Before the Next Storm Comes
Posted on August 12, 2020 by
At this point it’s only natural to wonder what will go wrong next. Hurricane season is here and a majority of us are still working from home, in varying states of lockdown. Ten days ago, tropical storm Isaiah swept up the East Coast, knocking out utility service for millions of homeowners from South Carolina to Maine. So what is your back-up plan to ensure you can stay productive working from home in the face of the next named storm?
It’s easy enough to keep your lights and computers running with a back-up generator but phone and internet access often prove to be the Achilles’ heel in a home office. That’s because a storm that knocks out power lines will usually knock out internet and land line phone service too. In a severe storm, cell phone service may also be compromised, if cell phone towers are damaged or simply overwhelmed by surging call volume.
Whenever you think about back-up and resiliency planning, remember there are different levels of preparedness, depending on your budget and aversion to risk. For purposes of maintaining home office connectivity, here are four levels of preparedness you can consider:
Gold Standard:
- Come hell or highwater, the best way to stay connected is with a satellite phone. You can sign up for a satellite phone service plan with Iridium, providing either North American or global coverage, and then for $500 you can purchase a satellite wi-fi hot spot that will allow you to connect up to 8 devices. This way you’ll be able to keep in touch with your clients even in the face of a Cat 5 storm, although perhaps it will be a little too pricey to be a practical solution.
High-level Preparedness:
- Install two internet lines into your home from two different providers. Note that this doesn’t guarantee service continuity, because both internet lines will be at risk in a severe storm. But if nothing else, the redundancy should help you maintain good connection speed as long as service remains available.
- Likewise you should arrange for cell phone service from two different providers, with the second one dedicated for usage as a mobile hotspot with a Mi-Fi device. Of course, you have to make sure that your cell phone plan allows your signal to be used as a mobile hotspot. Alternatively, you can just get a Mi-Fi device from the second provider, which will cost about $30 per month. This has the added benefit of providing you with more secure access when you travel instead of using the Wi-Fi available in airports, hotels or other public places.
Mid-Level Preparedness:
- If you don’t want to incur the cost of redundancy for both internet and cell phone service, then it’s better to maintain 2 cell phone services and go with a single internet line.
Low Preparedness:
- Maintain a single home internet line and a single cell service plan. And then cross your fingers and hope that the storms don’t track your way.
During this last storm, when we saw our friends and neighbors camped out at the town library and other local facilities in order to use the Wi-Fi, we realized just how much the world has changed. For many of us, 24 x 7 connectivity has become a necessity, not a luxury. If so, it’s time to make your own back-up plan.