[UPDATE 1:21 p.m.] Internet Outage Disrupts Garberville Area, Knocks Out Phones at Rural Health Center
An internet outage affecting parts of Southern Humboldt and possibly beyond began around 9 p.m. last night, disrupting service in the Redway/Garberville area and temporarily knocking out phone lines at Redwoods Rural Health Center, according to a source at the facility.
The health center initially reported that both its internet and phone systems were down due to the outage. In a later update, staff said they were able to switch to a backup system with 101 Netlink, restoring phone service and internet.
“Redwoods Rural Health Center is suffering… SUFFERING an internet outage,” the center wrote earlier in a social media post.
Early, unconfirmed reports from community members suggest outages may also be affecting other areas served by Frontier, though the full scope of the disruption has not been officially detailed. We believe that the outage extends beyond the clinic and beyond Southern Humboldt with an unconfirmed report from the Ferndale area also.
A text message sent by Frontier Communications to customers acknowledged the outage, stating that the company is “doing everything possible to resolve it” and that updates would be provided as more information becomes available. The message did not include a cause or estimated time for restoration. Here is a page to check for outage in your area.
We have reached out to Frontier Communications and requested information on the cause of the outage and an estimated timeline for repairs. They have not responded at the time of our posting.
UPDATE 8:45 a.m.: One customer received the following, “Frontier has confirmed a large network outage at one of their third-party network providers (AT&T). AT&T is working on that issue, and we will continue to receive updates from Frontier as the situation progresses. At this time there is no Estimated Time of Repair.”
UPDATE 1:21 p.m.: Our reporter in Garberville is saying that Frontier is back working for her.
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The horror! Panic in the streets!
We are so dependent on the Internet now.
Pretty important when your doctor needs access or to share with another RIGHT NOW, or say, something needs to be accessed from something like MyChart so a procedure can continue. An internet issue can also shut down POS terminals at stores, ATMs, and even cell towers as those also have hardwired connections to a larger network. There’s more affected than not being able to watch YouTube or comment on RHBB. Also, digital phones can go out too as if Frontier or AT&T (Uverse) was your bundle, you lose everything. Things like this is why I don’t do bundled services: it reserves a back up system for you by default.
Like I said, we are so dependent on the Internet now. It is not healthy. We are becoming slaves to a technology that is supposed to make our life easier. Who is controlling who?
And, before that, we were so dependent on land lines. Before that, it was telegraph & radio. Before that, it was horse & buggy. What’s your point, exactly?
Not even close in comparison.
At least as designed, internet as a whole has no single point of failure.
In theory. Say Amazon Web Services or Cloudflare goes down they drag others with them.
single points of failure for major portions, yes, but the whole internet doesn’t collapse.
those services are spread widely too; not everybody uses them…
Did anyone check with Ralph Emerson, make sure GSD did not hit and knock down another power pole with their service truck?
Newer phones have satellite capability. A good idea for emergency services. I have Starlink for backup. Don’t use it much, preferring the phone Tethering Hotspot, but Hotspot data is becoming expensive, and being forced to switch from USCellular to T-mobile will reduce bandwidth to 3G speeds after only a few GB usage. The third party site you recommended (I forget the name right now) costs less but it will use T-mobile network — unclear it it will get throttled as for T-mobile users.
Starlink is FAST but with a satellite burning up on reentry every 16 minutes there’s a lot of Aluminum and other elements fallout leftover in upper atmosphere:
https://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=29&month=04&year=2026
Pretty much every smartphone since ~2018 has GPS SOS tech built into it just for such an occasion. I found that out after needing service when hitting a boulder on 199. Unfortunately it’s very slow, and unable to send photos, or extremely slowly. That and the text messages are limited in length (think old Twitter and 168 character limits). Not much help to a medical provider that has a hundred pages of data needed with images, or needs to send MRI or PET scans to another, which I’ve also have needed to be done. Not much help when a surgery is just two hours away.
Starlink is nice. I have it (thought I’d rather give Kuiper a shit if it comes to fruition this year). It’s a necessity at a location that has zero cell coverage, little radio except line of sight, and I can use the wifi part for cell use and if the power is out, just plug it into the generators. I’m not an internet junkie out in the hills, if I can even find my phone I left somewhere, but having it for rainy days or emergencies, like a snake bite, it’s needed.
T-Mobile/US Cellular is another point of irritation, which is partly why I don’t use either. T-Mobile has their proprietary network that they’re forcing on every new phone sold, and simply not updating older phones to use it. So you not only get a bill, you get new payments too, even with a $800 trade in on a $1500 phone, AND you have to turn in your old device to get the deals. They’re making sure they get even more of your money. And 5G? Yeah. Sure. I have a bridge to sell you if you think you’re getting it anywhere a mile away from Eureka or Arcata.
I don’t like the fact T-mobile blatantly lies (and gets away with it!):
My USCellular plan peovides 35GB hi-speed Hotspot Tethering, while the more expensive best T-mobile plan only allows 5GB. Beats me how that is a match or exceeds the USCellular plan value…and:
So I remain on US Cellular until at least June 2026 — unclear if they mean June 1st or through June; I haven’t asked…
third party Boost Mobile Prepaid 40GB for $50 Unlimited+ plan
https://www.boostmobile.com/plans/prepaid-plans
interesting, I notice my phone has been unlocked without me asking…Galaxy S22+
I still use a former G22 that was on T-mobile, and unlocked it for Boost. I didn’t want to be saddled with yet another bill on top of a bill. The Galaxy I already owned and it just took a phone call to unlock it. that was the only way to keep my phone as T-Mobile wanted be to buy new. But I only pay $26 for unlimited on it, is that $50 actually multiple lines? Seems a bit high but still cheaper than most.
RHBB website stayed online as far as I know thanks to much work by Kym & crew on a new server…USCellular & T-Mobile seem unaffected.
I love my 101 netlink only had 1 problem and they fixed it in about a hour or so.
Indeed. My link to the world for many years. Reliable and….my service has gotten better and cheaper over time. Thank you 101 NETLINK
About noon-thirty it came back on in the lower Mattole Valley.
noon minus thirty — I like that! 🙂
Roads tore up, 4 years later still no fiber optic cable completion: California has been pushing its ambitious Middle Mile Broadband Network since construction first kicked off in 2022 near Poway in San Diego County. The $3.6 billion project aims to lay thousands of miles of fiber optic cable to create a high-capacity statewide backbone, intended to help close the digital divide by enabling private providers to extend last-mile service to underserved urban and rural communities. As of early 2026, progress stands at roughly 8,185 miles in total planned network, with about 46% of fiber installation complete: thousands of miles remain in pre-construction or active installation phases, while only a few hundred miles are ready-to-connect and the very first operational segments have just begun lighting up in places like the Bishop Paiute Tribe area. Officials still eye full completion around the end of 2026, though permitting delays continue to loom.
Pouring billions into burying and maintaining these physical cables looks strikingly wasteful in the Starlink era. Starlink’s low-Earth orbit satellites already deliver fast, reliable broadband across nearly all of California—often 100+ Mbps with improving latency—without the enormous upfront trenching costs, years of bureaucratic delays, union-driven labor expenses, or vulnerability to earthquakes and wildfires. While fiber promises impressive specs once built, the technology and user needs will likely render these expensive ground installations partially outdated within a decade as satellite constellations advance, terrestrial wireless options expand, and demands evolve. Taxpayers will foot the bill for decades of maintenance on a project that could have instead used targeted subsidies for Starlink user terminals and service to connect the truly hard-to-reach households far faster and cheaper. California’s insistence on this old-school cable-heavy approach, four years after breaking ground with limited results so far, exemplifies bureaucratic inertia over embracing scalable, future-proof innovation that actually serves people today rather than digging expensive holes for tomorrow’s obsolete infrastructure. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iFSdPq2Laww&pp=2AEAkAIB0gcJCVACo7VqN5tD
100 mbps for Starlink? That’s on the mini. I just did a test on my standard one this morning and got 378 down, 63 up and 27nm latency. And that’s with about 30% sky blockage from trees. It rarely drops below 200 even in the rain. Also, fiber lines don’t have to be underground and can be threaded through existing pipes. They can also be hung on about anything. But why advocate for Starlink as an only option? Never put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to services.
Speed depends on Starlink plan. $50/month Residential Plan is for 100Mb/s on the Standard. (like mine)
https://starlink.com/residential
These folks in an extremely remote village have fiber and 5G cellular…
Climbing up China’s most dangerous village, Sichuan Cliff Village, is so scary
https://youtu.be/Hx94_YVl_hY