An excellent, albeit slightly technical, article from PC World Magazine: Get Internet Access When Your Government Shuts It Down Even the techno-nerds are getting antsy about Nobama and his "Kill Switch".
Thanks for the heads up! After what's happened in Egypt I've been wondering how to keep myself from getting shut out. Love the quote, btw. It's been my favorite for years. But, you forgot my favorite part,"Specialization is for insects."
Arrgh! Damn fingers! That came out wrong! That's what happens when you watch tv, talk to your gf AND type! lol
That is OK, and welcome to the Monkey boards! I love Heinlein, if only for that quote and his discourses on an armed society.
Thanks for the link, here's another one: Communicate if Your Government Shuts Off Your Internet - Wired How-To Wiki
Hi guys, long time reader, first time poster. I think if we were to see a complete loss of internet it would be because of some unrelated disaster. Our economy is tied to it too deeply for the feds to just cut it unless everything else was already dead. However this thread isn't about, so I will leave it at that. Assuming our personal equipment still worked, long distance communication would probably have to return to the BBS style. Dial straight into a server with telnet. The biggest issue there is not only does the phone system have to still be up, you have to be connected to it. I can't be the only one who doesn't have a landline. If the cellular system is still active it would be easy to throw together an acoustic coupler but if not then those without a landline would be SOL without a bit of good old fashioned fonephreaking. Transmitting data wirelessly over SW would be very difficult. You would need a very clear signal to be able to get anything remotely close to dial-up speed. I guess the better question here is whether anybody has tried it, and if there is any new hardware I need to put into my faraday cage?
The Ham Radio community has been passing Data, over HF and VHF Radio, for years. There is X.25 Packet, Teletype, AmTor, PacTor, plus a whole slew of newer Digital Technologies that can be used to move digital traffic, where, and when, the bands are open. Many non-commercial High Seas Boaters, use these Technologies, to do eMail, and get Weather information. You are correct, in that bandwidths are low, but in a SHTF, Internet Shutdown senerio, passing Data Traffic could still be accomplished.
Just an FYI for non-Hams, the ARRL is the Ham's NRA. ARRL means Amateur Radio Relay League. Relay because in the very early days to send a message coast to coast it had to be relayed from station to station. Data can be passed very easily via voice, morse or computers. IMO, a ham ticket ought to be in every prepper's wallet. Although anyone can use a ham radio in an emergency; those who use radios all the time have a lot more practice at it so they do it better.
