19

Related: Starlink was still online and its usage surged during the outage: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1919360047005528193

How would it work if people don't have power to run the local antenna.

That's easy. Generator, UPS. I used my UPS to keep my fibre up for a couple hours when the outage happened. At some point after that the local DSLAM lost power too though, I guess they only have limited batteries too.

The Starlink mini model is also easily powerable by battery without 220V converter.

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#48

Post by wkat4242 »

anthk wrote: post #28
masklinn wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. The historical siesta is about mitigating the hottest part of the day, spaniards tend to work both earlier and later.

The Northern of Spain has no concept of hot in the Summer. The actual issue is that we are living in the same timezone as Berlin. And we are like reverse Brits. Brits: big breakfast, small lunch. Spain: small breakfast (coffee and a small pastry), and big lunch. So, we aren't having siesta. We have a big gap at work to be able to feed ourselves on time.

You mean the northwest like Galicia? The northeast where I live still gets plenty hot. We don't have major beach resorts like Lloret and Salou for no reason :)

Though I guess this might not qualify as "Spain" depending on who you ask - if I ask my neighbours if they are living in Spain they certainly will say NO :P Hot topic alert :)

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#49

Post by TrianguloY »

I work on the University, and there I recovered wired internet rather quickly probably due to backup generators. At home most routers stopped, some even took until the next day to be functional again.

As for mobile connectivity, the main issue was the congestion. The cell network didn't fail, usually, but in most places either your phone wasn't able to connect or had no internet. Too many people trying at the same time, I guess. On the University on the other hand it worked perfectly. Maybe because it's a usual crowded place and there are more resources, but I think it was also because a lot of students (even teachers) went home, so those who stayed were mostly alone with a good internet...but less people to talk to.

Re: Internet usage pattern during power outage in Spain and Portugal

#50

Post by whitehexagon »

We awoke to power the next day, but mobile phone services only returned some hours later. Amazing how busy the banks were with people desperately seeking cash. Unfortunately the banks dont handle cash here now, and the ATMs were all offline.

The first few hours were scary, due to complete lack of information. I am not sure how people had internet access, seemed like all networks were down here. I dont follow any news (apart from HN) but from what people are saying locally, the cause is still unknown, which I guess means it can happen again at any time.

Any recommendations from preppers on a suitable portable radio? It would be nice next time to be able to distinguish rare draughty power line issues from possible start of WWIII.

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