You have probably noticed that it’s impossible to do almost anything without the Internet nowadays. What happens if there’s a cyber attack on your service provider and you lose access? How will you preorder pizza or buy those movie tickets in advance? Seriously, though, if the internet goes down, business will grind to a halt. Just look at what happened in Spain during the recent blackout.
So, how can you protect your family? Consider having more than one source of internet available; in fact, you probably already do. You probably have internet coming to your home from a cable service or a wireline telephone service. But you also most likely have internet coming right to your cell phone via 3G, LTE, or 5G connections. Even that may not be enough. In Spain, cellular internet didn’t last very long when the country recently suffered a major power outage.
During the power outage in Spain, internet connectivity dropped to 20%. Telecom companies reported losses of capacity. Vodafone Spain posted on X.com that its network was running at only about 70%, writing (translated):
For reasons beyond Vodafone Spain’s control, there has been a massive outage of the electricity grid in most provinces of Spain, impacting communications and infrastructures. Vodafone’s mobile network temporarily remains 70% active, thanks to backup generators, but its operation will depend on the duration of the incident. In parallel, measures are being taken to maintain communications for as long as possible, prioritising and managing network resources and capacity in the most efficient way. From Vodafone Spain, we recommend our customers who have mobile communication to make responsible use of it to avoid collapsing the service.
Between lower capacity and Spaniards not able to connect on their end from home because they didn’t have power, it was a mess.
Action Line: So what can you do? Step one in protecting your internet access is having backup power. Either a generator or batteries are the obvious choices. Then, it’s helpful to have an internet source that isn’t powered by your local grid. This means satellite internet via Starlink, Hughesnet, Viasat, or some other provider. Coupling your own power and access to satellite internet can give you a better chance of maintaining internet access during an outage. Email me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com to tell me about your backup plans. And click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.
