  KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Fairly Clever idea.... Simple, effective.... faster and cheaper. | |
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 | | | Re: Fairly Clever idea.... said by KrK:Simple, effective.... faster and cheaper.
Will probably work in 0.01% of actual installations...
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.:|:. aztec being aztec...™ | |
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| | KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Re: Fairly Clever idea.... Won't work in every case, no, but it would be viable in far more then that. In the same way it runs along the side of driveways it could also run along a foundation wall, etc
It seems well protected, and even if it was damaged, it shouldn't be expensive to replace.
I think the key is lowering the initial buildout costs, maybe allowing people who would not be considered "economically viable" to serve to become so.
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"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
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 LinklistPremium
join:2002-03-03
Longport, NJ
kudos:5 |  Much easier than slit cuts in lawn?
Maybe they see savings in not having to contact the companies that mark underground utilities if their process never pierces the ground. | |
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| Reviews:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| Re: Much easier than slit cuts in lawn? From previous experience and knowledge, if the cable, be it copper drop or fiber drop, is not buried or meeting aerial clearances across driveways and yards, it provide much work and overtime pay for the repair troops.
Just think of the driver who messes up backing out of the driveway and runs over the drop, or snags it on the vehicle and drags it around.
This is not a lot different that the drop being laid on the ground, while waiting on the contractor to bury it, except it will never be buried. Not a good plan, saves initial installation money, but adds to repair costs. | |
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| | BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| Re: Much easier than slit cuts in lawn? Exactly. It just sounds like a bad idea. My guess is, its just a patent, not something they will actually use. Probably the result of a brainstorming idea. Although, this highlights what's broken with our patent system... that's patentable... seriously??? | |
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| | | | I was thinking too this is a shortcut that will become high maintenance.
Google probably doesn't care because they'll likely pass this off to another ISP when the project is done (SureWest), or perhaps expect the homeowner to pay for maintenance.
I'm in a highrise condo building so will be interesting to see how they deploy the curb to unit. My building is working with Google to get access but no confirmation yet. They are still talking so likely possible. I'll try it for sure... can always go back to TWC or Surewest. | |
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| | Samwoo
join:2002-02-15
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA | It doesn't look like an exposed conduit. It says it is 7cm by 5mm conduit that is placed in cracks or along the side of a driveway. If it is pasted along the side of the concrete slab, it may be visible, but I don't think you can drive over it. If it is shoved between two slabs, then I don't think it can be damaged easily. | |
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| | KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Sounds to me like this system can handle being run over, or weed whacked on, etc. | |
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Reviews:
 ·ooma
·Optimum Online
·Verizon FiOS
| funny story.. When I had FIOS moved to my new place, it was prewired from the previous tennant installation, but when they tried to light the fiber-- it was "DEAD" so they had to run a brand new cable.. apparently a large truck had smacked the cable JUST ENOUGH to physically pull it out of the FIOS NODE and strip off the optical connector! Short story, they had to run a new cable as if there were nothing there in the first place.
Google will learn that one size does NOT fit all residential needs! Also, I hope they start using that bendable fiber cable as well. Would be nice for Verizon to kickstart some higher speeds and stick it to the cable companies.. but don't hold your breath for that because of the new wireless deal (truce) beween Comcast and Verizon. | |
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 mix
join:2002-03-19
Utica, MI | Stupid First, how often is it that your driveway is on the same side of your house as your utility drops? Second, how often does someone accidentally back a car over the edge of your driveway and onto your lawn, which would probably damage this cable? Third, how annoying will this be if you have to mow around it with a lawn mower, then come back again with a weed whacker (which both will probably damage the cable eventually like Karl said)? Fourth, don't you already have to bury edging to some degree to get it to stay in place on the ground? Google's never heard of frost heave either apparently? | |
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| mix
join:2002-03-19
Utica, MI | Re: Stupid I forgot one. Ever pay a company to do snow removal with a plow truck in the winter? They almost always end up ripping up part of your sod at some point even if they stake it. Instead of ripping out just your sod, now they can rip out your internet, telephone, and cable tv service. Awesome! | |
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| | looks ugly there is no way that this will look good unless they plan on re-landscaping someone's whole yard to match. | |
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| | How is this... patentable? this is stupid, and if it was ever challenged in court, it would be held as too vague, because it is. | |
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| | | Re: How is this... A few years back a guy had some stories on an expansion plate with integrated conduit. Sounds the same. | |
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|  Oh_NoTrogglus normalus
join:2011-05-21
Chicago, IL | Re: What about when the driveway needs replacing? I would say that like 90% of homes with a driveway have poured concrete.
Anyways this only saves money for repairs as they still need to semi dig/burry it in the ground so only the top is showing, so installation will not be cheaper. | |
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iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 Reviews:
 ·Verizon Online DSL
·RoadRunner Cable
·Comcast
| Sure, why not? If youre in an area with poured-concrete driveways, beveled edging plus outdoor-grade cable could potentially work. If done right, you'd end up with something that's not going to fail if run over, wont succumb to weed-whacking and won't be expensive to replace when issues do occur because you don't have to bring out aerial or buried equipment to fix things. | |
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Reviews:
·Insight Communic..
| Well While clever, nothing beats a conduit thats been properly trenched or directional bored, the conduit serves as your perm access route, fiber goes back or you want to upgrade to multimode attach a pull string (unless you was smart to include at first install along side the fiber) to the existing fiber, yank it through, and pull your new fiber. since and repeat. | |
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 koitsuPremium,MVM
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA
kudos:19 | Security concerns I have many. Anyone else?  | |
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fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Horrible Idea... ... enough said.
If this is what google thinks is a good idea, then I've lost any hope for them to be successful.
Anyone with any experience in the business knows that this is a horrible idea and will lead to service issues and ultimately sour the taste in affected customers who wind up with damaged lines. There's a reason why lines are buried under ground to a certain depth OR ran over head at a minimum height.
... not to mention, I would love to see how soon they figure out that not every driveway is anywhere near the utility area of the home. | |
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|  IowaCowboyWant to go back to IowaPremium
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA | Re: Horrible Idea... And they still have to go under driveways, roads, and walkways. And if it creates a trip hazard, then they are talking liability. | |
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| | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Re: Horrible Idea... yup!
.. seems it would just be easier to bring out the walk-behind trenchers and lay them in the ground.... do it right and it reduces the maintenance in the future.
Seriously, what's next? ... a patent filing for a self install kit, from the street? lol | |
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jfmezeiPremium
join:2007-01-03
Pointe-Claire, QC
kudos:22 | Snow clearing.... Those who live in snow areas will not benefit from this because this scheme would not survive the snow ploughs that clear driveways. | |
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rody_44Premium
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA Reviews:
·Comcast
1 edit | Burglars will love this What a nice easy way to let burglars and home invaders know how to quickly knock out communication systems. Hey honey i hear a noise in the kitchen. Call the police oh but wait the phone is dead and your cells on the kitchen counter charging. Alarms better have a cell backup or forget about that. | |
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| rody_44Premium
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA Reviews:
·Comcast
| Re: If it helps competition, do it FWIW verizon pays around 70 dollars to bury a drop and that includes under driveways and sidewalks. Doesnt include the drop but either does this method. Its assinine to only pay 70 dollars but its even more assinine to do this. A cell phone blocker and a pair of snips and your alarm and ability to call for any help in emergencies are out the window. It would be like putting a sign out saying burglars welcome. | |
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| | Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T Midwest
·voip.ms
1 edit | Re: If it helps competition, do it said by rody_44:FWIW verizon pays around 70 dollars to bury a drop and that includes under driveways and sidewalks. Doesnt include the drop but either does this method. Its assinine to only pay 70 dollars but its even more assinine to do this. A cell phone blocker and a pair of snips and your alarm and ability to call for any help in emergencies are out the window. It would be like putting a sign out saying burglars welcome.
Are you saying Verizon contributes $70 toward the cost of burial? Or that they only charge that much?
I paid to have my utilities put underground by the power utility. They have a deal with AT&T and Time Warner, so they put in phone and cable in the same trench. I then had to pay AT&T separately to run the new cable up the pole and into the NID on my house. That cost me around $70 to $100 I think.
I understand the security concerns, but nearly every home around here currently has overhead service, which is even easier to "snip". This happens occasionally but not at any overwhelming rate. Besides, cell phones are nearly universal, so unless there's a major disaster or civil emergency at the time of the break-in, this is not even as much of a concern as it would have been a few decades ago.
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