Air Defense Drill in Northern 7 Counties and Cities! How Slow Will the Network Be? Experienced Users Reveal: Mobile Phones Almost 'Half-Paralyzed', 1 Function Completely Uninterrupted

Residents in the northern region should pay special attention to mobile communication conditions this afternoon. The 2026 Urban Resilience Air Defense Drill will officially take place from 2:30 PM to 3:00 PM on August 13, covering Taipei City, New Taipei City, Keelung City, Taoyuan City, Hsinchu County, Hsinchu City, and Yilan County in the northern 7 counties and cities. Similar to the central region session this Monday, the drill will conduct a 'mobile network obstruction' scenario test. During this time, the 4G and 5G mobile networks of citizens' mobile phones will face significant slowdowns. The National Communications Commission (NCC) explains that this mobile slowdown drill primarily simulates an extreme scenario where, in times of war or major disasters, mobile network resources are limited, and communications can only maintain basic 'voice calls' and 'text messaging services'. The National Communications Commission also reminds that the drill is only targeted at mobile networks, and home wired TVs or company fixed Wi-Fi will not be affected. If you have important work or video conferences during the drill, it is recommended to switch to Wi-Fi and use fixed lines in advance. How slow will the mobile phone be after the slowdown? Referring to the actual test results of the central region session this Monday, the mobile network is almost in a 'half-paralyzed' state. Opening a general webpage will have a noticeable lag, and if the webpage contains a lot of pictures, it will take a long time to wait. It is almost impossible to smoothly watch YouTube videos. For communication software, LINE pure text messages can still be sent normally, but pictures and videos, which are larger files, are difficult to send. According to the actual network speed test by central region netizens, the mobile phone's download speed during the drill test period is only about 0.30Mbps to 0.40Mbps. However, the connection condition will gradually improve as the drill approaches its end. There are also netizens sharing that the mobile connection quality has already shown significant improvement 5 to 10 minutes before the drill ends. How to prepare before and after the drill? Drill after the network is disconnected, the trick to deal with it is here. To ensure that life and work are not affected by the drill, the National Communications Commission provides a complete action guide. Before the drill, it is recommended that citizens first make offline preparations, including pre-downloading police service apps, evacuation information, and maps. Important tickets should also be screenshot or obtained in paper form in advance, and various industries should plan relevant response measures in advance. During the drill, citizens can use this to confirm whether important information can be used smoothly in offline status and check whether the channels of contact with the outside world are smooth. After the drill ends, if citizens find that their mobile phone's mobile network still cannot return to normal connection, there is no need to panic. The National Communications Commission recommends trying to turn on the airplane mode of the mobile phone and then turn it off, or directly restart the mobile phone, which can smoothly restore the mobile network to normal operation.