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When I worked for Verizon, our fiber to the home product (FIOS) included an 8-hour battery backup for phone service. it appears from the Hawaiian Tel website that their battery backup is an optional, extra cost device. The FCC does not require that telco's include the backup, but they must offer it. But remember, the backup battery does no good if all the house phones are cordless (as most are today). You need at least one phone that plugs directly into a wall outlet. Also, I assume that most battery backup systems work like Verizon's did (well, as they did 10 years ago when I was there...) -- if the fiber is running off the system's battery backup, only voice service is maintained, internet and fiber-based TV will still not work. Of course, if your telco box is plugged into a generator during the outage, everything would work normally.
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If power on my end is the issue I've got that covered. What about during an island wide outage? Does Hawaiian TelCom have their own back-up power? I wonder whether the Exede satellite service I have now would still work as long as I have power on my end.
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Historically telcos have had some of the best backup power setups. Giant battery installations, and their entire infrastructure runs on 48v dc, so no inverter losses. Not sure if they still do that today.
Satellite should be fine, assuming the uplink site on the mainland is unaffected.
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Just an update for potential Hawaiian Tel high speed/fiber internet customers. The new service requires a new drop line from the pole to your premises, and if the fiber installer can't walk under your existing drop line from end to end (i.e if it goes through tree branches, etc.) they will tell you you need to clear the way for them and then reschedule installation. Also, if installation of the interior box requires the installer to navigate an attic, there must be a solid path for the installer to traverse (they will not walk on the attic joists.
The installer who visited us today says they have a list of 200+ fiber installs lined up and a significant percentage of them are being delayed because of lack of site prep. Of course, the reps who take the orders do not explain any of this (and in our case, we got less than 23 hours notice that a crew would be installing our new drop in anticipation of the final installation next week). So like the Boy Scouts, you are urged to "be Prepared"
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We had the exact same thing happen. Install scheduled for next week, they called on Friday to string the fiber from the pole to the house the next day. They did warn me about the trees. I didn't think any of our palm fronds would be in the way, but I cut some down just in case.
While they were stringing the fiber I asked if they could just complete the install since they were only a few feet away from where the router will be and they said a "technician" had to do that.
So unfortunately, if you're in a situation where you have to take time off work to be there for the install, you might have to take 2 days. But it's a small price to pay to enter the 21st century.
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quote:
Originally posted by terracore
Fiber service is now available:
1 gig (1000Mbps u/l) $94.95
Hawaii Telcom Holiday Special (started yesterday).
1gig for $50 - price locked for three years.
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It's actually $54.95, but still incredible! That's the same price as their 300 Mbps plan (for some reason the 500 Mbps plan is still $74.95 with that great holiday special).
I have to admit, I was tempted. My service isn't hooked up yet and I could probably change plans, but $20 more at 3 years comes to $720 and I'm not sure I would ever even fully use the 100 Mbps we signed up for. Would definitely use if we had a larger family.
ETA: screw it. I'm going to call tomorrow and see if it's not too late to switch plans.
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Terracore, how did they string the new fiber? We've spent past two days clearing the pathway for the crew, but I need to know how obsessive/compulsive I need to be.
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If they can walk between the property line and the house, and there are no branches preventing the fiber from being lifted from the ground, you're fine. No problem with fences, etc.
They strung the fiber by hand. One person got up in the bucket and tied it into the line, dropped it, they took it to the house on the ground and connected it to the utility mast (picture where your power or copper phone lines comes in) and they yanked it and pulled it tight. Then they routed that down to the side of the house near to where the the previous copper box is. Takes about an hour.
ETA: details
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We just got installed the day after Thanksgiving. 300 Mbps. The cable tech came about a week prior. He just climbed the pole and hooked up the wire, then tossed the coil into the jungle and climbed on in, found it and tossed it again until he got to the house. The only showstopper he said would have been big branches in the way that would have prevented him from hoisting it up. He ran the line to the house (by himself) and coiled the slack and hung it there for the "inside" tech who came on installation day. That guy took the coil and walked it back to where my electric box is (and where there is a slab ground wire) and mounted the box that he said had something to do with the ONT. Then he wired that into my server room (also with fiber) and into a device he described as the thing that translates light into electricity. (Above my pay grade.) That little box hooks to the router. (He told me to cancel the WiFi Plus service because the router has both 5GB and 2.4 GB networks that auto switch depending on signal strength.)
So now I get pretty close to 280 Mbps down (wired) and just about 90-100 Mbps over the WiFi. (although the AppleTV speedtest app reported 89 Mbps down, in WiFi mode.) And about 20 up everywhere, consistently. Way better than the 3 down 3 up service I had. Had to reset the router once, but it wasn’t that hard. Happy customer so far. Stay tuned..
