Extraordinary circumstances, terrible for those people - but other than a battery backed solar array or autonomous generator I don’t know of any backup power solutions that will run autonomously for a week.

Seasons Greetings.

Indeed chap. I’m happy to suggest a sliding scale of backup solutions, but didn’t really think it appropriate (as a closing remark at one in the morning) necessarily in light of the OP’s original question. It wasn’t meant to be a treatise on backup power solutions.

Ofcom guidance from 2018 (still current I believe) is here:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016...

The assessment related to ‘at risk’ (I said vulnerable in my reply but unless any QCs amongst us are willing to split the difference…means the same thing) customers is effectively down to the communications provider to undertake at signup or throughout the term.

As far as I’m aware (happy to be corrected) there remains no formal definition or process defined by Ofcom. It’s down to the CP to make a judgement call on which of their customers is ‘at risk’ at the outset of the contract or indeed becomes ‘at risk’ during the period of service. Bit wooly but there you go.

People who have internet and phone service will, in all probability, just have their service changed seamlessly..
However, for technophobes, like my brother-in-law, who have no interest in mobile phones or internet, will be fazed by the changes needed. Especially when the router fails.
There are others who cannot get the internet?
Personally I have kept internet and phone separately away from BT. When the time comes will change to their cloud service. Also will have mobile phone back up storage chargers in the case of power failure.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

such as this small battery backup unit from Eaton which costs under £50

I see that particular model only has a rated capacity of 2200mAh, which assuming 3.7V lithium cells is 8.1Wh. It might power a router and ONT for for 30 to 60 minutes if you're lucky; that will go down as the cells age.

If you have a decent mobile signal where you live, then a mobile phone may be a better bet for emergency calls.

Got one here on test...

Currently running a CRS-305-1G-4S. Been running 1 hour and 23 minutes so far and looks like there is plenty of capacity left. I'll run it till it dies and let you know.

Also have a spare N330A-IP DECT base kicking around, so will test on that too; talk time and standby time.

I don't do BT, so cant check with a SH2 unfortunately.

In reply to a post by flippery:

People who have internet and phone service will, in all probability, just have their service changed seamlessly..
However, for technophobes, like my brother-in-law, who have no interest in mobile phones or internet, will be fazed by the changes needed. Especially when the router fails.
There are others who cannot get the internet?
Personally I have kept internet and phone separately away from BT. When the time comes will change to their cloud service. Also will have mobile phone back up storage chargers in the case of power failure.

For when the smartphones and power packs all die…good old no frills 2G mobile phone backup: like one of these in the cupboard, £15 from Argos: 3 hours talk time / 130 hours standby time…ought to be good for as long as the mast is stood up. Hmmm. I suppose there’s always the FM radio for outside company too. Just need to remember to charge it periodically and keep the SIM alive.

Folks with Starlink and their own backup / standby generation, could theoretically carry on comms etc…as long as the dish wasn’t blown away or hit by lightning 😬

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

For when the smartphones and power packs all die…good old no frills 2G mobile phone backup: like one of these in the cupboard, £15 from Argos: 3 hours talk time / 130 hours standby time…ought to be good for as long as the mast is stood up. Hmmm. I suppose there’s always the FM radio for outside company too. Just need to remember to charge it periodically and keep the SIM alive.

I have something similar
Have a reminder to have it depleted then charged every 2 months, and a cheap GiffGaff SIM in it.

However, will only be useful until 2033 when they switch off the old networks

In reply to a post by MilesR:

However, will only be useful until 2033 when they switch off the old networks

Then you'll need one of these, only £35 today, I suspect more choice in the next 12 years

Edited by jchamier (Sun 19-Dec-21 15:37:51)

In reply to a post by Thaumaturge:

I haven't come across the SH2 in the wild, but then I haven't been able to be in people's homes much for the last 18 months. Presumably it is fairly new? I note it supports DECT - are there likely to be any issues plugging an existing DECT master into it? I think >1 master on a DECT network is OK, and presumably handsets registered with the old master stay registered with that unless reregistered? So no issues with phonebooks not transferring, etc.

End of 2018 I believe. DECT handsets are registered to a particular base and there isn't a problem with multiple bases in the same vicinity as the DECT wireless protocol has ten channels available. Each base and paired handsets is its own little enclave, you can page the individiual handsets, synchronise phonebooks, etc. only within that enclave.

I also see that the SH2 appears to be locked to BT Broadband. I thought Ofcom had recently banned that - or was it just mobiles that can't be locked any more? If it is locked, then presumably other providers will have to do something equivalent.

The routers provided by the larger ISPs are usually locked to them as they have built-in remote provisioning, management and monitoring to simplify setup and support.

Unlike mobile phones you are not buying a router, it is provided "free", albeit with a delivery charge, to deliver the service. If you leave an ISP they may require you to return it, or offer to recycle it. Depending on the chipset and how locked-down routers are they are sometimes reusable by replacing the stock firmware with OpenWrt or similar if you are so inclined.

The converse is also true with BT Retail Digital Voice - you have no choice but to use the SH2. They will not make details of the voice setup available for you to use your own ATA, IP phone or phone system, they are providing a fully-managed service to simplify support so if you need anything else you have to choose a different ISP.

Edited by tdw42 (Sun 19-Dec-21 15:58:47)

At least these
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-PowerCore-Technology-...
Should give mobile phone availability for a week for only £50