Boston Cell Phones

[TiminMishawaka]

I have a friend who's a reporter in DC. The city shut down all cell phone service to prevent remote detonation of any devices following the marathon explosion. Time to explore and prepare for alternate communication means with your family/partners in bugging out. What are a person's options for something portable?

There's still internet.... VOIP/Skype?

 

[actaeon277]

HAM radio. Landline (although they may be tied up)

 

[Lucas156]

You could email if you're at work but that's only if power is running

 

[Trigger Time]

In some cities I'm sure they will also be jamming. So ham might be down too or intermittent. Plan for the worse case.

 

[mrjarrell]

Apparently, cell phones in Boston are working just fine.

The Associated Press reports that cellphone companies say “service is operating in the Boston area, but with heavy traffic following the explosions at the Boston Marathon.”
Earlier, a law enforcement official, citing an intelligence briefing, told The A.P. that cellphone service had been shut down in the Boston area “to prevent any potential remote detonations of explosives.” But officials with Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel told the agency there had been no such requests.
A Sprint spokeswoman, Crystal Davis, said, “Minus some mild call blocking on our Boston network due to increased traffic, our service is operating normally.”

 

[Trigger Time]

Apparently, cell phones in Boston are working just fine.

Or some cop opened their mouth about something they weren't supposed to. They do have the means to do it and I'm sure all it takes is a call. The phone companies wouldn't even be allowed to verify it anyways. Maybe it did or maybe it didn't happen.

 

[No2rdame]

While listening to the scanner earlier I did hear mention of possible remote detonation via cellphone. Of course, there was a lot of chatter and I don't know the precise context of the statement. It's likely it was just speculation. I didn't hear, however, any word about blocking cell signals.

 

[TiminMishawaka]

Apparently, cell phones in Boston are working just fine.

I checked with another friend there and no they're not. They were down for a while. May be back on but they were definitely down. He would know. He's an MIT grad and if it's techie and can be had, he's got it.

 

[Evermoore]

I also heard the cell companies said it was not them that shut the towers down.

 

[CountryBoy19]

I checked with another friend there and no they're not. They were down for a while. May be back on but they were definitely down. He would know. He's an MIT grad and if it's techie and can be had, he's got it.

The fact of the matter though is that cell-towers could easily be overloaded in a situation like that giving the "appearance" of being jammed or shut down. Remember the superbowl? They had to bring in additional comms equipment to handle the increased cell-traffic. Now, take that "thought" and apply it to the Boston Marathon, one of the largest marathons in the world, and then throw an explosion or 2 in there that causes everybody to freak out. Instant overload of all cellular comms equipment.

Just because the phones didn't work doesn't mean that they jammed or purposefully shut down the signals. OTOH, the military definitely has this capability, not sure about LE Depts.

 

[bb37]

Remember the stage collapse at the state fair a few years ago? Cell phone service in the area of the fairgrounds was iffy right after that incident because the cell towers in the area were overloaded. I suspect the same thing happened in downtown Boston. Everybody with a smart phone was texting, Tweeting, Facebooking, and uploading video to YouTube. Well, maybe not everybody, but enough to overload the system.

Theoretically, public safety officials could ask the cell phone companies to shut down the towers in the area of a major incident. But, it wouldn't happen at the drop of a hat.

 

[Trigger Time]

Remember the stage collapse at the state fair a few years ago? Cell phone service in the area of the fairgrounds was iffy right after that incident because the cell towers in the area were overloaded. I suspect the same thing happened in downtown Boston. Everybody with a smart phone was texting, Tweeting, Facebooking, and uploading video to YouTube. Well, maybe not everybody, but enough to overload the system.

Theoretically, public safety officials could ask the cell phone companies to shut down the towers in the area of a major incident. But, it wouldn't happen at the drop of a hat.

For large events its Most likely in the sop's in case of a terrorist strike. Same as if your near the presidential motorcade when it rolls by, your **** is getting jammed.

 

[Zoub]

I have a friend who's a reporter in DC. The city shut down all cell phone service to prevent remote detonation of any devices following the marathon explosion. Time to explore and prepare for alternate communication means with your family/partners in bugging out. What are a person's options for something portable?

There's still internet.... VOIP/Skype?

After 911 with family in NYC I found the best way to communicate with them was via cable. Have a Skype account. Cable was still up and running after 911. Even land lines where jammed up.

As for portable, you go to at least a couple GRMS radios in each vehicle. Even in simple situations where one person has to leave the truck, for oh so many reasons even walking the dog, radios beat screaming back and forth in the wind and in short order even yelling does not work.

I prefer to have at least one waterproof VHS marine radio as well, the kind you would carry in a boat and use to bail out with as well, very versatile. Saved my butt once in camp when weather alert made it clear a tornado was coming right at us and it was beautiful outside when the alert came.

I have two friends in the comms business and I admit to being lazy because I am always using their gear when I need better radios. A mobile base station and a couple serious portable radios are next on my list. They are a force multiplier.

 

[Zoub]

I checked with another friend there and no they're not. They were down for a while. May be back on but they were definitely down. He would know. He's an MIT grad and if it's techie and can be had, he's got it.

They were down. I have a friend on the ER staff at Mass General who worked the ER that day.