U-Verse Made My Yard Ugly! More cabinet gripes: Ann Arbor, Michigan Tipped by Karl Bode 
Some neighborhoods continue to complain about the large cabinets AT&T needs to plunk down in order to offer VDSL broadband service and IPTV. The latest lamentations come from Ann Arbor, Michigan: "[Sarah Lee], who lives on the 600 block of South First Street, tried to have a cooking stove installed in her Old West Side home, but the city Historic District Commission said she couldn't have the vent coming out of the front of her house because it would be visible from the street.
Today, she looks out her big picture window and, through a line of bushes, can see a large AT&T utility cabinet standing more than 5 feet high and 3 feet wide on the strip of land between the sidewalk and the street. 'It's horrible. It's hideous. It's very sad,' Lee said."Some areas are only just now realizing that the franchise reform legislation they signed, in some cases, strips away a town's eminent domain rights, giving them no say in cabinet placement. FTTH requires no such cabinets.
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  elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO | force FTTH? you know why not make them HAVE to put in FTTH as a condition of the franchise reform legislation? | |
|  | | | Re: force FTTH? If they put one of those in my front yard, I'm going to have fun stripping the copper out of it until they remove it.
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»www.WiiNetCommunity.com FREE RELIABLE WEB HOSTING! | |
| | | Reviews:
 ·Bright House
| Re: force FTTH? said by Anonuser:If they put one of those in my front yard, I'm going to have fun stripping the copper out of it until they remove it. And they will have fun stripping your clothes off in jail so Bubba can have a turn too. 
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SIPPhone/Gizmo # 17476200648 / PIMPNET Chatline / Ran by Asterisk & Slackware 10.1. | |
| | | lawrence171Evilly Yours - Evilness
join:2001-12-24
Canada | Just put something that will eat through the metal on it. Even better, put some strong magnets around the yard.
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What I used to be I no longer am... God, why can't you freeze time for my sake? | |
| | | | | | Re: force FTTH? Yah, some sort of acid. Which do you recommend? | |
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 Dream KillerGraveyard ShiftPremium
join:2002-08-09
Forest Hills, NY | Solved Plant some trees/bushes around it. | |
| | | | Re: Solved Paint the thing in camo and put up a fake deer next to it....no problem. | |
| | | | | Re: Solved If you own a home, then you might understand. The fake deer has some appeal though, people might come by and shoot at it then! | |
| | | |  en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Re: Solved Most of them around here are the same size as the F2 around here. | |
| | | | | | | | | | | en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Re: Solved I agree... those stop light controller boxes are at EVERY intersection here in Santa Clarita, and by comparison, make VRAD look insignificant in size and the amount of them.
I programmed a PIC microcontroller in college to run a stoplight controller (RISC assembler) , and it was no larger than the size of a piece of toast. | |
| | | | | | | cajundslcajundsl Denver Qwest
join:2003-02-05
Denver, CO | Re: Solved I remember back during the heyday of the Altair 8080 reading that one of the original applications of the Intel 8008 chip that ran it was... to control traffic signals. And you guys are, of course, right - the world is full of things like the BASIC Stamp that have on-chip RAM and ROM and can be burned with all the software required to operate a traffic light.
All I can figure is that the things we see on street corners are over-engineered so that when one fritzes out and causes two city buses to collide head-on (or something equally bad) that during the trial, the highway department can point to the puke-green vault looking thing and say "But we took every precaution, spared no expense to assure the public safety." | |
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| | | | | Reviews:
·Bright House
| said by djrobx:Yeah, here in Valencia there are utility cabinets galore around town. The U-verse cabinets are dwarfed by the massive cabinets used to run traffic stoplights. They kind of blend in. At least with U-verse, I understand that they need to cram a lot of DSLAMs into a small space. Why such a massive cabinet is required to control the on/off states of a few lamps is beyond me. -- Rob Well, ancient equipment, like traffic lights, need all that space. Think back to the days when computers took 2 or 3 story buildings to work... If we lived in the now, and the government would contribute enough to expand our highway systems, then they would be much smaller. I would have anticipated by now the lil box would hang from the wire that had the stop lights on it, because technically, they COULD do that. But I guess when you are a company who makes a living off of citywide contracts, you tend to keep your technology cheap, or else you go with what actually works...
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SIPPhone/Gizmo # 17476200648 / PIMPNET Chatline / Ran by Asterisk & Slackware 10.1. | |
| | | | | | | | | Re: Solved Uhhh..it has nothing to do with age.
In order to keep flow optimized there's various sensors running back and forth giving information to a computer that figures out who is waiting for clearance. It then figures that into the time of day and sets the rotation for the whole intersection. It could be made smaller and more demure but there's no bother since intersections are seldom pretty. | |
| | | | | | | | Reviews:
·Bright House
| Re: Solved said by bogey780:Uhhh..it has nothing to do with age. In order to keep flow optimized there's various sensors running back and forth giving information to a computer that figures out who is waiting for clearance. It then figures that into the time of day and sets the rotation for the whole intersection. It could be made smaller and more demure but there's no bother since intersections are seldom pretty. Uhh, that comment was not well thought out. Considering the iPhone can detect if it's horizontal or vertical, or the smartphones running windows are as thin as a Moto Razr while closed.
The point is, the equipment is bulky because nobody has bothered to try and "downsize" it. They have kept the same, proprietary devices since automated traffic lights were invented. The wires from the sensors aren't the size as a cabinet. Could you please tell me a justifiable reason they are so huge? Realistically, there is no reason for them to be so large. I could see if they were HALF the size they are now, and that consideration is being made with the assumption that there is battery backups in them. They make devices now that handle phone, internet, and TV, and are as big as a classic VCR. They take input and deliver output back to the headend, which constitutes similar functionality as a traffic light controller. If they embed all the devices in one of those cabinets into a single controller that does it all, they can go from 5 ft tall, down to a few inches tall. For crying out loud, we are fitting 4 cpu cores on a chip that is smaller than a standard playing card. Please tell me the need for them to continiue using controllers from the 1980's. It's not like they have a network of 100 phone line PAIRS coming into the cabinet on a traffic light, so I can see why a VDSL cabinet is so large.
Again, I realize the traffic light controllers take input from pressure sensors, and also calculate the time of day, and the load of traffic, but it does not excuse their size. It would be like us still using a UNIVAC computer, which takes up the space of a three story building, just to run the internet. It isn't happening, so why should traffic lights be any different. At least if they were smaller, they could be buried underground, away from the potential of being smacked into by a drunk driver.
So, it has EVERYTHING to do with age, because each year, new technology gets smaller and smaller. Hell, even the iPod is 1/4 the size it use to be, and is capable of doing way more than a traffic light controller. And what you are talking about, as far as "optimized sensors" and time of day, etc, I have configured very similar stuff on my VoIP box. That could all be reduced to a single chip...
A simple solution to your argument would be to post a link to "how it works" so we can see the point of this huge ass box that makes traffic lights work. The cable company has a node that turns fiber optic into coax, and is responsible for 100+ VoIP customers, 300+ modems, and only god knows how many TV customers, and it is the size of a car amplifier, so please, enlighten me.
This message may come across as "offensive" so forgive me, but you need to explain some of this logic, as I fail to imagine any other reason as to why you said it was acceptable. Sorry. 
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SIPPhone/Gizmo # 17476200648 / PIMPNET Chatline / Ran by Asterisk & Slackware 10.1. | |
| | | | | | | | |  PhoenixAZGet A MacPremium
join:2004-01-04
Phoenix, AZ
kudos:1 | Re: Solved said by phattieg:said by bogey780:Uhhh..it has nothing to do with age. In order to keep flow optimized there's various sensors running back and forth giving information to a computer that figures out who is waiting for clearance. It then figures that into the time of day and sets the rotation for the whole intersection. It could be made smaller and more demure but there's no bother since intersections are seldom pretty. Uhh, that comment was not well thought out. Considering the iPhone can detect if it's horizontal or vertical, or the smartphones running windows are as thin as a Moto Razr while closed. The point is, the equipment is bulky because nobody has bothered to try and "downsize" it. They have kept the same, proprietary devices since automated traffic lights were invented. The wires from the sensors aren't the size as a cabinet. Could you please tell me a justifiable reason they are so huge? Realistically, there is no reason for them to be so large. I could see if they were HALF the size they are now, and that consideration is being made with the assumption that there is battery backups in them. They make devices now that handle phone, internet, and TV, and are as big as a classic VCR. They take input and deliver output back to the headend, which constitutes similar functionality as a traffic light controller. If they embed all the devices in one of those cabinets into a single controller that does it all, they can go from 5 ft tall, down to a few inches tall. For crying out loud, we are fitting 4 cpu cores on a chip that is smaller than a standard playing card. Please tell me the need for them to continiue using controllers from the 1980's. It's not like they have a network of 100 phone line PAIRS coming into the cabinet on a traffic light, so I can see why a VDSL cabinet is so large. Again, I realize the traffic light controllers take input from pressure sensors, and also calculate the time of day, and the load of traffic, but it does not excuse their size. It would be like us still using a UNIVAC computer, which takes up the space of a three story building, just to run the internet. It isn't happening, so why should traffic lights be any different. At least if they were smaller, they could be buried underground, away from the potential of being smacked into by a drunk driver. So, it has EVERYTHING to do with age, because each year, new technology gets smaller and smaller. Hell, even the iPod is 1/4 the size it use to be, and is capable of doing way more than a traffic light controller. And what you are talking about, as far as "optimized sensors" and time of day, etc, I have configured very similar stuff on my VoIP box. That could all be reduced to a single chip... A simple solution to your argument would be to post a link to "how it works" so we can see the point of this huge ass box that makes traffic lights work. The cable company has a node that turns fiber optic into coax, and is responsible for 100+ VoIP customers, 300+ modems, and only god knows how many TV customers, and it is the size of a car amplifier, so please, enlighten me. This message may come across as "offensive" so forgive me, but you need to explain some of this logic, as I fail to imagine any other reason as to why you said it was acceptable. Sorry. What if your little traffic card fails, have fun spending lots of money to replace it. The point of this equipment is modularity, if a piece of equipment fails, they can just take the old stuff out, and put the new stuff in, kind of like rackmount servers.
Also, why aren't servers pintsized as well? Why isn't your computer the size of a card? It's because traffic equipment needs this much room as well. And I can bet you the servers run nothing but your average installation of Windows (server versions sometimes)
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Joshua| About Me | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | Re: Solved Exactly.
These things aren't switching small loads either. Could they make it smaller? I don't know. I'm not a traffic engineer. But I tend to think a microprocessor would blow up if it had to deal with the wattage that an intersection runs on. | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | Re: Solved Wouldn't the traffic boxes size also be attributable to the need to have a large cooling system, especially in warmer states? | |
| | | | | | | | | | raster44
join:2003-09-07
Niagara Falls, NY | During our power outage last Fall (freak October snowstorm in buffalo), signal department had small gasoline powered generators (1500 Watt) running traffic signals at major intersections throughout the city. These are like ten three-bulb signals at each intersection of six lane highways. I doubt if much power is involved. The man-power involved was unbelievable though. Three police cars and a three man signal crew which went up and down the highways keeping the signals gasoline generators running. And this for 24 hours and the three days until power restored. | |
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| | | | | | | |  SplitpairPremium
join:2000-07-29
Cow Towne
kudos:3 | said by phattieg:Uhh, that comment was not well thought out. Considering the iPhone can detect if it's horizontal or vertical, or the smartphones running windows are as thin as a Moto Razr while closed. Unlike a traffic controller I doubt one would last past a single thunderstorm down here.
Why are traffic cabinets so huge? This is my prospective from working on circuits we install within them.
First of all they operate in an extremely hostile environment. The inside of a traffic cabinet can hit 120+ degrees in the summer even with the fans on. You open the door of one and literally have to stand back as it is like standing in front of an oven or an older fully loaded SLC system in a Lucent series 5 cabinet. All of the traffic cabinets I have worked in use outside air for cooling as such the modules are exposed to the same levels of humidity as on the street and all the filth that goes with being on the street. The system modules are built like bricks with an unbelievable amount of surge protection on all of the inputs and outputs. In most cases a single heavy duty connector is used which means power inputs and outputs are all together in the same shell. Within the cabinet they switch incandescent loads which have high inrush currents next to modules that must detect minor changes in the inductance of a loop buried under the pavement or changes in the field of view of a CCTV camera.
The processors (doubled for redundancy) also have to operate in that cabinet of EMI and heat.
As such all the boards require more real-estate for many reasons, less density equals less heat overall, components are over engineered which up-sizes them, heat sinks have to be larger then for consumer use and the list goes on and on. There is also a laundry list of pesky State and Fed DOT requirements as to how much abuse those devices will take without failing. Basically if the i-Phone had to be built to those requirements it would be the size of the old Motorola Brick cellphone would run two hours on a charge and cost thirty grand with a two year agreement.
Then there is lightning. Traffic lights get hit a lot. I know as I get to fix the circuits after they have been hit and when it is not a direct hit the high mounted cameras and buried loops are great for introducing induced hits into the system. The neat thing is they survive the processor/control may be crippled and can no longer contact the mother ship and may have had some of the more sensitive inputs blown down to the next county but the processor is still up and is almost always still working properly bet you can’t do that with an i-Phone. 
Wayne
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If you cannot fix it with a buttset and some beanies you ain't a technician. | |
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| | | | | | | en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
1 edit | Again... these can be built on fairly simple / small devices - even with timers, sensors (including left turn, pedestrian, time of day) can be built onto a single chip. Add in commercial grade, and you're typically talking a single card.
Some newer ones (here in Los Angeles county anyways) are also tied into a 'grid' system. LADPW have a system (not sure the extent covered), where there's a system control center which can change the light schedules based on traffic flow (i.e. for diverting traffic during accidents).
Even with all that... they're still huge, especially in comparison to a VRAD. | |
| | | | | | | | | Reviews:
·Bright House
| Re: Solved said by en102:Again... these can be built on fairly simple / small devices - even with timers, sensors (including left turn, pedestrian, time of day) can be built onto a single chip. Add in commercial grade, and you're typically talking a single card. Some newer ones (here in Los Angeles county anyways) are also tied into a 'grid' system. LADPW have a system (not sure the extent covered), where there's a system control center which can change the light schedules based on traffic flow (i.e. for diverting traffic during accidents). Even with all that... they're still huge, especially in comparison to a VRAD. And thats my whole point, they CAN, but AREN'T, because nobody gives a crap. And the problem is, these "non-techno geek" type people don't mind spending thousands of dollars of tax payers money to replace the old dinosaur equipment with a newer dinosaur box... It's all a money game... And around Jacksonville, they still have ones that end up losing their programming after a power outage, and default to flashing red and yellow traffic lights. If they would just "advance" then we'd have better traffic management. I HAVE seen the ones that the DOT (Dept. of Transportation) can remote control, but they can only control a select few. I have even seen some interfaced with cameras to catch red light runners. With all this old junk in place, you'd think they'd opt for cheaper, more reliable equipment, which is smaller. It's a joke, and a rip-off...
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SIPPhone/Gizmo # 17476200648 / PIMPNET Chatline / Ran by Asterisk & Slackware 10.1. | |
| | | | | | | | | |  John GaltForward, MarchPremium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp
kudos:3 | Re: Solved said by phattieg:It's a joke, and a rip-off... It is always fascinating to see someone who has no idea of what they are talking about get so passionate about it.
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A is A | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | Re: Solved It goes with the site. | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | Oldtech is often cheaper than newtech.
That uber-small card you reference is handy, sure...but is bound to cost 10x more than the old dinosaur.
Cheaper. Better. Faster. Pick two. | |
| | | | | | | | | |  sivranBack to Opera againPremium
join:2003-09-15
Arlington, TX
kudos:1 | Re: Solved Tell that to the old 168-pin RAM in my older machines.
Often, but not always. | |
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| | | | | PhoenixAZGet A MacPremium
join:2004-01-04
Phoenix, AZ
kudos:1
2 edits | You do know traffic lights are now sophisticated pieces of technology as well right? They are no longer just timers and on off switches.
In road or above ground (ever notice those little cameras on top of traffic lights?) sensors detect traffic, can change signals based on traffic, pedestrians, and bikers, can divert traffic if there is a collision, and more. A lot of them also are connected to a central server, and changes can be made remotely. Next time you are stopped at a red light, look up for those cameras, or on the ground for those sensors (though sometimes new pavement can cover up these sensors, the sensors continue to work and are not damaged). The little cameras are NOT red light cameras. They are there to monitor traffic, and sophisticated software can change the signal according to the traffic.
Several new technologies have come to the traffic light industry, including those new pedestrian signals that count down how much time you have left.
Ever notice how an arrow does not come on when there is no car in the left turn lane? Thank the sensors for that, so that way there is not any wasted time by giving an arrow to non-existant left traffic etc.
Back on topic..
And yes, placing the AT&T boxes next to traffic controllers are a great idea. I have seen the Cox Cable boxes placed next to them here to 'blend in' as well, and this way, hopefully there would be lesser complaints. Sheesh, I wouldn't mind a box like that, as long as it meant cool new technology and IPTV.
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Joshua| About Me | |
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| | | | | I own my house, 100% of it. If AT&T felt inclined to put up VRAD next to house, no problems here. I'd be a happy techno pig.
The people who cry about these boxes are the people who don't use the technology i.e. cell phones. The only technology these people are using are the pacemakers their doctors gave em. | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | Re: Solved Another quality post brought to you my twentymbcabl, order service today at »www.comcast.com
Don't wait, you don't want to be like the slowski's!! | |
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1 edit | Re: Solved said by baby toes :
comcast sucks
You just shush!!! don't let Rick or extreme50 see that dammit!!
It's getting harder to keep secrets around here! I will bet neither one of them have an explanation today why comcast brought up the rear (dragging more like it) in the ISP rankings today. I can only imagine what their answers will be. | |
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|  quetwoThat VoIP GuyPremium
join:2004-09-04
East Lansing, MI | Not allowed to -- AT&T will need "full access to all sides of the cabinets". So, you can plant bushes near the boxes (5' tall bushes at that), or have AT&T take them away as quick as you can plan them. | |
| | |  ff1324Everybody Goes HomePremium
join:2002-08-24
On Four Day
 ·AT&T Southwest
| Re: Solved Grasses are always good for hiding the boxes. I have some pampas grass hiding the utility boxes in my side yard. Sometimes, part of the grass is trampled or cut. Oh well...that's why I put it there. It grows quickly, won't damage the equipment, and stays through the winter as strong, brown, dormant grass. | |
| | | | | | Re: Solved Guess you never had to work around Pampas grass. It sticks little needle -like thorns in rows under your skin that get infected . It is also nown as saw grass. if you fall into it you could end up in the hospital. Only a Sadist would do that. it damages the workers --that's why it is being outlawed in so many places--along with those ever present holly bushes. | |
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| mieses
join:2001-06-22
Redmond, WA | plant some really big trees, with strong and shallow root systems. | |
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 exocet_cmYou delete it, I'll find itPremium
join:2003-03-23
New Orleans, LA
kudos:2 | Whine whine whine Everybody has a gripe.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! | |
| devGOD
join:2002-07-08
Atlanta, GA | at&t it wouldn't be hard for AT&T or any other company to construct a case that fits the landscape... they can make a case look like a rock or tree trunk. Its just AT&T being lazy and not caring | |
| |  alchav
join:2002-05-17
Palm Desert, CA |  Re: at&t
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| |  TzaleProud Libertarian ConservativePremium
join:2004-01-06
NYC Metro | said by devGOD:it wouldn't be hard for AT&T or any other company to construct a case that fits the landscape... they can make a case look like a rock or tree trunk. Its just AT&T being lazy and not caring That would be one hell of a tree trunk... Not to mention, a metal/plastic tree trunk? Have you seen the 200' fake palm trees in the middle of New Jersey for cell towers? LMFAO.
-Tzale
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"I'm a Geek, Are You?" | |
| | | | |  plkLil' Duffer Burger BarnPremium
join:2002-04-20
Ogden, IA | Re: at&t Awesome.....I was just about to say....Let local artist paint them. Get them sent in a good base primer and let local neighborhoods hold design contests or something.
With a little work from all those involved, these nasty cabinets could end up being treasures.
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Thermaltake 2000a/Asus P4C-e/p4 3.4/ocz3500 2x512/WD.2x200g/raptor2x74 raid 0/ATI 9600/APC sua 1500/Logitech z-680/ Samsung 213t LCD/MX 1000 | |
| | | jlk8
join:2001-12-12
Los Angeles, CA | Sadly, AT&T will not permit their 52Bs/52BPs to be painted by third parties, claiming that it would violate the manufacturer's warranty on the electronics.
Culver City has a neat trick for some boxes: Before installation, they take photos 'looking through' the box location from all four sides, to the far sides. Then, after the box is installed, they wrap the box with a 1:1 photo print. I'll try and get a sample to put up here.
Jonathan Kramer, Esq.
Kramer Telecom Law Firm, P.C.
Los Angeles | |
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 NJxxxJonDSLR'er from the 56k days.Premium
join:2005-10-22
00000 | Yours? Are they YOUR property once they sit on YOUR lawn??? Paint them!  | |
| |  PolarBear03The bear formerly known as aaron8301Premium
join:2005-01-03 | Re: Yours? I would, even if it technically wasn't mine to paint. Unless your a night owl and happen to be watching the cabinet at 3a.m.... | |
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 ColorBASIC8-bit FunPremium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA | Why are they so big? What is in the cabinets that it requires them to be so large?
Meanwhile, if Sarah wants her stove, she need only donate a few hundred thousand to her state whores politicians.
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Macintosh Users Group Serving the Inland Empire | |
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See 15 replies to this post | |
|  KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·AT&T DSL Service
| Strict "Historic District" rules--- Flaunted Man, some places are tough with the historic building rules. You basically can't change hardly anything. That said, it seems counter-intuitive that AT&T can come along and just place these huge boxes anywhere without even consideration of aesthetics. Also, curb appeal is a big factor in home value. A set of these boxes in the wrong place on your lawn and you've just lost thousands of dollars. No laughing matter, really.
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) | |
| | | Nothing to do with U-verse per se If no franchise bills were placed Remote Terinals could still be placed. It's a red herring that people hostile to U-Verse keep asserting. | |
|  tobyTroy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
Seattle, WA | Plant some trees Waa waa waa, plant some bushes/trees. | |
| |
See 6 replies to this post | |
bmn? ? ?Premium,ExMod 2003-06
join:2001-03-15
hiatus | The best solution for everyone involved... IS for ATT (and other telcos) and the local neighborhood association in these areas to meet and discuss how ATT can minimize the impact that their cabinets pose on the neighborhood.
For example, there is no WAY i hell that these things are going to be allow in certain sections of the city I live in because of the age of the city and the lack of space for them. ATT is going to have to find some innovative way to deal with this problem, be it underground or on the poles. And the best thing they can do is get the input of the people who live in these places.
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Prove it...
Save the Internet Time (NTP) service, use the pool. | |
| | | | Re: The best solution for everyone involved... Only the ugly ones get attention.
I've seen some great site set-ups. One location in particular they set the RT on side of a guys house (pad him for the land of course) filled in the side of his yard that was sloping down to a ditch, relocated an ugly old crossbox in front of his house to right in front of the RT on the side, then installed fencing all the way around it. Definitely looks way better than before.
I think that's pretty much it though. The ugly sites are going to grab attention while the decent and well groomed ones get overlooked. | |
| | | bmn? ? ?Premium,ExMod 2003-06
join:2001-03-15
hiatus | Re: The best solution for everyone involved... That's the thing though... If they all looked good and fit the area, there wouldn't be an issue. People are always going to voice concern about unsightly stuff in their neighborhood - crossboxes, run down houses, cars on bricks, etc. When things look nice, people just appreciate it.
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Prove it...
Save the Internet Time (NTP) service, use the pool. | |
|
 RR ConductorHappy 40th AmtrakPremium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
kudos:1
1 edit | No oven? Without the big oven, how can SARAh LEE bake her buns? | |
| |  PaulgDisplaced YooperPremium
join:2004-03-15
Neenah, WI
kudos:1 | Re: No oven? I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that. | |
| | | RR ConductorHappy 40th AmtrakPremium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
kudos:1 | Re: No oven? Lol I was beginning to think I was the only one too We are just too slick for this forum, what can we say | |
|
 spgGrrrr
join:2001-10-31
NOT Texas! | The alternative to underground/buried infrastructure is aerial; poles, transformers, wires, etc., with an occasional grouping of the necessary hardware to make modern life work hanging on the poles. All exposed to view and vulnerable to the weather, waiting for an ice storm or lightning strike.
Which would the neighborhood prefer? The occasional groupings of equipment without the wires. Cities have assessment districts to underground the utilities. ALL the utilities make the effort to minimize the impact. Typically they are on the side streets of the neighborhoods, but sometimes for logistical reasons someone gets "blessed" with an electrical transformer, or CATV equipment, or Telco equipment.
It's modern life with all the trade offs. Trash trucks roll down the streets early in the morning. No parking is allowed in front of our houses on Thursdays. The trade off is that all our trash mysteriously goes away every week and the streets get swept. | |
| mitska
join:2001-12-25
Sarasota, FL | oops Tie a chain around it and drag it away, accidently back into it a few times, they will get the message...just kidding. | |
|  n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY
·Optimum Online
| Bury Them... They should have been required to construct underground concrete vaults for them and bury them. Granted it would have been a mess during the construction phase but afterwords it would have looked nice.
I like the middle of the night "chain" idea.
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I support the right to keep and arm bears. | |
| | | | Re: Bury Them... Can we think of jail and fine terms if someone pulled it with a chain and when your car has the damage on it ummm | |
| | TzaleProud Libertarian ConservativePremium
join:2004-01-06
NYC Metro | said by n2jtx:They should have been required to construct underground concrete vaults for them and bury them. Granted it would have been a mess during the construction phase but afterwords it would have looked nice. I like the middle of the night "chain" idea. Good idea, bury them.
Personally, I think it is all a big waste of time and money. Verizon's FTTH system is 1000X better and AT&T will be kicking themselves in a few years for not going the full length.
-Tzale
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"I'm a Geek, Are You?" | |
| | | | | Re: Bury Them... Not everything can be buried. The cost of putting them in the ground would make FTTH cheaper than FTTN. | |
|
 Vamp5c077Premium
join:2003-01-28
MD
kudos:1 | Not on your property. They are not actually on the users property (are they?).. You can't have a telephone pole removed just because it is in front of your house, same applies for these boxes.
Although I do agree that they are kind of an eye sore, the FIOS boxes are much smaller.
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null | |
| |  HallPremium,MVM
join:2000-04-28
Dayton, OH
kudos:1 | Re: Not on your property. said by Vamp:They are not actually on the users property (are they?).. You can't have a telephone pole removed just because it is in front of your house, same applies for these boxes. Typically they're not on any private property. In almost every city, the land between the front sidewalk and the street is in fact the city or county's property. It's referred to as the "right of way". What's ironic the homeowner is still responsible for mowing the grass, etc. In other places, it's very possible that some number of feet from the street in towards the home is the right of way, especially when there's no sidewalks. | |
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approval from:
John Galt
|  you all have no idea
These are standard ATT Vrad cabinets for the lightspeed project, by the end of the year expect one on nearly every block in every major city in the entire country, it take sa 3 man crew 3 days start to finish to install one and cost ATT more than 50 grand each
For whats inside, we run (2) 3" pvc conduits in, 1 connects to the existing node next to it, the other is stubbed out for the ATT Fiber guys and one more 3" GIP for power we run to the local power vault. (9/10 times u get a whole new sidewalk outta this.. your welcome)
Equipment wise, your looking at about a 3' x 3' telephone distribution block, opposite that the fiber channel cards, the power distribution w/ power meter, and what i would argue massivly excessive grounding, and opposite that the small equipment breaker box and surge arresting equipment.
For the size, IMO I dont see anywhere you could comfortably make it small except underneith.. im able to stick my head under there when im setting these to line up the bolts but the only reason i can see is high water.
I dont honestly know how many people they serve each.. i'd ballpark it at 200 looking at the distro block but I dont work on that side so I dont know what services they provide either
All I can say is get used to them, and you're going to see more of them before you see less, sorry | |
| | yettavr6
join:2004-07-26
Plymouth Meeting, PA | Re: you all have no idea We won't be seeing any here luckily. Thank god we live in a verizon area. | |
|
 morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
1 edit |  destroy the box, ahem, or have it destroyed
you have to be willing to take some risks though. and don't get caught else you will be made to pay (unless it is an "accident").
if it happens enough times, maybe AT&T will relocate it to another less accident prone area.
if not, continue to attack target box until you achieve the desired results.
edit: oh, and then don't go talking about it on your phone or internet connection. remember: they partnered with the NSA to spy on you, so they will just access your information. | |
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See 9 replies to this post | |
| | LMAO - Poles That sounds funny, except, i could see them putting LARGE yellow concrete and steel poles to protect it from stray cars.
LOL, just imagine her complaints then! | |
| | | Distrubution boxes 95% of all VRAD cabinets are placed next to exsisting SAC(distribuition)boxes. These boxes have been around for decades. Whats one more box if you already have been staring at the other one for years. | |
| |  dmeyer
join:2002-08-14
Austin, TX
1 edit | Re: Distrubution boxes I was about to say the same thing, except the VRADs are usually a shade of beige and the distribution boxes are a greenish/gray color. They could at least paint them the same color (maybe with "the new AT&T" Deathstar logo on all of them). | |
| |  Mountaineer1Big WVU FanPremium,MVM
join:2002-01-12
Universe
kudos:2 | I have two of the SAC boxes,down the street from me,but at&t doesn't plan on installing any VRAD cabinets there. About a year and a half ago there were some contractors and an at&t tech(Supervising)laying fiber,right by them.
I asked the at&t guy if this was for the eventual installation of U-verse service,but he said it(the fiber)was being run to a new residential development,east of my location(no coppper in the area). I guess they could comeback later,and splice the fiber.
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I'm just a Material Handling Tech. If it's too heavy,get a forklift. | |
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