📡 No phone or internet: what to do, step by step

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In a major emergency the networks get jammed or go down. With an agreed plan and a radio, your family can find each other without depending on phones.

Open the guide in the app (works offline)

Step by step

First minutesSend a short text instead of calling: it gets through even when the network is jammed and leaves lines free for emergencies.
If there's no signalTurn on the radio to get official instructions. If you have walkie-talkies, switch on at the agreed time and channel.
If there's no news of someoneGo to the meeting point in your family plan and leave a note at home saying where you're going and at what time.

Before

  1. Fill in the family plan: an out-of-area contact (sometimes you can call out of the area even when you can't call locally), two meeting points and a fixed time.
  2. Write down important phone numbers on paper: with a dead battery you won't remember them.
  3. Have a battery or hand-crank radio and write down the frequencies of the public stations in your area.
  4. Walkie-talkies (PMR446 in Europe, FRS in the US): agree on a channel and times (for example, on the hour for 5 minutes) to save battery.
  5. Check that emergency alerts are turned on in your phone settings: they arrive with a loud sound even when the network is jammed.

During

  1. Short texts, no photos or videos: they use less network and battery.
  2. With your phone in airplane mode you save battery; turn it on at set times to get messages.
  3. To call for help without a phone: three repeated signals (three blasts, three flashes, three fires) or SOS in Morse code.
  4. Don't spread rumors: only share information from official sources.

After

  1. Review what failed in your plan and fix it: the contact who didn't answer, the meeting point that was hard to reach.

What you need for this emergency

See the full kit: 1-week-plus kit →

Figures and sources

Other emergencies