Comments on: Weathering the Storm with Mobile Tech

By: Kal

Kal — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:05:28 +0000

I've had sketchy power and Internet for a week now, due to the blizzard in the Washington, D.C., area. I was able to plan ahead before the storm, so I topped off all my batteries and backup batteries ahead of time.

One tip I'd offer is to charge old devices, too, since using them can help save power on current devices.

For example, I like to read ebooks on my WinMob devices (and backlit ebooks have a big advantage during power outages). Rather than running down my current phone, I loaded my books on my old WinMob/Pocket PCs -- and even an old Palm IIIxe -- and read them on those devices. The Palm, which uses AAA batteries and runs down slowly, turned out to be the jewel in the system, since I had lots of extra batteries on hand.

I also put an old HTC Apache phone back in action. After I ran down all three extra batteries tethering on my current phone (Touch Pro), I reactivated my Apache. (I love extra phone batteries -- big fail for iPhones!)

Same with laptops. I have two "current" laptops -- each with extra batteries -- so they gave me about 30 hours. I also used two other really old laptops (and their extra batteries) for another 15 hours of use.

I milked some extra power out of my uninterruptable power supplies, too. As soon as the power went out, I unplugged all the devices from all them and pulled the batteries out. I was able to recharge my Touch Pro a couple of times from these and from the car adapter.

By: James Kendrick

James Kendrick — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:00:26 +0000

All good points, Gordon. Those in areas of frequent power outages should look at all the things you mentioned, and I'd add a small generator to the list.

My article was simply pointing out a strategy using the things likely already at hand. I am constantly told by folks they didn't know you could turn tethering on and off without a contract, for example.

By: Gordon Cahill

Gordon Cahill — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:00:29 +0000

That's it? That's your whole article? How about some simple stuff that really makes a difference.

Get an auto inverter. Plugs into a cigar socket in the car and gives 110/220 volts. Then you can charge your devices.
Get a battery powered phone charger. They're really cheap and can give you a full charge off 2x AA batteries.
Get an LED torch. Days on a single set of batteries.
Ordinary radio is still the most important way to keep in touch. -Use Eneloop batteries instead of NiCad rechargeable batteries. They retain their charge for a year. -Get a cheap USB TV tuner for you laptop. Then you can get emergency TV broadcasts for your laptop.

We've been without power for nearly 5 days once. You must have a recharge strategy. Turning on power saver isn't it. Having a long batttery and a tehthered phone/3G modem is great but as soon as you plug them in they drain your battery and loose their own power. If you're in an area wher you can loose ac power then having a recharge solution is vital.

Gordon

By: Allan Jones

Allan Jones — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:02:58 +0000

So, no trips to the coffee shop, then?

By: Des

Des — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:52:32 +0000

Don't forget to have a bog-standard radio..

By: Jalapeno

Jalapeno — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:09:56 +0000

I use an APC UPS at home to charge my devices if the power goes out. Most UPSs will let you turn them on and off as needed after the power goes out. Its possible to keep your smart phone charged for several days with one decent sized UPS, and use that phone to check on the news, way more efficient than using a laptop and a data card/mifi.

By: dev

dev — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:40:57 +0000

Oh, and bluetooth tethering also varies between computers due to the wild assortment of bluetooth stacks out there, so if you have multiple laptops to do this on, test that out too. :)

By: dev

dev — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:36:24 +0000

It should probably be noted that tethering often requires hardware or software you don't already have, so you should make sure you have what you need well ahead of any emergency. Also, don't trust it to work, try it out for a month, maybe during a month you're going on vacation or a business trip so you can get some usefulness out of it too. Bluetooth tethering is particularly finicky and varies from handset to handset.

Also, $15 tethering only applies to people who already have smartphones with data plans. Tethering for normal handsets typically costs more on par to the smartphone plan+$15 ($35-50 depending on carrier).

Still worth it in an emergency I think, and some carriers will actually pro-rate it.