abereka › How abereka works
How abereka works
abereka shows whether power, water, cellphone networks and government services in Botswana are working. It combines two independent signals.
1. Automatic website checks
Every few minutes our checker loads each organisation’s public homepage, the same way a browser does. It identifies itself as “abereka-status-bot”, never logs in, never submits forms and never scans. A slow or failed page shows only that the website had trouble from our server. It does not measure an organisation’s whole service, such as a mobile network or the power grid.
2. Reports from people
Anyone can report a problem by choosing the service, what’s wrong and their town or area. We compare the number of reports in the last hour with what’s normal for that service. Each connection can report the same thing once every 30 minutes, and we filter spam automatically.
How we label a service
- No problems: neither signal shows anything unusual.
- Possible problems: one signal shows something unusual.
- Many reports: both signals agree, for example the website failing and reports well above normal.
Power and water areas show what people in that area report: “No power”, “Unstable” or “Back on”. They are reports, not official notices. Planned interruptions are copied from the providers’ published notices and link to them where possible.
Independence
abereka is independent and not affiliated with BOCRA or any organisation listed. Advertisers cannot influence any status, and outage ads never name the provider having trouble.
Mistakes
If something looks wrong, tell us. We aim to respond within one business day and note corrections publicly.