 
baineschile
2600
Premium
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI | green just make the cabinet green instead of grey so they dont stick out as much.
there, i should be a hihgly paid exec at att. | |
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tad2020
join:2007-07-17
Orange, CA | Re: green Some of the VRAD cabs I've seen in OC are about 6 feet tall and they usually placed ON the side walk, kinda hard to hide something that big that your likely going to walk right in to the side of :V | |
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meister_sd
Premium
join:2006-01-29
La Mesa, CA | Re: green Ok - why can't they bury them? Or at least partially? It's how fiber is done..... | |
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tad2020
join:2007-07-17
Orange, CA | Re: green Likely cause that cost much, much more, and most of these are going next to their minivan sized DSLAMs. | |
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| ashworth
join:2001-10-06
Pittsburgh, PA | Environmentally friendly are we ?? This is the year of "green" after all !! | |
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vzw emp
@qwest.net
| said by baineschile  :just make the cabinet green instead of grey so they dont stick out as much. there, i should be a hihgly paid exec at att. One step at a time, buddy. You've got to get rid of your soul first. Then there's the small matter of your integrity, not to mention self respect (that won't be useful at all when you work for AT&T). | |
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R4M0N
Brazilian Soccer Ownz Joo
join:2000-10-04
Glen Allen, VA
 ·Comcast
1 edit | Just hide it... There are tons of props that can be used to hide those things, from fake landscape boulders to fake log piles. Heck, get some fiberglass artist to incorporate the boxes into some sort of contemporary sculpture to match the surrounding environment.
AT&T and the county could split the cost of the materials and the artist would get free exposure in exchange for his/her services. | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | Re: Just hide it... I like the art idea...give grants to help artists and landscapers design surrounding encasements. But it seems like lots of money could be spent just to have AT&T ultimately make the shift to FTTH... | |
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Fireblade
join:2008-08-27
St Catharines, ON
·Cogeco Cable
 ·Vonage
| Re: Just hide it... said by Karl Bode :I like the art idea...give grants to help artists and landscapers design surrounding encasements. But it seems like lots of money could be spent just to have AT&T ultimately make the shift to FTTH... Agreed to the FTTH comment.
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I love fish sticks. I love putting fish sticks in my mouth. | |
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| | alchav
join:2002-05-17
Palm Desert, CA
 ·Pacific Bell - SBC
| said by Karl Bode :I like the art idea...give grants to help artists and landscapers design surrounding encasements. But it seems like lots of money could be spent just to have AT&T ultimately make the shift to FTTH... It's not that easy to switch, the Technologies are different that's why AT&T needs the VRAD's. I recently had a discussion with Fiberguy on this subject, U-Verse vs FiOS »Now Who's Laughing? and I thought it was interesting. The VRAD never came up, but it has been a sore subject with many Communities. My fix on this is for the Community to run their own Fiber, and then just pick the ISP they want. | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| Re: Just hide it... just because someone didn't like to look at it...you just can't seem to make people happy these days. These people have the right to be concerned about the impact on their property values just as much as AT&T has the right to want easy access to the cabinet. It seems to me that in many cases these disagreements are being negotiated with civility. | |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
1 edit | Re: Just hide it... said by Karl Bode :just because someone didn't like to look at it...you just can't seem to make people happy these days. These people have the right to be concerned about the impact on their property values just as much as AT&T has the right to want easy access to the cabinet. It seems to me that in many cases these disagreements are being negotiated with civility. Ultimately, AT&T has the big stick here during negotiations. If some communities are so strict on what they find acceptable, guess what?? - They don't get high speed access and are stuck with old DSL speeds. AT&T just won't implement in their area.
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| Re: Just hide it... Ultimately, AT&T has the big stick here during negotiations. If some communities are so strict on what they find acceptable, guess what?? - They don't get high speed access and are stuck with old DSL speeds. AT&T just won't implement in their area. I'm sure investors like yourself enjoy the idea of a corporation simply trampling over community rights, but from what I've seen so far, AT&T's actually done a fairly good job negotiating with most municipalities about cabinet placement without having to resort to withholding service (and subsequently giving competitors in that market the upper hand). | |
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join:2006-10-26
Worcester, MA
| I agree. Why should ATT fight a community when they could simply just not deploy UVERSE and put the box in a community that would deal with it and like the new, better service? Just say to the old community, until you can deal with the big box or we shrink it, you get the same old service. We'll also remember your feelings on installing another box on a pole or in the ground when we finally get around to deploying ftth, so don't count on being first. | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| Re: Just hide it... My argument is: Having the service available has a positive effect on property values. Partially true, but VDSL isn't FTTH, and a giant gray cabinet looming on your easement sends home value the other direction. They simply want to have a say where the cabinet is placed when possible, and that's perfectly reasonable. | |
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mrkevin
Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.
Premium
join:2007-08-07
Aurora, ME
clubs:
·US Cellular
 ·Dish Network
·magicjack.com
·Rivah.net
| Re: Just hide it... a giant gray cabinet looming on your easement sends home value the other direction.
Well, I don't think it matters much 'to that piece of property'. Just having the utility easement on your property, no matter what it looks like has a detrimental effect.
The utility still has to maintain it, so it doesn't matter if it looks like a maple tree.
I agree though, they should come to a compromise. Maybe AT&T should buy a piece of property, turn it into a park, and put the cabinet right in the middle. This would be a win-win for everyone.
AT&T would be able to access their equipment however they see fit (as a land owner), and the neighborhood would get a park.
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An army of sheep led by a lion, will always defeat an army of lions led by a sheep. | |
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| | | | | gigante
join:2000-06-30
Spring, TX
| said by Karl Bode :My argument is: Having the service available has a positive effect on property values. Partially true, but VDSL isn't FTTH, and a giant gray cabinet looming on your easement sends home value the other direction. They simply want to have a say where the cabinet is placed when possible, and that's perfectly reasonable. Why does a box on the sidewalk decrease home values? Why would anything on the sidewalk decrease values?
I bought my home based on what I wanted inside and a rigid inspection of the house - not based on what was on the sidewalk. | |
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PaulHikeS2
join:2003-03-06
Merrimack, NH
·Comcast
| Re: Just hide it... My opinion is that a box on the sidewalk or easement does not affect the home's value one cent. It does, however, affect it's selling price. Like it or not, a home's curb appeal affects it's price.
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SLD
Premium
join:2002-04-17 | That's you... | |
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DataDoc
My avatar looks like me, if I was 2D.
Premium
join:2000-05-14
Greenville, NC
·Suddenlink
| said by R4M0N :... Heck, get some fiberglass artist to incorporate the boxes into some sort of contemporary sculpture to match the surrounding environment. AT&T and the county could split the cost of the materials and the artist would get free exposure in exchange for his/her services. Art is in the eye of the beholder. Do you think you'd want this in your yard?
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major marco
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit
Premium
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA
clubs:
| said by DataDoc :Art is in the eye of the beholder. Do you think you'd want this in your yard? I wouldn't have to be Hindi to appreciate the decorated cow. It's not that bad compared to oh, say, a nuclear power plant or a fertilizer making factory or an open sewer. | |
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DataDoc
My avatar looks like me, if I was 2D.
Premium
join:2000-05-14
Greenville, NC
·Suddenlink
| Re: Just hide it... said by major marco :said by DataDoc :Art is in the eye of the beholder. Do you think you'd want this in your yard? I wouldn't have to be Hindi to appreciate the decorated cow. It's not that bad compared to oh, say, a nuclear power plant or a fertilizer making factory or an open sewer. It's also not bad compared to a pig farm, but none of those are trying to be are "art".
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"You see what you want to see, and you hear what you want to hear" - The Rockman | |
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SLD
Premium
join:2002-04-17 | Nice of y ou to volunteer the only one that makes little to work for free... | |
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jgkolt
Premium
join:2004-02-21
Lakewood, OH
clubs: | fios why don't we hear about issues like this with Verizon Fios? | |
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jgkolt
Premium
join:2004-02-21
Lakewood, OH
clubs:
| Re: fios I know I wouldn't be happy to had the vrad on my lawn but i would be quite happy to have uverse. Too bad verizon and att don't normally compete against each other in the same areas around here. I don't believe we will see fios ever in this neighborhood. | |
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See 6 replies to this post |
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popper
join:2006-05-30
Baton Rouge, | Re: Cabinets They could modify the exterior panels with say 3 inch deep fins...like a heat sink. Might not be so much of a tag target then.
Maybe even redesign them where they are round and probably a bit taller. | |
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Fireblade
join:2008-08-27
St Catharines, ON | Fires? I thought it was Comcast that had the fires, not Fios or U-verse.
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I love fish sticks. I love putting fish sticks in my mouth. | |
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Oedipus
join:2005-05-09
·DSL EXTREME
·AT&T DSL Service
1 edit | This old gem... Is it just me, or are the crossboxes that these sit next to often bigger than the VRADs themselves? They don't deploy the tall "fridge box" units around here anymore, it's just the shorties. Even the smallest XBs around here are bigger than they are. And how about the RTs? They're rather large, but complaints about those are few and far between. How about transformers? Those are often 6'x6'x6' and nobody ever complains about them. What about the traffic light controller boxes that are at EVERY intersection?
I just don't understand what the big deal is. Even the older, bigger VRADs just aren't that ostentatious when you think about the other utility boxes that are there and have been there for so long. | |
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join:2005-05-09 | Re: This old gem... Yeah, but that's not what they or any other community/city council are thinking. All they're concerned about is aesthetics, aesthetics that have been compromised for as long as we have had utilities of any kind. | |
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| | | | | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO | Re: This old gem... Hey, ranchers have no problem getting paid for farming wind instead of/in addition to cattle. They don't have a problem with transmission lines over their property either. It's just the small-lot overpriced NIMBYs that mess everything up :/ | |
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lordfly
join:2000-10-12
Homestead, FL
·AT&T Southeast
| I would gladly host a box Myself as well as my neighbor who works for AT&T, would gladly share any part of our lawn for a VRAD. I can put landscaping around it or even move my fence a bit. If you are worried about it exploding, build a solid concrete wall between it and your house. | |
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Anon Name
@mhs-net.com | lay it on its back put it on its back - so that the doors open towards the sky. now they are not as high
are these refrigerators going in peoples front yards, or back yards, or common areas? | |
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major marco
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit
Premium
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA
clubs:
1 edit | Must be Nice [...] deployment of both services is on hold for very different reasons. The City of Cypress is not all of Orange County. WTF happened to rest of the county, specifically South Coast. I wish my biggest bitch was complaining about the color of the housing for my FiOS and/or U-verse. Down this way we're all stuck with Cocks Cable. 
Also, people down here don't give a damn about the "ugly" cabinets. Verizon can just paint it purple like the sewer covers or disguise it like the cell phone towers to look like trees limbs in the same manner South Coast cities have done here. If people in Cypress are so damn picky, why is the deathstar and VZ even bothering to deploy up there. | |
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| Electro960
join:2005-12-21
Doylestown, PA
| Re: Must be Nice This is the result of AT&T's decision not to invest in a FTTP network, such as Verizon FIOS. Instead, they chose a non future-proof alternative that requires these huge boxes in front of homes just so they can save money by not running fiber from the curb to the home but instead relying on existing twisted pair copper. Cable companies and Verizon FiOS are already talking about offering 100 Mbps internet speeds, I wonder if the same can be done with UVERSE. | |
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basslobster
@rr.com
| I used to work with AT&T doing door to door sales for Uverse, interestingly enough the company I worked for also did the sales for FIOS and I sold that too.. From what I understand, COX cable has an exclusive agreement with the city of Irvine and other parts of South Coast. I was told that they are not even running lines for VZ or AT&T. The only lines run are for COX.. What a huge scam that is..
That being said, the VRADS are huge and the potential customers were very upset about one being placed in thier neighborhood. They also deployed smaller cylendrical nodes near the residences in some areas, this caused lots of people to chase me from thier porch when I came knocking..
In my humble opinion, FIOS is a vastly superior product.. But the customers in an area where the lines were buried did not like VZ to dig up thier street and then their yards to lay the lines.. I had one lady yell at me cause there was a buried box in her front lawn that was green. I would say it was about 6' by 4' | |
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Anon Name
@mhs-net.com
| U-Verse ATT comes by one day (in the rain!) and digs a hole - 5 feet x 7 feet (outside of the easement); 4 feet deep. they put the 4 feet of dirt next to the hole, making a mountain effectively 8 feet high (from the highest point to the bottom of the hole. They put flimsy construction tape around the hole and didn't tell me why.
That was on a Thursday.
Friday, Saturday, & Monday I called to find out why the uncovered a hole big enough for a body (I have a 1 1/2 year old who couldn't use the backyard - we feared she would fall down the 8 foot mountain face first).
They wanted to put one of these coolers in my back yard so they could sell me the U-Verse.
Buyer beware - ATT could be trying to exercise their easement rights and steal land from you! | |
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iliktakedaland
@comcast.net | Re: U-Verse its not exactly yours to steal, thats why its an easement. | |
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Thane_Bitter
join:2005-01-20
London, ON
·Bell Sympatico
| Good example of why a potential homeowner should examine the deed of the property they are interested in for such things as utility right-of-ways.
If the AT&T's pit is not on their designated area, call a surveying company to verify, pay them to mark the lines and ensure AT&T stays inside their little box with a letter sent from your lawyer. They can still put up their box, but only within the confines of the easement.
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DD-WRT httpd vulnerability! Update Now!!: »www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv3/index.php | |
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Duramax08
Oh rly?
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX | I will be glad to help them out.... They can put whatever the heck on my yard aslong as I get some high speed internet. Think I might have some room for a new CO 
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screavic
Premium
join:2006-08-11
Paron, AR
·Verizon Wireless B..
·Alltel Axess
| Sports Put sports stuff for each state on them, most people would love them then. Say "Team spirit" boxes instead of uverse boxes. Allow ads on them, put a little seat on them and call them "walk benches".
Forget that come put one in my front yard, I wouldn't get mad, heck I might even come give your workers a hug and give them lemonade haha
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My software never has bugs, they just develop random "features". | |
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djnrg727
@sbcglobal.net
| How stupid I dont understand these people that are complaining at all most of the time these vrads are in alley ways or at the front of a neighbrhood with the other utility boxes. Ive been in plenty of nice neighbor hoods multimillion dollar homes that have sewage pump stations huge transformer boxes phone boxes and cable boxes in them all they do is put a nice fence around them all and nobody says shit!! These houses still sell for millions of $$$$ even with the slight smell of shit when the wind blows the wrong way and the huge tank behind the fence for sprinklers, but no its cool ban the boxes go ahead and go back to candle light, or even better yet everyone can have 2 huge sat dishes on there roof for tv and internet im sure thats very eye appealing, but what do i know. I like to have fast internet and crystal clear tv, without rain fade. att verizon move on theres alot more people that would be more then willing to get these in their area. | |
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nishiko7
Premium
join:2007-05-01
Pleasant Hill, CA
1 edit | The pictured box is the OLD VRADs... new ones are shorter I don't know why they keep including old pictures of the VRADs in these posts. I think it's just for effect. The VRADs AT&T recently put in in my area are much shorter, and I even noticed they paint them a color similar to the surroundings (green if around trees), beige if around dirt, etc. It's really no big deal. As one poster said, in some dimensions they are smaller than the cross-box they are next to, and even overall, just barely bigger (mainly wider). They are nowhere near as tall as the VRAD in the picture. Those are the OLD VRADs people. The new ones are substantially shorter... about the same height or shorter than the cross-box.
Now, I can understand how some people might still have a problem with it (especially depending on location), but I would think most would have no issue at all, especially if it means having more broadband and TV competitive options. The more competition there is, it'll keep your cable company and other competitors honest. | |
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mc5w
join:2002-06-14
Independence, OH
| Undergrounding the Box Where I used to live in Seven Hills, Ohio the remote terminal for our neighborhood was mostly underground except the access hatch, air conditioner, electrical power service, and a cross connect box for the closest houses. Problem is, it does cost money and there are some areas where there is not an effective way to bury these. There is an area along the Portage Path road near Stan Hywet in Akron, Ohio where houses only have a crawl space underneath because bedrock is only 3 or 4 feet down. If you detonate only 2 or 3 pounds of TNT ( or equivalent dynamite ) at a time you will break every window over a 1/4 mile radius. There are also some areas that are too boggy to put one of these in.
However, one problem is that some places have inflated opinions of themselves. What one black guy said to me about the blacks who live in Warrensville Heights, Ohio was, " They think that they're Beverly Hills." In addition to these itty bitty alleged cities you have people and companies who think that they are more important than the King of Saudin Arabia. | |
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| Reese1972
join:2003-03-08
Hazel Park, MI | Re: Undergrounding the Box Att should stop being cheap as' and just go ftth. | |
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U-Verse Cabinet Debate Slows Orange County Deployment
) it just makes it harder for the tech coming out to work in it. This equates to a longer time to do the work and higher frustration levels and ultimately a lower level of service.
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I have a new appreciation for large VRADs