Summer Lightning Storm Season is Here; Plan Accordingly
Summer is here, and lightning storms are arriving. This could have effects on your internet, so there are things to be aware of and things to prepare.
PNM Power can go down, which can cut off internet. And even if your power stays on, the power at our Access Point (AP) radio that serves you can go down, cutting off internet to you and your neighbors. Such outages can last a long time as PNM organizes a fix.
Heavy regional downpours can cause 5 to 10 minute “rain fade” disconnects in our major backbone radio links, taking down large areas of our coverage for that time. The wall of water literally blocks our radio signal.
No matter what the cause, regional outages that last longer than 60 minutes we normally will post to Facebook and to our 800 status recording: (800) 536-6149 option 1. Call and listen to that before contacting us.
Most outages, though, are not regional, rather they are just at your home. Storms can cause issues with your home equipment. Here is how to prepare for that.
Get an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for your radio and router. Such a device can protect your radio and router from power spikes, from lightning, and can give you a few minutes of internet coverage during a power outage. See this article.
Replace the Battery in your Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). If you’ve had a UPS for several years, it might be time to either replace the battery in it, or get a new UPS. Normally, if the battery is completely bad, the unit will start beeping. But even if that has not happened, you might want to test the battery to see how good it is. To do that, simply unplug the power feed to the UPS, and then watch to see how long your devices remain powered up before the UPS powers off. If it’s less than twenty minutes, it’s probably time for a new battery or a new unit. Not all units can have their battery replaced. To determine that, take your UPS down to the Batteries Plus store on St. Michael’s drive in Santa Fe and ask them.
Wind can move rooftop radios. With thunderstorms come very high winds that can topple or rotate your rooftop radio. If your speed or connectivity remains low for more than a day after a storm, contact us and we’ll take a remote look at your radio to see if that happened.
Have a spare parts kit. Whether due to lightning or just normal wear and tear, internet components at your home can go bad. Remember, you own all the equipment at your home (you don’t lease it from us) so it’s up to you to fix it. To be prepared for that, we recommend that you have a spare parts kit on hand. See this article.
Have a backup internet source. We’ve said this many times: if uninterrupted internet access is essential to your job, to your business, or to your health, then you should absolutely have a backup internet service in place and use it when needed. That might mean a cellular hotspot, a CenturyLink DSL account, another radio internet provider, or a Satellite connection. Yes, any of those will cost you money, but so does losing your job or business. Like all internet service providers, LCWA does not guarantee uninterrupted internet access and so you should assume our internet flow can and will go off for hours or even days at a time sometimes, especially in storm season.
