1. avt123's Avatar
    avt.....were you in downtown DC when the quake hit? I was right smack in the middle of the city. It was felt in NY, but the epicenter being 84 miles away in SW VA meant that DC took a nearly direct hit.
    No, I was not in DC, I was in NY and my entire house shook. I live not too far from NYC, where a lot of things even came to a jam. The networks were clogged up here too, this effected the entire east coast of the United States. All I am saying is my device was able to send and receive phone calls, texts and all other data perfectly fine.

    I have a family member who lives in DC. She doesn't use a BB and she was able to contacts her family fine.
    08-25-11 03:16 PM
  2. Umm Yeah's Avatar
    avt.....were you in downtown DC when the quake hit? I was right smack in the middle of the city. It was felt in NY, but the epicenter being 84 miles away in SW VA meant that DC took a nearly direct hit.
    I was "right smack in the middle" of DC. My first text went out at 1:54 (the quake hit at 1:51). I was able to reach my wife on her Windows Phone 7, my daughter on her feature phone, my father and brother on their dumb phones, and my sister on her iPhone. As I said, texting works 99% of the time, even during earthquakes in DC and they reach people who aren't using BBs. If this were a BB-world, BBM would be great. BB is losing market share and a product designed to ONLY reach those in that shrinking market share is not a selling point. I am hopeful that the new QNX will turn around RIM and their market share will increase. Until then, I'll stick with my "universal messaging app" aka texting.
    08-25-11 06:16 PM
  3. K Bear's Avatar
    There was congestion on the network, but I was able to make and receive phone calls, SMS, Tweets, & e-mail in a timely manor in the Poconos. Touting how only Blackberrys will get you through a disaster is fine, bit you weren't the only ones. I grantee you when we get whacked by Irene, I will still be able to function without a Blackberry.

    Posted from my Inspire 4G at wapforums.crackberry.com
    08-25-11 06:31 PM
  4. qbnkelt's Avatar
    I hear your statements....my experience in downtown DC was completely different. I saw a lot of people reverting to their government issued BBerries while they held other phones in their hands, unable to get a signal.
    And there were no calls going out in downtown DC anywhere around me, only about an hour later did calls come in. I was unable to call out even after I'd walked all the way to Union Station....I received two calls during that time and wasn't able to call out until past five in the afternoon. I remember sitting at Sbarros in Union Station and two women next to me holding smartphones that were completely unable to make/receive texts or calls while I was BBMing with loved ones across the pond quite effortlessly.
    Last edited by Qbnkelt; 08-26-11 at 03:28 AM.
    08-26-11 03:25 AM
  5. qbnkelt's Avatar
    I was "right smack in the middle" of DC. My first text went out at 1:54 (the quake hit at 1:51). I was able to reach my wife on her Windows Phone 7, my daughter on her feature phone, my father and brother on their dumb phones, and my sister on her iPhone. As I said, texting works 99% of the time, even during earthquakes in DC and they reach people who aren't using BBs. If this were a BB-world, BBM would be great. BB is losing market share and a product designed to ONLY reach those in that shrinking market share is not a selling point. I am hopeful that the new QNX will turn around RIM and their market share will increase. Until then, I'll stick with my "universal messaging app" aka texting.
    I am not discussing market share at all. Nor do I care in the middle of a crisis about market share. I care about what works for me and gets me through my day and able to communicate effectively when events require me to communicate with loved ones. I don't need market share to validate my decisions.
    At 1:54 I was still in the stairwell of my building trying to get out. I didn't hit the street until 1:57 when I tried to call out and got the network unavailable error message on my phone. Reverted to BBM immediately. As we walked out of the building I noticed people trying to call and no one was getting calls out. Then I noticed the different people using different devices with various levels of success.
    Given my experience, I'll stick with BBM since it worked for me, my colleagues, and my loved ones while all around me other platforms failed....
    Last edited by Qbnkelt; 08-26-11 at 03:48 AM.
    08-26-11 03:37 AM
  6. qbnkelt's Avatar
    No, I was not in DC, I was in NY and my entire house shook. I live not too far from NYC, where a lot of things even came to a jam. The networks were clogged up here too, this effected the entire east coast of the United States. All I am saying is my device was able to send and receive phone calls, texts and all other data perfectly fine.

    I have a family member who lives in DC. She doesn't use a BB and she was able to contacts her family fine.
    I believe that what you will find is that the level of disruption is proportional to proximity to certain locations in the city. While people were able to communicate in Montgomery county around Brookmont (my technical lead lives there and both he and his wife have iPhones) those of us nearer certain buildings were unable to use voice at all. And the disruption in these areas was absolute. However, as I mentioned, none of my team members or my Division that I saw with anything other than BB were able to communicate out as we were evacuating.
    As of the time I began to walk to Union, this remained so. My first call came in an hour and a half after the quake. I was still getting the "Call denied by Network" error message even while I waited at Union. As were the people around me.
    08-26-11 03:45 AM
  7. anon3396357's Avatar
    Doesn't BBM require cell towers to work still? If the cell towers go down will BBM still work? This is assuming you don't have access to wi-fi connection, which any other smartphone can make use of and send e-mails/IMs through other apps if Wi-fi is available.
    08-26-11 04:50 AM
  8. _StephenBB81's Avatar
    Doesn't BBM require cell towers to work still? If the cell towers go down will BBM still work? This is assuming you don't have access to wi-fi connection, which any other smartphone can make use of and send e-mails/IMs through other apps if Wi-fi is available.
    for a Voice call you need 2 way solid communication with the tower
    for a text message you need I believe it is a 2 second connection with the cell tower, and the text message makes 3-6 connect attempts.

    BlackBerry Messenger requires a 1-2 second connection to the tower, and BBM continues to attempt the transmission more frequently, and for longer than text messages, then once the message goes through it is routed to the NOC, and not through traditional routing stations, the NOC handles the routing to the next headset and the push through, of the smaller data chunk that is BBM, vs the larger chunks that is text messages or voice.

    I really wish I could remember more details for you or provide you with links, there was extensive talks about this during the crisis in Hatti a few years ago.
    08-26-11 05:37 AM
  9. Branta's Avatar
    I believe that what you will find is that the level of disruption is proportional to proximity to certain locations in the city. While people were able to communicate in Montgomery county around Brookmont (my technical lead lives there and both he and his wife have iPhones) those of us nearer certain buildings were unable to use voice at all. And the disruption in these areas was absolute. However, as I mentioned, none of my team members or my Division that I saw with anything other than BB were able to communicate out as we were evacuating.
    As of the time I began to walk to Union, this remained so. My first call came in an hour and a half after the quake. I was still getting the "Call denied by Network" error message even while I waited at Union. As were the people around me.
    "Call denied by Network" suggests the network was in lockdown rather than simply congested or towers failed.

    It is likely the voice network was closed down to "priority mode" with outgoing calls only for emergency (911) and priority users. This has been a hard lesson learned in many disaster management scenarios over the years. Given the sensitivity of DC (or any other capital city) I would expect this step to be in the plan for any potentially major emergency. It guarantees the most urgent communications - for safety of life - will get through, at the cost of delaying thousands of "honey are you ok" calls.
    08-26-11 05:38 AM
  10. avt123's Avatar
    I believe that what you will find is that the level of disruption is proportional to proximity to certain locations in the city. While people were able to communicate in Montgomery county around Brookmont (my technical lead lives there and both he and his wife have iPhones) those of us nearer certain buildings were unable to use voice at all. And the disruption in these areas was absolute. However, as I mentioned, none of my team members or my Division that I saw with anything other than BB were able to communicate out as we were evacuating.
    As of the time I began to walk to Union, this remained so. My first call came in an hour and a half after the quake. I was still getting the "Call denied by Network" error message even while I waited at Union. As were the people around me.
    Actually, this whole area was clogged too. Many people could not make phone calls. I could not get in contact with my friend who works in downtown Manhattan and he has a BB(with voice). IMing him worked though.

    I don't know if you saw any pictures but when it happened in NYC, they were all on their cellphones. This clogged the network all the way up to Putnam County, over an hour north of Manhattan (at least the people I called up here were having trouble).

    NYC Quake: New Yorkers Take To the Streets After Earthquake [Photos]

    When natural disasters happen, it is not just the areas that are hit the hardest that are affected, it is everywhere that is affected. Proof of this is 9/11. Cell networks were clogged across the country when that happend in places that were not even attacked. Same goes for this quake, except on a smaller scale of just the east coast.

    All I am saying was I was able to keep in contact with family and friends as well and I do not have a BB, and know people with BBs who were having trouble too. BBM is a great thing if you know a lot of people who use it. For the majority of the world who do not have a BB, texting, IMing/email and phone calls are the only way. I guess it just depends on how fast you are to get your messages out and if you ping the tower at the right time.
    Last edited by avt123; 08-26-11 at 12:28 PM.
    08-26-11 12:25 PM
  11. K Bear's Avatar
    Actually, this whole area was clogged too. Many people could not make phone calls. I could not get in contact with my friend who works in downtown Manhattan and he has a BB(with voice). IMing him worked though.

    I don't know if you saw any pictures but when it happened in NYC, they were all on their cellphones. This clogged the network all the way up to Putnam County, over an hour north of Manhattan (at least the people I called up here were having trouble).

    NYC Quake: New Yorkers Take To the Streets After Earthquake [Photos]

    When natural disasters happen, it is not just the areas that are hit the hardest that are affected, it is everywhere that is affected. Proof of this is 9/11. Cell networks were clogged across the country when that happend in places that were not even attacked. Same goes for this quake, except on a smaller scale of just the east coast.

    All I am saying was I was able to keep in contact with family and friends as well and I do not have a BB, and know people with BBs who were having trouble too. BBM is a great thing if you know a lot of people who use it. For the majority of the world who do not have a BB, texting, IMing/email and phone calls are the only way. I guess it just depends on how fast you are to get your messages out and if you ping the tower at the right time.
    911 calls took priority on the network, then data. That's how things work in an emergency.

    We are starting to get prepared for being called out. I'm officially on call status and my other half is awaiting for orders from Emergency Management to find out when and if they are to head to the fire station. EMS will update via pagers and text. The hospital will notify my via phone or text. All of these methods are not Blackberry exclusive.

    Posted from my Inspire 4G at wapforums.crackberry.com
    08-26-11 07:23 PM
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