ADSL when power is down?

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ignacio

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Hi,
I know that the telephone works when the power is out - but does ADSL? I am considering buying a power generator to get me through the rolling (& random) blackouts, but - in my line of work - it won't do me much good to have a working computer without an internet connection. Can anyone verify whether ADSL runs if you have your ADSL modem powered by UPS or generator?
Thanks.
 
Interesting...

ignacio said:
Hi,
I know that the telephone works when the power is out - but does ADSL? I am considering buying a power generator to get me through the rolling (& random) blackouts, but - in my line of work - it won't do me much good to have a working computer without an internet connection. Can anyone verify whether ADSL runs if you have your ADSL modem powered by UPS or generator?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

If you use an ADSL router, obviously it requires power or a UPS to continue working, but USB only modems may be OK... However, maybe a telecoms fundi can comment on the exchange and DSLAMs, etc.

By the way... why do phone lines work when the power goes down... don't the switch systems at the exchange require Eskom power?
 
Telkom exchanges have generators that can generally power everything in it and connected to it.
 
We have the opposite problem at our office. When power is off all our phones lines (pabx, isdn and fax) go down, but ADSL continues to work. Something to with the mini exchange for our business park.
 
I have an UPS connected to my Linux server and ADSL router. Everything works 100% when a general power failure occurs... Not sure how long it will last though
 
telkom lines have a back-up power supply :D

you can even run small electrical devices off them.. :D
 
Last edited:
hey, so if the elec goes off we all can attach torches :)
 
Yeah... 16v I hear, but that's the "speed" portion, the cap is probably 1 amp... (although I can vouch that it isn't slack since I have stripped telkom wires with my teeth on occasion... owww)
 
I have DSL at my parents place and at my digs. When the power is out at the one house, DSL is working at the other so power shortages do not seem to affect the service. But Lol, Telkom will probably increase the DSL line rental from next month to cover the generator costs :) Oops, did I give them an idea.....
 
Telkom is going to have a fat fuel bill in Cape Town.:p
 
ignacio said:
Hi,
I know that the telephone works when the power is out - but does ADSL? I am considering buying a power generator to get me through the rolling (& random) blackouts, but - in my line of work - it won't do me much good to have a working computer without an internet connection. Can anyone verify whether ADSL runs if you have your ADSL modem powered by UPS or generator?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Yep, no problem when the power is down. I also had to go out and buy a USB modem. When the power goes down, I unplug my router and use the USB modem on my laptop.

I also bought a little 12V - 240V generator type thingy that plugs into you cars lighter and my PC/Laptop seems to be running fine, connecting to ADSL, etc.

SA back in the dark ages thanks to Eskom.
 
BTTB said:
Telkom is going to have a fat fuel bill in Cape Town.:p
Click to expand...

Eish! And Eskom are reliant on the petroleum industry who's refineries are shut down because of lack of electricity!

And Telkom is reliant on Eskom ...

Perpetual non-motion?:eek:
 
If you buy a Genny just be aware of the fact that it take a few seconds to start. So what you need to do to prevent your network from "rebooting" while the genny is starting is to connect every thing to a UPS and connect the genny to the UPS.

I have the problem that my UPS's lasts longer than the Telkom mini-Exchange in the office park... So all my stuff works but ADSL / Phones go off after a while.
 
Please explain what an Inverter is (connected to a car battery) and whether it can be used to power television, decoder, DVD player and wireless router.
Where can this device be purchased in Cape Town? Thanks.
 
!!DV!! said:
If you buy a Genny just be aware of the fact that it take a few seconds to start. So what you need to do to prevent your network from "rebooting" while the genny is starting is to connect every thing to a UPS and connect the genny to the UPS.

I have the problem that my UPS's lasts longer than the Telkom mini-Exchange in the office park... So all my stuff works but ADSL / Phones go off after a while.
Click to expand...
Well I anyways wouldnt connect my computers to a generator directly, without a UPS, unless you have an AVR gen, but even then, I wouldnt trust the thing.
 
youradsl said:
I also bought a little 12V - 240V generator type thingy that plugs into you cars lighter and my PC/Laptop seems to be running fine, connecting to ADSL, etc.

SA back in the dark ages thanks to Eskom.
Click to expand...

i might have to get over my aversion to owning an automobile and look into one of those.

(i live in central cape town. i don't need a car -- while we can afford one, since i don't need one, we don't have one. that said, we're going to the eastern cape to buy a generator -- there are none to be had in the western cape -- and for what it costs to rent a bakkie for the week we'd be gone to visit my inlaws, we might as well buy an old, used bakkie.)

i think getting a USB and a generator may be the right course of action. in the paper today i read that eskom won't be able to make things right in the cape town area for at least six years, and that's only if they started work RIGHT AWAY, which, of course, they won't.

middle-class houses in senegal, brazil and the dominican republic come with generators (or the apartment buildings advertise the fact that they have powerful generators). it looks like that will have to be the case here. whee.
 
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