August Solar Eclipse Could Disrupt Roads and Cellular Networks

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August Solar Eclipse Could Disrupt Roads and Cellular Networks

Posted by BeauHD on Tuesday June 27, 2017 @07:00PM from the calm-before-the-storm dept.

GeoGreg writes: On August 21, 2017, the contiguous United States will experience its first total solar eclipse since 1979. According to GreatAmericanEclipse.com's Michael Zeiler, approximately 200 million people live within one day's drive of the eclipse. Zeiler projects that between 1.85 to 7.4 million people will attempt to visit the path of totality. As the eclipse approaches, articles are appearing predicting the possibility of automobile traffic jamming rural roads. There is also concern about the ability of rural cellular networks to handle such a large influx. AT&T is bringing in Cell On Wheel (COW) systems to rural locations in Kentucky, Idaho, and Oregon, while Verizon is building a temporary tower in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The disruption could be frustrating to those trying to get to the eclipse or share their photos via social networking. If cellular networks can't handle the data, apps like Waze won't be much help in avoiding the traffic. If communication is essential near the eclipse path, Astronomy Magazine recommends renting a satellite phone.

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Or by KeensMustard · 2017-06-27 19:15 · Score: 1

You know, take a photo and share it on instagram later?
Maybe not everything is a crisis.
1. Re:Or by x0ra · 2017-06-27 21:01 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Cell phone widespread use is recent, people weren't dropping dead before that. (yes, I know, it's difficult to realize that such times ever existed)...
2. Re: Or by Highdude702 · 2017-06-28 00:27 · Score: 2
  
  People had land lines in their car when they were driving through rural parts of the country? Jeez that's news to me! Thank you for telling me. Dumbass
3. Re: Or by ShanghaiBill · 2017-06-28 01:17 · Score: 1
  
  People living along the road had landlines, and now many of them do not. Also, in the olden days we had "phone booths" and "pay phones" which no longer exist.
  Anyway, I think this "crisis" is overblown. When networks are congested, casual users drop off, and important calls can get through with persistence. 911 calls have priority. Text msgs need far less bandwidth than voice.
  These predictions of mass congestion usually fizzle. Does anyone remember Carmaggedon, when LA highways were supposed to freeze up with massive congestion? Traffic that day was actually lighter than normal.
  Also I question how many people are really going to travel to see an eclipse. They aren't that exciting.
4. Re: Or by wyHunter · 2017-06-28 04:10 · Score: 1
  
  Living in a very unpopulated state, I can say: Many of us have land lines because cell networks are not reliable NOW.
5. Re:Or by david_thornley · 2017-06-28 06:11 · Score: 1
  
  One eclipse photo is going to look like every other eclipse photo. None of them are anything like the real experience.
  
  --
  "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Nice headline by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2017-06-27 19:24 · Score: 5, Insightful

So to be clear (since not everyone reads even the summary), the eclipse itself is not affecting roads or cellular networks at all - as any reasonable person would already understand. The headline simply refers to the possibility that rural cell networks might get overwhelmed by the surge in traffic.
So no different, really, than any other large rural gathering... except possibly in scale.

--
#DeleteChrome
1. Re:Nice headline by AHuxley · 2017-06-27 21:40 · Score: 1
  
  Telcos upgrade their networks due to more people using network :)
  
  --
  Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
2. Re:Nice headline by Hognoxious · 2017-06-27 22:25 · Score: 2
  
  A bit like Burning Man, then? I think we should bring in Bennett Haselton on this one. From ice to parking, he's got that sorted.
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
3. Re: Nice headline by Maritz · 2017-06-27 22:44 · Score: 1
  
  Thank you for your contribution. You can wipe the rabid spit from your chin now. Calm down buddy.
  
  --
  I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
4. Re:Nice headline by RedShoeRider · 2017-06-28 04:23 · Score: 1
  
  Iowa tests this every summer with their RAGBRAI event. It's interesting what happens.
  
  Picture: 10k to 20k people descending on rurual, towns with a standing population of often less than 5k. What happens is this:
  
  5am: Full 4G signal, roughly as fast as any other day. Voice calls are normal.
  6am: Email still sort of loads, forget streaming anything. Voice calls are normal.
  6:30am: Voice is getting sketchy.
  8am: Forget it. Data is shot, Voice might connect.
  8:33am: Voice works again
  8:40: Voice is shot again. Data is a joke.
  10am: Everything starts working again as people start to leave the town.
  
  Why the little window at 8:33am? As someone else pointed out- people give up and put the phones away. However, when they see that some people are having a conversation, they assume that everything is back to normal, jump back on...and wipe the system out again.
  
  --
  Chris Knight is my hero.
5. Re: Nice headline by mapkinase · 2017-06-28 14:52 · Score: 1
  
  I am afraid that this will create a problem even largere than Y2K.
  
  --
  I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
PAX by darkain · 2017-06-27 19:34 · Score: 1

Have you ever gone to any of the PAX conventions? It'll be just like that (in terms of technical infrastructure usage)
Re:Hmm by Opportunist · 2017-06-27 20:34 · Score: 1

So Dick spends his Summer in the Hole?
Sounds dirty, somehow. Dunno why.

--
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
So what by ickleberry · 2017-06-27 20:50 · Score: 4, Insightful

A few million dumbfucks won't be able to use their phones for a few minutes/hours. This is a disaster scenario that companies are planning for well in advance? If you are so important that you can't be missed for a few hours while you go to see an eclipse obviously you shouldn't be going at all.
1. Re: So what by Megane · 2017-06-27 22:59 · Score: 2
  
  By the way, when you were typing, you might have noticed a little red squiggly line under 'traveling'. That's because you spelled it wrong.
  No squiggly line here. How did you think it should be spelled? With two 'l's? Because that gives a squiggly line for me. What's next, adding a silent 'u' to 'color'?
  
  --
  #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
2. Re:So what by thegarbz · 2017-06-27 23:39 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  If you are so important that you can't be missed
  Who said can't be missed? The summary says unable to handle cell traffic. That implies potential issues with contacting emergency services as well. It also gives example of data related issues which may have noting at all to do with the eclipse or people who may not be interested in watching them.
  Some people have different needs than you do. I'm glad to see companies planning ahead rather than taking the "fuck customers" approach you are advocating. Do you by any chance work for an ISP?
3. Re:So what by AmiMoJo · 2017-06-28 00:20 · Score: 1
  
  I guess it's less of an issue in the US, but in Japan where they have regular natural disasters the networks are prepared for this. They have a lot of public wifi to back it up, and the normally commercial paid networks automatically switch to free mode in the event of a major earthquake etc. Even the vending machines often have a wifi AP that activates, and if the situation is on-going can switch to free-vend mode.
  I was there in March 2011, and was able to send email within a couple of minutes of the big one hitting.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
4. Re:So what by 140Mandak262Jamuna · 2017-06-28 02:24 · Score: 1
  
  Not that simple. Every one assumes the reliability of these communications network and design systems around it.
  I am closing on a home on Friday. I got some paperwork from mortgage lender on Tuesday at around 1 PM, with a voice mail saying, I need to sign it electronically before midnight, else we miss the closing deadline. 11 hour window? It is a half mill deal, 10K security deposit. Seller has another closing lined up contingent on this sale going through, that is another half mill deal most likely. It is possible the contingent sales have been set up like dominoes many times over. The interest rate went up two weeks back, summer season is coming to a close. Any interruption here would reverberate through.
  But they simply assumed, I will get the voice mail, and I will be able to reach a desktop or laptop, will be ale to reach their secure communications server, two factor authenticate using a cell phone, sign and complete the paper work. In an earlier era they might have provided for 24 or even 48 hours for the borrower to show up physically to a specific branch of the bank and sign the paper document in person.
  There were some news reports about solar spot activity causing traffic jams. Some solar flare knocked off one communication satellite. Most gas stations were using that satellite for the pay-at-the-pump systems. When people had to pump gas and pay inside the convenience store, the throughput of the gas stations dropped, lines formed, the lines snaked out of the gas stations, starting jamming up turning lanes, leading to a huge traffic jam.
  Efficient systems have no cushion left in them to handle unexpected situations.
  
  --
  sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
5. Re: So what by jeffporcaro · 2017-06-28 02:54 · Score: 1
  
  I think you may mean that he spelled it incorrectly. An adverb is the correct modifier for a verb. You used an adjective.
  
  --
  It is not the doing of things that is difficult. What is difficult is getting in the right mood to do them. ~~ Brancusi
6. Re:So what by chocho99 · 2017-06-28 05:13 · Score: 1
  
  If you have a heart attack - you will appreciate the effort they are making to ensure communications. It's not about convenience - it's about liability.
  
  A few million dumbfucks won't be able to use their phones for a few minutes/hours. This is a disaster scenario that companies are planning for well in advance? If you are so important that you can't be missed for a few hours while you go to see an eclipse obviously you shouldn't be going at all.
7. Re:So what by k6mfw · 2017-06-28 09:54 · Score: 1
  
  won't be able to use their phones for a few minutes/hours.
  perhaps this means they can experience the moment of a total eclipse. See how all of sudden it gets very dark, feel temperature of air cool down, see this distinct bright thing in the sky (use proper viewing goggles), notice a band of brightness along the horizon. Put away the stupid phone and seize the moment. Next time it happens in America, you will be worm food.
  
  --
  mfwright@batnet.com
Don't times change? by Coisiche · 2017-06-27 21:21 · Score: 2

The only total eclipse I've seen was in Turkey in 2006. Only 11 years ago. I didn't have a smartphone then. All I was interested in was taking photos with my camera and just looking all around to take in the moment (as an aside if you're going to see this one and have never seen a total eclipse before then make sure you do a 360 look at the horizon during totality; worth it). I just didn't feel any need to tell anyone else about it there and then. Other people got to see the photos several days later when I returned to the UK.
1. Re:Don't times change? by Maritz · 2017-06-27 22:47 · Score: 2
  
  Times sure do change; Turkey was almost a free country back then.
  
  --
  I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
2. Re:Don't times change? by Coisiche · 2017-06-30 10:33 · Score: 1
  
  Well I'd recommend a tripod if using a camera, or something to keep whatever you're using very steady. I didn't have anything and a few of my shots have a less than circular moon surrounded by the corona. My more sensible friend did bring a tripod and got many more good images.
  My attempt at the diamond ring picture at the end of totality didn't work well either. I think that might have been a shortcoming of the digital camera but then they have moved on a bit in the last 11 years.
I'm gonna be RICH!!! by hyades1 · 2017-06-27 22:02 · Score: 2, Funny

1. Get a nice sound system and a big tent. Head down to the southern US and hold a revival meeting.
2. Claim The Lord is going to put out the Sun if they don't pray hard and give me a lot of money.
3. Profit!

--
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
1. Re: I'm gonna be RICH!!! by hyades1 · 2017-06-28 02:36 · Score: 1
  
  No, that would be the person sucking off the dog in the corner...and that would be you.
  
  --
  I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
Navigation by DrYak · 2017-06-27 22:34 · Score: 3, Informative

Emergency lines, navigation and texting are essential for people's safety and should be available all the time.
Da fuck happened with offline navigation ?
As in maps stored locally on an SD card (even on old SatNav from 15 years ago like Tomtom, or on modern car's infotainment, or by using the "save offline map" function of smartphone apps like Google, or even weird solution like Sailfish OS's OSM Scout Server where the map server *itself* runs on the phone).
And getting the traffic information from any publicly broadcast source (TMC - Traffic Message Channel - over FM-RDS or over DAB, or over whatever you use a digital data transmission on your side of the Atlantic pond).
Or listening to information over plain normal radio ? (Some in-car radio are even designed to automatically switch between radio traffic announcement and whatever you're listening to).
Why does everything has to be constantly online if it's that much critical ?!
Said as an European dweller, who's used to cross national border whenever driving more than a few dozens of Km, and thus used to take offline mapping capability to avoid absurd data roaming costs.
To me it seems absolutely clear that if you need to rely on it, you must be able to make do with dropped signal.

--
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
1. Re:Navigation by sjames · 2017-06-27 23:28 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  When the app makers are busy apping their app apps, they tend to forget that the entire network doesn't look like it does in their offices and that there might be places where there is no signal at all. Others are somewhat aware and tell their children scary stories about people who go to those places and aren't heard from for minutes at a time!
2. Re:Navigation by Mr+D+from+63 · 2017-06-27 23:42 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I think I have some offline maps stored on paper somewhere.
3. Re:Navigation by ShanghaiBill · 2017-06-28 01:21 · Score: 1
  
  I think I have some offline maps stored on paper somewhere.
  Unless they are in your car when the network fails, that isn't going to help. Also, paper maps are hard to use because there is no blinking dot that shows your current location.
4. Re:Navigation by Anonymous Coward · 2017-06-28 02:56 · Score: 1
  
  Oddly, online maps are a problem because there's a blinking idiot who doesn't know the current location...
5. Re:Navigation by wyHunter · 2017-06-28 04:11 · Score: 1
  
  No, you have to look around and use your spatial perception senses to figure out where you are! Shock, I know.
6. Re:Navigation by Solandri · 2017-06-28 04:31 · Score: 1
  
  It's not just about having offline maps. The GPS on a lot of older and lower-end phones is A-GPS (assisted GPS). The processor on the phone would take too long to do the initial position fix calculations. So it transmits the GPS satellite data to the cell tower, a hefty computer on the cell tower quickly does the calculations, and transmits the position back to the phone. Once the phone has the initial position, subsequent position updates are calculated on the phone. Because the calculations for updating the position are a lot simpler than calculating the initial position.
  
  If the cell network goes down or is inaccessible, these devices lose their ability to use GPS unless they were already using it at the time the outage began.
7. Re:Navigation by Cro+Magnon · 2017-06-28 05:43 · Score: 1
  
  Might be a problem if I'm driving to relatives in Iowa. One ear of corn looks like any other.
  
  --
  Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
8. Re:Navigation by sylvandb · 2017-06-28 05:55 · Score: 1
  
  forget the blinking dot, even if you can figure out where you are on a paper map, that map can't tell you what direction you are going!
9. Re:Navigation by tipo159 · 2017-06-28 07:31 · Score: 1
  
  Funny or insightful is exactly right.
  I frequently travel in areas of the PNW where mobile network connectivity is poor to non-existant. A number of common apps are frustratingly dependent on being connected to the network. Also, a lot of people who spend most of their time in places with good connectivity will fail to realize that apps that they depend on do not work without that connectivity.
10. Re:Navigation by nigelo · 2017-06-28 08:38 · Score: 1
  
  If your relatives all look a-maize-d in the aural-pickup dept., maybe you should change your name to Corn Magnon.
  
  --
  *Still* negative function...
11. Re:Navigation by wyHunter · 2017-06-29 04:27 · Score: 1
  
  Last I've noticed maps show highways on them, yes? And roads have signage.
Football by Sooner+Boomer · 2017-06-27 22:57 · Score: 1

So, this is a bit like the aftermath of a large college football game in a rural town?

--
Chaos maximizes locally around me.
Does This One not Count by prolitariac · 2017-06-27 23:08 · Score: 2

On August 21, 2017, the contiguous United States will experience its first total solar eclipse since 1979.
Solar eclipse of May 10, 1994 I went and saw it in St Louis. How do they define contiguous U.S.
1. Re:Does This One not Count by Anonymous Coward · 2017-06-27 23:37 · Score: 1
  
  That was an annular solar eclipse and not a total solar eclipse. Contiguous is defined as usual.
It makes me wonder... by argStyopa · 2017-06-27 23:24 · Score: 3, Insightful

...how we ever managed to enjoy eclipses before cell phones and the internet?
It couldn't even have been possible, could it?

--
-Styopa
FTFY Re:I'm gonna be RICH!!! by OzPeter · 2017-06-28 00:35 · Score: 4, Funny

FTFY

1. Get a nice sound system and a big tent. Head down to the southern US and hold a revival meeting.
2. Claim The Lord is going to put out the Sun if they don't pray hard and give me a lot of money.
3. Prophet!

--
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
1. Re:FTFY Re:I'm gonna be RICH!!! by hyades1 · 2017-06-28 01:08 · Score: 1
  
  Well played, Sir!
  
  --
  I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
2. Re:FTFY Re:I'm gonna be RICH!!! by Ol+Olsoc · 2017-06-28 01:13 · Score: 1
  
  FTFY
  t the Sun if they don't pray hard and give me a lot of money.
  3. Prophet!
  Dear sir, you have just won the internet!
  
  --
  The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Re:FP! FP! FP! FP FOR LOVE! FP! FP! FP! by Highdude702 · 2017-06-28 00:37 · Score: 1

Have had the same issue for a few months. Stuck at +1/+1. I even sent a bug report to them with no response. It's almost like they're trying to kill slashdot.
Huh? by Ol+Olsoc · 2017-06-28 01:11 · Score: 1

Is this a Captain Obvious commercial?

--
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
The Queen's English by Geoffrey.landis · 2017-06-28 01:23 · Score: 2

A troll like this has more chance in its own thread. Sorry for outing you. By the way, when you were typing, you might have noticed a little red squiggly line under 'traveling'. That's because you spelled it wrong.
http://writingexplained.org/tr...

--
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
Re:FP! FP! FP! FP FOR LOVE! FP! FP! FP! by Geoffrey.landis · 2017-06-28 01:25 · Score: 1

Lately for me (for about 2-3 weeks or so), that has been fucked up such that it is stuck at +3/+3, and when I try to change it in my account settings, the new setting doesn't get saved. Hey, Whipslash, wtf?
Lucky you, you only get the reasonable comments and not the idiots, clueless, and trolls.

--
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
Get ready for facebook live videos by p51d007 · 2017-06-28 03:11 · Score: 1

Where they point their cell phone cameras at the sun, then can't figure out why they STOPPED WORKING.
Paper maps by DrYak · 2017-06-28 04:08 · Score: 1

Paper maps, compared to a SatNav have a couple of problems :
- A small one :
One needs to know how to read them.
- And a *major one* :
You're not supposed to read while driving, nor fussy around with books and papers.
You're supposed to keep your eyes on the road.
So you need that the person riding shotgun takes care of the maps (and hope is map-litterate enough to be actually able to do it).
(As opposed to a SatNav that handles everything alone and that you can keep within your far aways field of view, like right above of the dashboard)
(Just don't be an idiot, don't stick it in the middle of the front window as most idiots seem to be doing lately).

--
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
1. Re:Paper maps by david_thornley · 2017-06-28 06:07 · Score: 1
  
  Since the traffic is predicted to be bad, I'd recommend car-pooling to the eclipse. Problem solved!
  
  --
  "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
2. Re:Paper maps by Mr+D+from+63 · 2017-06-29 09:10 · Score: 1
  
  Paper maps, compared to a SatNav have a couple of problems :
  - A small one : One needs to know how to read them.
  - And a *major one* : You're not supposed to read while driving, nor fussy around with books and papers. You're supposed to keep your eyes on the road. So you need that the person riding shotgun takes care of the maps (and hope is map-litterate enough to be actually able to do it). (As opposed to a SatNav that handles everything alone and that you can keep within your far aways field of view, like right above of the dashboard) (Just don't be an idiot, don't stick it in the middle of the front window as most idiots seem to be doing lately).
  The obvious advantages are obvious. Thanks for taking time to explain them to everyone thought. I'm sure you have not insulted anybody's intelligence.
Re:Hmm by Thud457 · 2017-06-28 04:37 · Score: 1

Moffett is 28.3 minutes closer.

--
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
All the same by Sir+Holo · 2017-06-28 08:34 · Score: 1

Everyone will be trying to share their photo of the exact same thing all at once over LTE or 4G.
This makes a lot of sense.
No. Wait. It doesn't.
Bad traffic by DrYak · 2017-06-28 21:26 · Score: 1

Since the traffic is predicted to be bad, I'd recommend car-pooling to the eclipse. Problem solved!
Or taking the public transportati....
Oh, wait. United States...
Nevermind.

--
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]