Time Warner backup power standards

[ArgMeMatey]

Does Time Warner have any standards for backup power in SE Wisconsin?  

Have you ever had a "total neighborhood" power failure and NOT had your TW internet go out?  

Earlier this week we had a neighborhood outage that lasted a bit less than two hours.  My wireless router & cable modem are on a UPS and never lost power, but my cable modem could not communicate with upstream equipment at Time Warner for the duration.  

That led me to wonder whether they have backup batteries in any of the Alpha power supplies and any other utility-powered equipment located in the field.

[techguy1975]

It's the same thing for me here, with Comcast.  Pretty much every time the power goes out in the neighborhood, we loose Internet.   I doubt there is any backups at all

[duncantuna]

I have 2-3 outages a year, and have my cable modem and routers on UPS's .. I've never lost Roadrunner with that.

It's nice, too, the routers take up <15 watts, which means the UPS keeps them alive a good 3-4 hours.   Never had this setup fail me.

[ArgMeMatey]

I have 2-3 outages a year, ...  .. I've never lost Roadrunner with that.

Just to be clear, my concern is Time Warner's backup power, not the customer's.  

So what's the difference in Time Warner's standards and practices between your neighborhood and mine that keeps their infrastructure humming for you?  

What municipality are you in?  

Is it likely that TW's amps etc. are on different primary (substation) circuits than yours, that have not lost power when yours goes out?

[techguy1975]

Keep in mind too, that we're talking entire neighborhoods going out.  If just your house looses power for whatever reason, the TWC equipment outside will still most likely be getting power, and the backups you have in your house should keep the modem and router powered.    What Arg is referring to is the TWC equipment outside losing power, when that happens your equipment running off your internal backup won't matter, as there is no cable signal coming into your home.

[cellar]

About 6 months ago we had a major incident in Racine where a high voltage line feeding substation on Spring Street came in contact with a lower voltage line leaving the substation.  Homes nearby had their electric meters literally blown off their homes - and major electrical damage to electronic equipment in them.  I was spared the surge (different phase?), but 2,500 customers were without power, mine for almost 6 hours.  Like some others above, I too have my modem and router on a UPS.  I was able to go onto the WE Energies outage map to see the extent of the outage - it was very large.  Cable phone also stayed up.  This all stayed alive until my UPS battery died.  So definitely most of the Alpha boxes had to have lost AC power - and the network stayed up.

I think they almost have to have standby power as for the "intelligent home" security service they are now promoting.  If it can't communicate with power out, then what good would it be?

[techguy1975]

I suppose it could be the area..  My experiences have been limited, as power is usually stable here.  Also, since I'm in TN, and on Comcast...I can't really compare.  I don't recall my experiences when I lived in WI