Verizon Outage

We just finished week 4 of a cross country trip. If I counted on Google or other phone-service-based service to route me I'd be SOL in quite a few places where I simply don't have service. As usual when we take these long camping trips I dust off my trusty old nüvi 760. I update the maps and a few POI files and I'm good to go regardless of phone service.

As a bonus, I loaded a number of Audible books on the device. It will read me the audio books - through the car stereo system - and when it's time for a directional intervention it pauses the book, gives me the direction, and then picks up the book again about a second before the pause. For an old device it does several things the new ones don't. I like the directions through the car system. I like that it plays Audible books. I like that it plays mp3 files. It will also connect to the phone via bluetooth and run the phone calls through the car system. Of course the car does that anyway but it used to be a pretty cool feature.

This is the price we pay for migrating from landline to cellular.

Sure, he have outages on landline service but most are localized and repaired in a relatively short period of time.

Where I live, cellular coverage is so sketchy, I have a much better chance of being able to make a call on my old kitchen wall phone.

Cellular outages caused by hackers & jammers is a major concern for our ability to communicate in the future.

Although I have served in the Armed Forces, they have a saying that I feel might apply here and that is, "Two Is One And One Is None."

It may seem a bit over the top, but I have two active SIMs in my smartphone. I get a year of AT&T service for $270 per year and supplement with a year of Red Pocket (on Verizon) as a backup for under $100.

It is unlikely that I will renew the Red Pocket line. I will likely buy an Apple iPhone 15 this fall. The Satellite Messaging feature should be a great back up.

I was an engineer for Verizon (formerly the Bell System) for almost 40 years, the last 10 or so designing fiber optic systems for cell towers. As a retiree, I get free landline service and a major discount on my cellular plan. Big incentive to stay with Verizon.

That is a great perk. You earned it.

Different concept. Phones used to have 99.999% uptime. Down less than 6 minutes a year. My bonus was driven by meeting that criteria.

Whatever the SLA is today, there are no consequences if not met. When's the last time a person at home got a credit due to a multi day Verizon outage? I never even got payment for the class action.

There's more to it, the many to one model. Phones used 1 port for each phone. Yet in an office the avg person (way way way back when 20 years ago) spoke only 6 minutes per hour, or 1/10. So why not have 1 port service 10 phones. Today, people don't even speak 6 minutes, they speak 0 minutes per hour.

At any rate having a home phone supported by copper, I don't believe it even exists today, so even with a land line it's no more reliable than an internet connection, which is pretty reliable, but nowhere near 99.999%.

btw we still have a home phone run off FiOS. The only purpose I see, is to be able to provide a tel# that is not our cells (I don't get into the fake google voice BS). I have had my cell# 2 years now (got a new # to get the iPhone 13 Pro 256 for $309 no trade deal), and I'm still getting calls for a guy named Tom. He obviously used his cell# gratuitously (gave it to people he doesn't even remember he gave it out to). One time I even got his retirement pics from his office. Crazy that he would not give people whatever his new # is.

Not sure what you are saying here, but we still have a landline coming into our house that arrives by copper.

I think I know where the local office switch is, about six miles away, and think it is still copper all the way there.

I stopped paying for a second line a few years ago. They did not keep it running, and I really was not using it. Got it originally during the dialup internet days so we could still make voice calls in and out when someone was on the computer.

After that I regarded it as my dedicated FAX line, but I've not faxed in years.