SURVIVAL GUIDE

Part 1: Emergency Communication When the Internet Goes Dark

Recent events in the United States have made one thing uncomfortably clear: systems we assume are permanent are not. Internet access, cellular service, and digital platforms are not guaranteed.

In multiple countries, including Iran, governments have demonstrated how quickly communication can be restricted or shut down during periods of unrest.

This is not about predicting collapse or encouraging fear. It’s about practical preparedness.

Just as people prepare for earthquakes, hurricanes, or extended power outages, it makes sense to prepare for temporary or localized communication failures.

While this guide is written with the U.S. in mind, the principles apply anywhere. Communication is the foundation of community resilience.

When people can still share information, coordinate, and check on one another, chaos loses its edge.

1. First Principle: Communication Is a Physical Thing

The internet feels abstract, but it is brutally physical. Cables, towers, power, data centres. When authorities want silence, they pull plugs, not opinions.

Assumption:

• Cellular data is unavailable

• SMS may be unreliable or blocked

• Social media is gone

• App stores are inaccessible

Goal:

Local, resilient, peer-to-peer communication that works offline

2. Primary Tool: BitChat

Why BitChat?

A new kid on the block from Jack Dorsey’s team that’s explicitly built for Bluetooth Low Energy mesh messaging without accounts, servers, or internet.

• Bluetooth Mesh Messaging

• No internet required

• No phone numbers, accounts, or servers

• Encrypted messages

• Phones act as relay nodes, extending range through crowds

• Works on Android and iOS

In plain terms: every phone becomes a tiny message-passing pigeon.

What it does well:

• Short text messages

• Group channels for coordination

• Private one-to-one messaging

• Automatic message relaying across nearby devices

What it does not do:

• Voice or video

• Long messages or large files

• Guaranteed delivery if density is low

This is a “whisper through a crowd” system, not a broadcast tower.

3. Install Before You Need It

Once the internet is gone, it is already too late.

Checklist:

• Install BitChat on all household phones

• Test it with devices in different rooms or nearby streets

• Encourage friends to install it

• Enable Bluetooth permissions permanently

• Disable battery optimisations for the app

Important:

Modern phones aggressively kill background apps to save power. You must tell the OS not to do that.

4. Density Is Destiny

Mesh networks live or die by numbers.

Rough guide:

• 1–2 users: basically useless

• 5–10 users within 50–100 m: workable

• 20+ users in an area: surprisingly effective

• Each phone becomes a repeater. A crowd is infrastructure.

This is why protests, shelters, apartment buildings, and neighbourhoods matter.

5. Establish Communication Norms Early

Chaos loves ambiguity. Agree on basics ahead of time.

Examples:

• Use real first names or agreed aliases consistently

• Keep messages short and factual

• Avoid speculation and rumours

• Time-stamp important messages manually

Example format:

“12:40 Local. Police roadblock at 5th and Pine. Passable on foot.”

BitChat will not save you from misinformation. Discipline will.

6. Power Is the Hidden Enemy

A dead phone is a silent phone.

Minimum prep:

• One power bank per person

• Charging cables stored together

• Low-power mode enabled early

Bluetooth mesh uses less power than cellular data, but hours turn into days faster than expected.

If electricity is intermittent, charge early and often.

7. Backup: Have a Second Mesh App Installed

No single app should be a single point of failure.

Good secondary options:

• Bridgefy

• Serval Mesh

Install them now. Ignore them later if BitChat works. Redundancy beats loyalty.

8. What This Does Not Replace

Be honest about limits.

Mesh apps do not replace:

• Emergency services

• Long-distance coordination

• Broadcast information

They bridge the gap between silence and signal. That gap matters.

Closing Thought

When systems fracture, communication is the first thing authorities restrict and the last thing communities rebuild.

A working mesh network is not rebellion.

It is neighbours refusing to go mute.

This survival guide is free to copy and pass on.