[duckduke]

I am in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For those that are unware, we currently have about a 5 parish/county lake in the Baton Rouge area, flood waters from rain over the weekend. Many of the roads/interstates close to where I am typing this are shut down due to high water. It is epic.

And during the middle of the disaster I wake up early Sunday morning with dead AT&T service. Every AT&T phone in the affected disaster area was down/dead/nada/nothing. No data, no phone service. DEAD.

Similar problems happened across south Louisiana during Katrina in 2005. AT&T hasn't learned a thing. They minimize their infrastructure and place equipment centers in areas without little regard for protection.

It seems that over and over with any disaster situation AT&T is the first and sometimes the only one down or with a problem.

To my knowledge ............. AT&T is the only service that has had a problem in this event. I am not aware of any problem with Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile etc etc. , only AT&T. The others did not miss a beat. My wife has a Verizon work phone that has not missed a beat.

CURRENT STATUS:
During the heart of the disaster, all AT&T service was down 100% for at least 24 hours.

AT&T has brought in and placed some equipment in some key areas to allow for 'some' service. Mainly near emergency centers, universities, etc. etc. I finally started receiving text messages about 9am this AM (Monday). Many phone calls would not go through this morning and those that did had poor quality and were interrupted or died within a short period. It was difficult to maintain connection.

To think at $200/month that I pay them $2400/year and $24,000 over 10 years (one household)....... and when you need them the most they provide the least.

The best solution given was Wifi calling.................. dear geeks and radio broadcasters everywhere ........... when you have no power and no Wifi................. Wifi calling becomes very limited at best .

And for those that think the answer to a FM chip is steaming online radio .......... guess what child geeks ........... when you have no data (AT&T) and no power or internet connection (Wifi) ............. you cannot stream anything. An FM chip activated in a phone can be very valuable.

Enough of my rant.

I hate AT&T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(except that I caught ATT stock on sale several months ago, yes I bought some and sold it recently for a nice profit. My way to get something back from someone that only takes as much as possible from me but gives very little in return.)

[raino]

I heard about this on the radio. I hope you guys are doing OK and that those affected recover in time.

AT&T offered you WiFi calling as a solution? For which phone of yours were they expecting WFC to work?

[donnation]

Jeez that's awful. Hope you and your family stay well.

[MikeX74]

Stay safe.

[stlabrat]

Missing token ring? Used to be att the most reliable network. Bring back bell lab please. It is a national security issue.

[joeldf]

Yep. In the middle of it too.

Personally, me and my family are fine - high and a bit wet, but not flooded.

AT&T went out early Sunday morning. Came back a little by the evening. Went out again several hours later but was back this morning.

Although, at the moment, only have 4G. Not full LTE. Since AT&T 4G is really just the enhanced 3G, that means they only have the basic GSM running.

I'm not sure AT&T enabled any Wi-fi calling around here. Besides, with a lot of power out all over too, that wouldn't do much.

We had wi-fi because we never lost power at my house. My wife was able to text, but only because she has an iPhone, and only to other iPhone users who happen to be on a working wi-fi themselves. That's iMessage for you.

I'm on my Z10, so I couldn't text anyone. No one else I know has a BlackBerry, or even uses BBM on another platform, so that would have been useless. At least I had email and we had an email chain for work going around checking on everyone.

Posted via CB10

[raino]

I'm not sure AT&T enabled any Wi-fi calling around here. Besides, with a lot of power out all over too, that wouldn't do much.

They have enabled it for a select few devices--some iPhones for sure, and I want to say some recent Samsung phones as well. Anyway, my point was that is AT&T suggesting a solution that doesn't exist in the OP's case?

[joeldf]

Nope. AT&T didn't suggest anything other than "hang in there, we're working on it".

Posted via CB10

[duckduke]

Nope. AT&T didn't suggest anything other than "hang in there, we're working on it".

Posted via CB10

Right. The suggestion for WiFi calling came from the Gov. Office of Emergency Preparedness office news conference..... actually through the lips of the head of LA State Police. Gr8 guy and I'm sure trying to be helpful but I'm sure he was repeating something he heard for an Att rep or staff members. Who ever told him prolly had a phone capable and assumed all phones would work. He's prolly never made a WiFi call. Anyway, I also heard it repeated on local Baton Rouge news. Same goes here, they prolly heard it from the Gov. news conference and we're just repeating it trying to be helpful with understanding simple basics...... no power = no WiFi = no WiFi calling. They prolly don't really know what WiFi actally is. They figure hey, if you can WiFi and you have a phone, just make a call over Wifi.

I had a guy from my office make the same suggestion on a group text message today. My reply....... "sounds great, hey I may be ignorant but don't you have to have power and WiFi to make Wifi calls?"

Posted via CB10

[CharlieV]

I'm headed to Walker NOW from northeast texas. Relatives' house and cars flooded beyond ... beyond. Is there no AT&T Service now???? If so I need to stop and get a Walmart CDMA phone.

Ride or die:  PRIVelege-acy

[CharlieV]

Also, do you know if it is even possible to drive through denham springs and to Walker yet? I can't remember what highway it is. The one that goes past the bass pro shop.

Ride or die:  PRIVelege-acy

[wilber1]

Please stay Safe down there hope the water goes down soon .Got to love the carriers .

[ezrunner]

With that kind of flooding I am no surprised, there are bound to be power issues. Typically towers have about 24 hours on a backup source then they go kaput.

They could have lost a key piece of infrastructure in the area. They likely brought in their mobile disaster units which have limited capability. I would guess other providers have had issues as well.

That weather has affected everyone in areas!

Be safe and I hope for a speedy recovery for all affected in the weather

Posted via CB10

[prplhze2000]

I know. Folks live in Sherwood. They were on Verizon and it stayed up.

AT&T had a switching station on Choctaw that flooded.


During Katrina, I had a Nokia phone, think it was a 6140, operated on both GSM and gait, only phone to do so, still worked on AT&T when no one else's did. But now they r turned off.

What happened Sunday was ridiculous. People were stranded and couldn't call for help.

Posted via CB10

[prplhze2000]

Also, do you know if it is even possible to drive through denham springs and to Walker yet? I can't remember what highway it is. The one that goes past the bass pro shop.

Ride or die:  PRIVelege-acy

I12 is now open on east side of BR so you r good. If coming from Laffy, you have a problem.

Go to OT Lounge board at Tigerdroppings.com. A lot of useful info. It's beating the media.

Posted via CB10

[CharlieV]

Okay. We are in Alexanderia now. I'll check the site. We took 49 down from Shreveport so I guess we are screwed on about an hour. Sorry to hijack the thread, it is hard to get info. I'll check that site.

We have family in Lafayette whose house was the only one in their neighborhood that didn't flood.... To the front door but not inside except for street/boat wake. But our family in Walker lost everything. House, cars, boat, all gone. If you see a news story about a boat that was taken during the storm and found tied 7 feet up a Walmart parking lot pole in Walker, that's them. Someone else used the boat to evac their kids.

Anyway, hijack over. Thanks again.

Ride or die:  PRIVelege-acy

[prplhze2000]

Take 84 over to 61. 61 is clear. I've already talked to state police.

Posted via CB10

[CharlieV]

Thanks! O-T lounge has some great info and links. I hadn't even thought about FEMA... the whole family is looking it over right now. Thanks again.

10 still has closures. So 84 to 61 to get East is an appreciated tip.

Ride or die:  PRIVelege-acy

[prplhze2000]

When you get to BR, then you can get on I-110 and hit I-10 to I-12

Posted via CB10

[CharlieV]

Thanks. I got on the state trooper twitter feed thanks to OT lounge. I see 12 is open. 10 and 49 are not. I was routed to 190 and I have never seen so many alligators on the road in my 49 years. Amazing. The snakes must be out of control. Houses are flooded everywhere... the roads are still flooded. Im not even sure we can get gas that isnt full of water. I am shocked it is so bad this far north. People got cars away from their houses, which flooded, only to have their cars flooded at the road and I just passed houses with whole families staring out from their front doors to a lake that leads to their cars, as water laps in the door. Heartbreaking. BR must be really bad. The house in Walker was up to the roof so we are expecting total devastation. I'm not even sure we can get to it.

I was energized to help my family when we left this morning but I am getting a feeling of doom every mile we drive.

There are zero police except at water problem areas. People are speeding like crazy.

Im a little worried about the social situation in BR. Reading about looting and theft. Ugh. People cant just be nice to one another.

Ride or die:  PRIVelege-acy

[joeldf]

I'm headed to Walker NOW from northeast texas. Relatives' house and cars flooded beyond ... beyond. Is there no AT&T Service now???? If so I need to stop and get a Walmart CDMA phone.

Ride or die:  PRIVelege-acy

AT&T is up... mostly. Cell service may die in the middle of a call, or may not.

Data is only 4G still. No LTE yet.

Posted via CB10

[CharlieV]

Thanks. Just arrived. I'm getting 4G only if I stand in the middle of the street but that's plenty for now.

Walker and denham springs are just ruined. Everything I can see. I really dont understand why this rain event made Katrina look like a cake walk.

Anyway, thanks for the info and not jumping on me for hijacking the thread. I was browsing while driving and saw Baton Rouge mentioned and we were not even sure we could drive all of the way.

Much appreciated.

And yes, AT&T sucks not only for poor disaster preparedness but their OS updates are glacial in timing.

Ride or die:  PRIVelege-acy

[duckduke]

Walker and denham springs are just ruined. Everything I can see. I really dont understand why this rain event made Katrina look like a cake walk.

And yes, AT&T sucks not only for poor disaster preparedness but their OS updates are glacial in timing.

Ride or die:  PRIVelege-acy

Hi jacking is gr8...... glad the thread provided some value besides just the ATT rant.

Isn't it amazing....... thousands and thousands with total loss in Livingston, East Baton Rouge, and ascension parish. Little national news coverage. My wife's company was about to ship product Monday to a bunch of stores here from auburn AL. My wife suggested they google BR and they were amazed. 17 stores on route had no power, were closed and many flooded ....... not to mention you could not drive anywhere near most of them. They had no clue.

This is an epic event. But ATT is the only carrier I have heard with any problem. Yep.... just 4g. Online access is extremely slow if any online service at all. Mainly text messages and frequently dropped phone calls. Also, coverage area is extremely limited. I can drive to my house in tiger bend through Shenandoah but there is no signal by the time you reach my house.

Posted via CB10

[duckduke]

If u you know where this is...... Babin @ Tiger Bend, it was a boat launch yesterday. This is Yesterday, Monday, about 1:30pm.

That is a very high point on Tiger Bend Rd


Posted via CB10

[prplhze2000]

Know those areas very well.

Unbelievable that AT&T didn't have better prep for something like this after Katrina and Gustav.


This is also why I still keep a landline.

Posted via CB10