[TriLUG] OT: Home Security without the phone line?

[Charles Fischer via TriLUG]

I use SimpliSafe and SimpliSafe uses the cell phone system for
connections.  My system is older and uses the telephone network as backup.
I think the newer systems use cell and wifi.  This is a simple system to
install and monitoring is on the low cost side.

I have not looked to see if there is a hack to have it call my cell phone,
and not the montering service.

Good luck,
Charles Fischer


On Mon, Dec 7, 2020 at 12:49 PM Pete Soper via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org>
wrote:

> Those who were around for the fun time named hurricane Fran may recall
> it was the big wake up call to the cell carriers that generators to
> carry their towers through extended outages were a good idea. Don't know
> if they made permanent improvements or not, but there was a fairly
> drastic set of symptoms during that adventure. Of course at the
> beginning the system was completely overwhelmed by calls, but after days
> that wasn't the basic problem, then it got better as generators were
> lashed up. Or at least that was the situation were I was (Wake county,
> outside Apex).
>
> If you can hack your cell phone to support a security service, great.
> But cellular modems have their own collection of issues. No free lunch.
> If you go that route I suggest staying on the center line in the middle
> of the road by copy-catting a system with an excellent track record.
> Perhaps something from Adafruit or SparkFun with a real community of
> users to help get over any bumps in the road if there are some. Avoid
> magical thinking about signal strength, antennas, the value of a
> relatively or completely unobstructed view of the tower, and above all
> else, Mr Lightning.
>
> -Pete
>
>
> On 12/7/20 10:01 AM, Bill Weinel via TriLUG wrote:
> >
> > All local AT&T switching offices have large battery banks which can
> > run their systems for days with no utility power. They also have
> > generators in order to charge the batteries... which is why the POTS
> > phone system stays up even during widespread power outages. Most ISPs
> > don't invest in the same amount of power infrastructure to keep their
> > services up during an extended power outage. If you're using telephone
> > service for alarm or security purposes, the best bet is to use POTS
> > telephone service. Otherwise, for VOIP phone service, the next best
> > thing is to use a cellular phone service since most cell sites are
> > generator powered during a widespread power outage.
> >
> >
> > cheers,
> >
> > bill
> >
> >
> > On 12/7/20 1:35 AM, Jeremy Portzer via TriLUG wrote:
> >> Phone companies know that people rely on their service for alarms and
> >> other critical services, hence they have a lot of infrastructure to
> >> provide backup power to their COs and switching stations.  Over the
> >> years many people report that their phone service stays up during
> >> ice/snow storms and hurricanes when nearly every other utility fails.
> --
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