Telstra outage: three things to test this Saturday while you wait for the postmortem

ABC says Telstra had 'known, unfixed vulnerabilities' and failed to patch them. What it doesn’t say: which systems failed (mobile core, DNS, auth, change controls, capacity), so customers can’t patch them anyway. Here’s what you can test and set up today, not next week:

1. Failover call test (timed, not imagined). - Turn on Wi-Fi Calling (and confirm your address is set for emergency services if your handset requires it). - Test: make a normal voice call with (a) home internet up, (b) home internet down, (c) mobile data off/on. - “Worked” = you can place/receive a call from the spot you’d actually be in during an outage (kitchen, office), not standing in the driveway.

2. Second-path internet you can actually use (one other carrier if possible). - If you already have a SIM on a different network in the house, set up tethering once and save the hotspot name/password. - Test: connect laptop/tablet, then open your real critical thing (work VPN, school portal, banking). - “Worked” = the app logs in and functions over tethering; VPN connects; MFA arrives.

3. One-page outage playbook (reachable when the net is dead). - In Notes app + printed: account numbers, support numbers, outage-status URL(s), and your must-contact list. - Test: put your phone in airplane mode and confirm you can still access the info (offline) and make the calls you’d need.

The bill on this bodge: if you don’t test these now, you’ll find out during the next outage—when it’s too late to fix them. The postmortem will tell you what Telstra should have done. These three tests tell you what you can do today.