CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
1 edit | reply to EPS
Re: And I DON'T want to see them
and AT&T chose not to use the same thing - again - I don't want them whining about not having high speed internet like it is their god given right when they actively prevent a solution or some amount of competition. The consumer made their bed - they have to lay in it but we know what will really happen "WAAAAAHHHHHHHHH - I can't get anything but cable internet - there is no competition!" and the tears will begin and those of us that use common sense will only shake our heads and wonder where society has gone wrong...
The boxes can be partially hidden - in fact some can be VERY well hidden but still provide access. the hit to value I think has been VASTLY overstated on purpose... |
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EPS
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA
| Well if the boxes are placed subtlely then there's no problem, I'd think. There was a cable box in my old neighborhood, dark green and surrounded by bushes, a short walk down the road there were multi-million-dollar houses. Are property values really hurting? Really?
I was under the impression that at&t was not taking aesthetics into concern when placing boxes. If they are, then that's great... |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
| Everywhere I have seen them around me - all of them could be partially hidden for very little money.
They are damned if they do - damned if they don't. They are in a no win situation and the majority of folks will be hypocrites by playing BOTH sides at any time. That is what I am sick of... |
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pfak
Premium
join:2002-12-29
Canada
 ·Shaw
| reply to CylonRed
I wouldn't want a large refrigerator sized box in my front yard. In fact, if there was one in my front yard it would disappear quite quickly.
It's pretty arrogant on AT&T's part to put large boxes like these in peoples front yards, and yes, if I did live in the states' I would take no U-verse over having one of these monsters in my front yard.
May I ask, are you even a property owner?
--
Xenophase - British Columbia's premier online gaming community. |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
1 edit | Yes - I am for the last 10 years and they have been going in around town as well since I am in Ohio. |
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yock
TFTC
Premium
join:2000-11-21
Fairfield, OH
| said by CylonRed  :Yes - I am for the last 10 years and they have been going in around town as well since I am in Ohio. I thought I saw one over off of Far Hills in Kettering recently. I was driving by and didn't get a good look...but man, if in fact that's what caught my eye then I utterly understand the frustration. |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | There are several in my area of Beavercreek. My area is at the fringes of distance and the newer neighborhoods I am certain are to far for regular DSL or right on the cusp. I am at just over 12,300 ft or so. |
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Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Endicott, NY
1 edit | reply to pfak
said by pfak :May I ask, are you even a property owner? Here's a dumb question: Why doesn't AT&T compensate the property owners somehow?
When I was working in the WISP business we deployed over a dozen "mini-POPs" (mini point of presence) to reach customers that didn't have a good line of sight to one of our main POPs. We built them out of small sheds and usually offered the property owner free internet access if he was willing to let us place one on his property. We figured that giving away free service to one customer was worthwhile if we got ten paying customers out of the deal. I'm guessing that these boxes serve more than 10 customers and that the ratio would be a lot more favorable for AT&T if they were to attempt a solution like this.
Of course I don't pretend that a solution that worked for a small company with 2,000 customers would scale well for an outfit the size of AT&T -- but this attitude of "Bend over, there's nothing you can do to stop us" is the reason why everybody hates the phone company. Surely there is a better way they could go about this? |
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KoolMoe
Aw Man
Premium
join:2001-02-14
Annapolis, MD
clubs: | TOTALLY agree and I've said the same thing. I'm not sure why I'm amazed that whatever company doesn't offer the inconvenienced homeowner free, or at least discounted, services in exchange As you say, one freebie for many payers?
Surely...
KM |
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pandora
Premium
join:2001-06-01
Outland
 ·ooma
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Comcast
|  reply to CylonRed
AT&T selected a technology which leaves a gigantic footprint in peoples yards. Any homeowner would be upset to discover AT&T putting a gigantic box on their front lawn. Comcast manages to provide generally higher speeds and at the same time to avoid this problem. It is time for AT&T to once again assert itself as a leader in networking by finding and building a better solution.
--
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use." |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | While people whine all the while about not having high speed internet choices - damned if they do, damned if they don't - classic no win situation the consumer puts them in. |
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yock
TFTC
Premium
join:2000-11-21
Fairfield, OH | Isn't the value of your real estate more important than data services? You're talking about a net loss to your property value so that others may reap the benefits. |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
| I already think the 'hit' to values is VASTLY overstated and purposely overstated so it sounds nice and bad. How many times have I seen a thread here in the last 7 years that states something along the lines of: "My next house I will make sure has high speed internet available."
I have heard that so many times it is not funny and I don't think that is going away anytime soon so my guess would be it is very important for a lot of people.
Every one has the benefit - if you refuse and the area does not get high speed except maybe cable then it is a good possibility your house may not get sold or if it does at less value than having a box that can be hidden decently for not much money. I know what my choice would be if my choice was TW cable or a box in the yard - I will take the box and can successfully argue for the value to not go down and TW will never be in my house ever again.
Again - it comes down to "...whining when they don't have any other choice but cable internet or WiFi in the press or on this web site. They make their bed and they have to lie in it and shut up about it." - I am simply tired of the hypocrites and their incessent whining. They make their bed - they need to man up and deal with it rather than bitching on web sites about how unfair life is and the horrible monopoly for internet service they have. |
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yock
TFTC
Premium
join:2000-11-21
Fairfield, OH
| Yeah, but how many areas have high-speed options already without these unsightly boxes? My girlfriend's po dunk apartment on S. Dixie can get both roadrunner and traditional AT&T DSL. This is without conspicuous lawn ornaments.
Verizon isn't deploying anything like this for Fios, Time Warner Cable isn't deploying anything like this to improve speeds and realiability on their Roadrunner network, come to think of it, AT&T are the only ones doing this amidst more than a few ongoing efforts to deliver better speeds to customers. There are ALWAYS other options, this one just happens to work out best for AT&T.
If they were leasing this land from the homeowner then I wouldn't mind so much. The fact remains that cities revoke the rights of homeowners with utility easements which leaves them little say in what gets ploped into their front yards. |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
| I know large areas of Ohio - read Spring Valley area where NOTHING is available. TW wants to charge thousands to per house to run the line then charge the monthly fee and they have to have a certain % of the people on the street to get cable before they will do anything.
Lots of areas of the country have no high speed internet and would love to have it - even with a box. |
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yock
TFTC
Premium
join:2000-11-21
Fairfield, OH
| Then let AT&T install these boxes in Spring Valley. Something tells me they won't, because a huge box doesn't make it any more financially viable than a small box or no box.
Furthermore, I present the same challenge to you as I did another poster on a previous thread on this subject: Volunteer your front yard. Call the city, offer your berm for easement and have AT&T put their equipment in your yard. |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
| Did I say I would not - nope. If they did it would likely be on the easement that is already there any way. The ones I see in our neighborhood seem to be placed at houses on corners of busy streets (main roads) probably to keep any potential value drop small. I find it funny that I keep seeing a value of $10K drop but I see no proof in any of the reports and no proof that drop goes directly to the boxes.
Companies can't negociate with each individual owner - nothing would ever get done and land owners can then hold a neighborhood hostage which would only encourage more bad press for said company. Again - damned if they do, damned if they don't and the customers then play hypocrite for the press. |
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yock
TFTC
Premium
join:2000-11-21
Fairfield, OH
| Yeah, I don't have a number, but it stands to good reason that any unsightly addition to a property will reduce its value.
If companies cannot negotiate with each homeowner or a group of homeowners, then they should purchase their own property in the neighborhood and put their equipment there. Utility easements are a product of the days of telephone poles and hydro lines. In actuality, the city would be better off if they zoned specific parcels of land for utility purposes that wasn't so conspicuous. |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
| If all of the property is already owned then they can't do that very well and if they did buy from a current land owner then they have the same problems already mentioned - one landowner holding a neighborhood hostage being one.
To be economical - the company would need to pay one amount or else face plenty of litigation if owners ever found out they got paid a lot less then someone else.
Strategically - I would probably decide to do it the way they currently are - less total risk overall. |
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Chainzz
Aka Snippy
join:2004-07-26
Amherstburg, ON
| reply to yock
said by yock :Isn't the value of your real estate more important than data services? You're talking about a net loss to your property value so that others may reap the benefits. I'm thinking property values will suffer with no data access, I will never buy another lot or house without highspeed....damn they can throw a node in my yard along with some bushes or tree's. |
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