Record IP addresses of critical websites!

[rickb06]

We have a pretty good national communications system connecting clients to servers properly billions of times an hour, this is the system that is referred to as our DNS network. If these go down or are taken down by government you'd have to know the IP address of the server you use. So if one day a major hub is attacked or malfunctions, you could still be in contact. At this point you'd probably want to invest in a phone line modem. Don't trust your broadband connection, it relies on fiberoptic cabling and will be the first infrastructure damaged in any major event. Satellite is your only best bet service, satellites will be shut down ahead of time if a gamma ray burst or something of that nature comes around. The president does have the authority to essentially pull the plug on us.. It would nearly be as simple as logging onto some control panel and redirecting all DNS requests to government controlled servers or a place holder saying something to the effect of DO NOT PANIC YOUR CONNECTION WILL BE RESTORED SHORTLY.

If you're unsure of the IP address of your crucial websites, click start hit run and type cmd and then enter. Once youre on the command prompt black screen type "ping website-you-want-ip-address"

So if I ping a website that I think I'll need to check I type without quotations "ping website.com"
I'll get a number back, something like 78.56.12.89 or something like that, four sets of numbers up to 255 separated by periods. It's like your computers social on the Internet.

Sites like google, banks, government sites will have more than one IP address (for the sake of redundancy). Ping it a few times and log the IP addresses outputed.

The Internet certainly isn't something as critical as food or water but it's most useful when time are tuff. There are many ways to stay in contact. A site like this would be a wonderful reference if something crazy happens.

Love the site, thanks for hosting the content you do!

[Bull]

good info. Any way you can expand on the technical side about how all that works?

[rickb06]

Well there are different ways that the Internet as we know it could stop functioning. There are around 13 root dns servers (possibly a few more we don't know about for additional security)

If you have different options for internet access chances are it's going to be SLOW!! you'll need to assess your area and see with your own eyes how vulnerable you really are. If you have one cell tower and a small radio station the likelihood you'd have reliable phone lines, cable lines or miscellaneous methods to communicate. Research USB modems, their cheap and only require a typical phone line. Check into a free dial up Internet service and you'll be able to connect to websites slowly but surely. Satellite will be likely to work in bad conditions. They work well in the snow and fan be mobile / portable. But if at all possible get a USB modem, the lines are already electrified and it's a telephone line. You can run small lights on the power being sent down telephone lines.

If cell phones stay up you could get a pc connect card. It's either the card you stick into your laptop or the USB cable. Service is usually about 30 - 100 $ a month in the US. Cell towers have about a 30 miles radius of coverage in good terain. That's a good investment too.

There are so many different ways to provide a little insurance on your connection.

I'll expand the thread with precise numbers and suggested hardware. Research how the DNS system works and ways around it in times of trouble.

The bare essentials of networking would be a great piece of knowledge to have. If you're savvy with electrical youve already got the tools. If a connection fails, disregard it immediately and move on to your backup: phone line modem, satellite, cell phone Internet, etc.

The Internet is information and information will be the most valuable thing in existence once mainstream connections go down.

[aware]

This particular wibsite IP is 64.202.189.170 FYI.....

We have a pretty good national communications system connecting clients to servers properly billions of times an hour, this is the system that is referred to as our DNS network. If these go down or are taken down by government you'd have to know the IP address of the server you use. So if one day a major hub is attacked or malfunctions, you could still be in contact. At this point you'd probably want to invest in a phone line modem. Don't trust your broadband connection, it relies on fiberoptic cabling and will be the first infrastructure damaged in any major event. Satellite is your only best bet service, satellites will be shut down ahead of time if a gamma ray burst or something of that nature comes around. The president does have the authority to essentially pull the plug on us.. It would nearly be as simple as logging onto some control panel and redirecting all DNS requests to government controlled servers or a place holder saying something to the effect of DO NOT PANIC YOUR CONNECTION WILL BE RESTORED SHORTLY.

If you're unsure of the IP address of your crucial websites, click start hit run and type cmd and then enter. Once youre on the command prompt black screen type "ping website-you-want-ip-address"

So if I ping a website that I think I'll need to check I type without quotations "ping website.com"
I'll get a number back, something like 78.56.12.89 or something like that, four sets of numbers up to 255 separated by periods. It's like your computers social on the Internet.

Sites like google, banks, government sites will have more than one IP address (for the sake of redundancy). Ping it a few times and log the IP addresses outputed.

The Internet certainly isn't something as critical as food or water but it's most useful when time are tuff. There are many ways to stay in contact. A site like this would be a wonderful reference if something crazy happens.

Love the site, thanks for hosting the content you do!