Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

State Dept. instructions on how to remain connected if your internet get shut off
Movements.org website ^ | January 31, 2011 | Susannah Vila

Posted on 01/16/2021 5:09:19 AM PST by shoff

Interestingly this was published on Movements.org website in 2011. It was part of Hillary’s State Department training given in Mexico City. This conference sponsored by Hillary’s State Department and Google. Training was provided to youth activists in the use of social media. Special classes were held in the use of software designed to evade government surveillance. This software is called TOR, funded thru Google, US Naval Research lab and George Soros’s Human Rights Watch. This is the same software WikiLeaks uses and is illegal in the United States per the Patriot act. This was archived since it has been scrubbed from Movements.org website.

How to Remain Connected If Your Internet Gets Shut Off

Posted by Susannah Vila in Access Blocked Information originally posted on January 31, 2011

Burma, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, and Tajikistan, and - most recently - Egypt and Libya, are all countries where governments have controlled access to communication technologies as a way to hinder social mobilization during periods of political unrest. If you live in a country where this is a possibility, consider preparing for it. Share

Step 1. Keep all your outmoded technology - it may come in handy. If you live in a country likely to experience shut down of internet service providers at the behest of the government, keep in mind that tools like modems and even fax machines might be useful again. You can use a modem to access the web via dial-up provided you have a working telephone line. As in Egypt during the January 25 uprising, supporters can make available international numbers that you can dial into to avoid your local ISPs (since they will be shut down). You'll also need an international dial in number, a working phone line, and bluetooth equipped cell phone and computer. Stay tuned to the Telecomix activists' network, which began providing disconnected people with dial up links to the WWW when Egypt lost its connection, and again in Libya a month later. • Click here to see the Google Speak 2 Tweet number for Libya • Click here to see one free dialup number for Libya (note the username and password (they're the same)) • Click here to see another free dialup number for Libya (note the username and password (they're the same)) Share widely!

Step 2. Take all your contacts out of the cloud. It's a good idea to make sure you have a list of your contacts' emails printed out and readily available. For example, the We Are All Khaled Said Facebook page prepared for a possible Facebook cut-off in Egypt by asking supporters to share their email addresses and other contact information on a Google spreadsheet. Most email clients let you easily export and download your contacts. Learn how to export Gmail contacts and Yahoo! Mail contacts.

Step 3. Gather contacts' phone numbers and write them down. Make sure to have a phone tree prepared ahead of time. A phone tree is "a prearranged, pyramid-shaped system for activating a group of people by telephone." Your contacts are divided into different groups with each group having a coordinator. These coordinators will be responsible for calling other members. Start with those in your network with the biggest reach, for example community leaders such as politicians, imams, priests or rabbis, and then contact supporters with smaller networks but who you can count on to take to the streets and contact others

Step 4. CB Radio and ham radios can be used to communicate. A CB ("citizens band") two-way radio service allows for communication over short distances. You don't need a license to operate one. Ham radios--or amateur radios--are non-commercial and use designated radio bands to transmit communications. They are commonly used for voice transmissions and morse code. The requirements for receiving an amateur radio license vary country to country, so you will need to check what type of license you need to obtain. Ham radio signals are harder for governments to track and block. Learn more about becoming a ham radio operator with Wired's how-to wiki. There is an active ham radio community that you can tap into right now and work with to develop a contingency plan for getting information out of your country in the event of a net shut down.

Step 5. Use a fax machine to send and receive documents. Many printers now also come with fax machines built in, or you can use a standalone machine. Both parties need working phone lines and fax machines.

Step 6. Prepare a local or "ad hoc" network connecting devices to each other even without the internet. Here are different ways to do this: Turn to FidoNet, a networking system that can be used for communication between bulletin board systems. Mail and files can be exchanged via modems using a proprietary protocol. You must meet the technical requirements to join FidoNet. Check out Daihinia, an app that extends the range of a network of devices that aren't connected to the larger internet but are connected to each other. Adding a chat client, like Pidgin, to this allows activists to talk to one another. Look into how you might be able to harness other chat clients as well. On a Mac you can use the "Rendezvous" feature in iChat to communicate with anyone on the network. In Windows use a third party app like Trillian, and Linux has a bunch of 3rd party apps you can use - note that this does require some technical knowledge, which is why it is all the more important to prepare in advance. Packet radio is a radio communications protocol that lets you create long distance wireless networks between devices like ham radios - if you look into this option before hand, you might be able to create a network using radios. Get involved with OPENMESH, a new project launched by investor Shervin Pishevar. So far, the forum is working as a place for engineers to offer solutions for building a mesh network in Egypt.

Step 7. Get Twitter messages redirected to your phone and send Tweets by text. Make sure to link your mobile phone to your Twitter account and locate the Twitter short code for your country. Then you can send a text message containing your Tweet to that short code and it will be posted to your profile.

Step 8. Have a basic radio on hand so that you can still listen to news. Portable scanners are also helpful for receiving police, fire, and rescue reports. They can be purchased online or at specialty electronics stores and usually cost around $100 USD. Walkie-talkies are handheld, two-way portable radios that can be used to communicate between two people within a short distance (usually at a range around 15-20 miles). A basic walkie-talkie is pretty cheap to purchase.

Step 9. Check with neighbors and friends who may use different internet service providers (ISPs) and see if their connections are still up. For example, in Egypt one ISP (Noor) remained online when all other ISPs cut service.

Step 10. Did all this, but still no connection? Landlines might still work. If they do, as we've seen in Egypt and Libya during the spring of 2010, an activist network like Telecomix may be providing dial up links to the global web What are we missing? Let us know in the comments and we'll add them! Share Share Your Lessons Learned and Suggestions! blog comments powered by Disqus

• How to get past Internet filtering (if you aren’t concerned about being detected or monitored) • How To Access Blocked Websites with Dynaweb • How to Circumvent Web Censorship For Beginners • How To Access a Blocked Website with UltraSurf • How To Provide a Proxy Service to Someone Behind a Firewall Using psiphon • How To Circumvent Content-Filtering Systems and Access Blocked Content with psiphon • How to Access Blocked Websites with Freegate • How To Choose the Right Circumvention Tool • How to Use alkasir to Access Blocked Websites Related Case Study • Keeping Egyptians Connected Without the Internet Additional Resources • How To Communicate if Your Government Shuts Off Your Internet (A Wiki at Wired) • Get Internet Access When Your Government Shuts It Down • Mesh Networking: What is it? • Became a Facebook Fan


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: activism; colorrevolution; facebook; google; internet; iot; powergrid; preppers; shtf; tech; yahoo
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101 next last
To: madison10

We live in rural hill country and don’t even get a signal at the house so we don’t have much choice. I’d never use a phone as my primary means of surfing the web either. Too small of a screen for me. Keyboard is too small for me too. My wife lays the phone down and uses her two index fingers and can type as fast as me on a PC keyboard though. Of course I’m a two finger typist anyway for the most part. Right thumb for the space bar. We all run laptops. Single unit you can fold up and put away or take with you.


61 posted on 01/16/2021 8:21:22 AM PST by Pollard (Bunch of curmudgeons)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: Not_Who_U_Think

I have an old 2 meter sideband radio and a booster that is capable of 1500 watts. I haven’t had it out to use in years, but I have talked as far as Texas an Oklahoma. I was living in North Carolina at the time I need to get it out and see that it still works.


62 posted on 01/16/2021 8:59:43 AM PST by 4bye4
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: shoff

TOR is illegal?

I thot it was CIA driven so you logged on thru them so they could track your surfing while you thot you were being an invisible spy.(?)


63 posted on 01/16/2021 11:19:45 AM PST by Delta 21 (Get off your ass and earn it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Excellence

When did you escape Kalifornia?


64 posted on 01/16/2021 11:28:44 AM PST by Jane Long (Praise God, from whom ALL blessings flow,)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: madison10

Weather.gov is the source for all of the others. It is one of the few legitimate uses of govt.


65 posted on 01/16/2021 11:41:19 AM PST by bankwalker (groupthink kills ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: shoff

Bump


66 posted on 01/16/2021 12:01:08 PM PST by Sharkfish
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rarestia

I noticed that and I really can’t explain why they said TOR was illegal.


67 posted on 01/16/2021 9:58:06 PM PST by shoff (Vote Democrat it beats thinking!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Pollard

Nice catch, I like that format better. I had originally just saved the link and had to find the old post.


68 posted on 01/16/2021 10:02:24 PM PST by shoff (Vote Democrat it beats thinking!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: bankwalker

That what I figure. Any other forecast is just a different interpretation of the same data.


69 posted on 01/16/2021 10:12:14 PM PST by shoff (Vote Democrat it beats thinking!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: madison10

Thanks; weather.com is not reliable enough in my area (I can’t speak for others). Too many outings messed up with unpredicted rain and such...

The battery-operated radio I kept handy with my prepper gear did work, and there were broadcasts - just nothing useful in the least.


70 posted on 01/17/2021 3:45:23 AM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: shoff

Today I’d probably try to prep with a backup account with StarLink and a satellite receiver, and hook it up to my gas generator.

If I was feeling generous I’d let some of my neighbors piggyback on it with my WiFi through my NAT firewall during an emergency.


71 posted on 01/17/2021 4:10:50 AM PST by Gideon7
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gideon7

Nice! You must have been a Boy Scout, you really sound prepared.


72 posted on 01/18/2021 3:48:44 AM PST by shoff (Vote Democrat it beats thinking!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: Pollard

“They even bury fiber optic for future use”

If/when the “future use” time comes and they switch you over, maybe they’ll ask you if you want to switch or not. Say “no”. (You may not have a choice.)

Last year after laid fiber optic cable in our subdivision, we were switched automatically. When that happened, we lost the ability to use the landline when the power went out. The old POTS (plain old telephone service) didn’t rely on electricity. When I called AT&T, the rep said the fiber optic service needed power. (Pissed me off. I loved that landline and the phone, too.)

Anyhow, we disconnected landline because it worked during power outages, which were/are frequent in our area. But if there’s an outage only impacting comms and not other utilities, it would still be handy. And you also could use a fax.


73 posted on 01/18/2021 4:02:52 AM PST by MayflowerMadam (They HAD to kill somebody for their plan to work. RIP Ashli.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: duckman

“This was archived since it has been scrubbed from Movements.org website.”


74 posted on 01/18/2021 4:06:53 AM PST by MayflowerMadam (They HAD to kill somebody for their plan to work. RIP Ashli.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: caww

“Can’t tell you the times it’s saved the day when the power goes off in a storm!”

Don’t let them connect you to fiber optic, because it’ll be dead as a door nail when power goes off:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/3925845/posts?page=73#73


75 posted on 01/18/2021 4:09:06 AM PST by MayflowerMadam (They HAD to kill somebody for their plan to work. RIP Ashli.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: shoff
provided you have a working telephone line

LOL

76 posted on 01/18/2021 4:10:35 AM PST by McGruff (Remain calm, stay in your homes and wear a mask.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MayflowerMadam

Thanx


77 posted on 01/18/2021 4:11:00 AM PST by duckman ( Not tired of winning!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: MomwithHope

I’m not super tech, but I think NetZero won’t work if all communications are jammed or cut. It’s internet. Even if you dial a landline to access, it connects to internet and that would be down. Right?


78 posted on 01/18/2021 4:18:01 AM PST by MayflowerMadam (They HAD to kill somebody for their plan to work. RIP Ashli.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: rarestia

“everything using wireless of some type would be impacted: garage door openers, Bluetooth, cellular, television, terrestrial radio.”

Thank you! When I read that crapola from Ron Watkins / codemonkey, Oath Keepers, etc., that there’ll be some huge event to rescue us before the 20th, it seemed not believable. Insurrection Act! 2018 Executive Order! They said to watch TV for emergency instruction, and to get flashlights and batteries. If you need flashlights and batteries, that means no power.

If you don’t have electricity you can’t see TV, and if you don’t have internet, most people can’t watch TV. How stupid do they think we are, and why are decent people blowing sunshine up our asses and giving false hope? It’s sadistic. Whomever started the Gitmo, arrests, martial law, Powell-Wood presenting in military court, comms blackouts story — it was a terrible thing to do. Terrible.

There’ll be no rescue. For whatever reason (maybe kid being held by Pelosi’s troops?), PDJT is going out like a lamb. It’s not him; it’s not what he does. There has to be some threat to him and/or his family. Everything he’s worked for to save America has been wasted time and effort because Satan’s servants have taken over.


79 posted on 01/18/2021 4:36:23 AM PST by MayflowerMadam (They HAD to kill somebody for their plan to work. RIP Ashli.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Not_Who_U_Think

“The amateur packet radio system isn’t flashy”

That would be HAM?

What’s an amateur packet radio?


80 posted on 01/18/2021 4:39:47 AM PST by MayflowerMadam (They HAD to kill somebody for their plan to work. RIP Ashli.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson