Cable Forum

Cable Forum (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/index.php)
-   Virgin Media News Discussion (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/forumdisplay.php?f=10)
-   -   those green boxes. (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showthread.php?t=15004)

cjmillsnun 17-07-2004 17:27
those green boxes.
 
A box in my locality (Nuneaton) has been broken into.

Who would I contact to get it fixed as the little B******s around here seem to enjoy switching the mains switch off, cutting off my BB and CATV

hoggyspuds 17-07-2004 18:27
Re: those green boxes.
 
The police for starters.......and then the firing squad! Kids these days have no fear!

greencreeper 17-07-2004 20:50
Re: those green boxes.
 
They never electrocute themselves though. Same with lamp posts. If me or you tried it we'd be in A&E :rolleyes:

nate 18-07-2004 15:15
Re: those green boxes.
 
0800 052 2000 is your best bet

andrew_wallasey 19-07-2004 15:11
Re: those green boxes.
 
We don't have a problem so much with Cabs being broken open where we live on the wirral but down here where I am at the moment in bromley theres being broken into left right and centre. Loads of the cabs have big dents where you can see they have obviosuly been trying to get a crow bar into.

SMHarman 19-07-2004 15:30
Re: those green boxes.
 
LWH1010 has been crowbarred open again.

andrew_wallasey 19-07-2004 15:33
Re: those green boxes.
 
LWH1010 --> where is that cab?

SMHarman 19-07-2004 15:47
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew_wallasey
LWH1010 --> where is that cab?
Hertingford Bury Road, Hertford A414 between Hertford and Hatfield

greencreeper 19-07-2004 21:27
Re: those green boxes.
 
I've been keeping an eye out for these green boxes, in a sad anorak sort of way. There seems to be three types - the tall ones, with lots of doors, that seem sturdy but mysteriously are never vandalised (well not around here); the old, what looks like, iron/steel type with a big chunky lock on the door - these don't seem to be vandalised; and the modern small ones that are forever been broken into. Most of them around here have been given a good kicking so the door(s) is/are all bent in.

So blame progress methinks :)

andrew_wallasey 20-07-2004 06:15
Re: those green boxes.
 
People really are sad if they go round smashin these in... what's the point?

ntl customer 20-07-2004 06:42
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
I've been keeping an eye out for these green boxes, in a sad anorak sort of way. There seems to be three types - the tall ones, with lots of doors, that seem sturdy but mysteriously are never vandalised (well not around here);
What kind of gear do they have in the ones with lots of doors?

They have some of these round our area.

SMHarman 20-07-2004 08:43
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by greencreeper
I've been keeping an eye out for these green boxes, in a sad anorak sort of way. There seems to be three types - the tall ones, with lots of doors, that seem sturdy but mysteriously are never vandalised (well not around here); the old, what looks like, iron/steel type with a big chunky lock on the door - these don't seem to be vandalised; and the modern small ones that are forever been broken into. Most of them around here have been given a good kicking so the door(s) is/are all bent in.

So blame progress methinks :)
The old unvandalised Iron/Steel types are BT methings. NTL has the huge green three door 5ft tall cabs, the double door 3x3 cabs and the lift off top / front 1.5x2 cabs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ntl customer
What kind of gear do they have in the ones with lots of doors?

They have some of these round our area.
Lots of doors the 5ft tall ones with three doors? They will be around all areas. It's the NTL equivilant of a telephone exchange (so if you don't have Caller ID in your area, that is the box they have to install the hardware in (as you can see there are lots more of these than BT exchanges), also amplifiers to get the signal for TV distributed in the local area, batteries to power the phone exchange in the event of a power cut (as telco is an emergency service or something). Cable modem equipment (is this where the UBRs are?). It's the termination of the NTL backbone into the local cables.

Others with full knowledge of the NTL network will be better placed to elaborate on this though.

The two smaller cabs are very similar for content, one just holds more than the other, nothing powered in there, just lots of terminations.

Pierre 20-07-2004 11:25
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SMHarman
The old unvandalised Iron/Steel types are BT methings. NTL has the huge green three door 5ft tall cabs, the double door 3x3 cabs and the lift off top / front 1.5x2 cabs.


Lots of doors the 5ft tall ones with three doors? They will be around all areas. It's the NTL equivilant of a telephone exchange (so if you don't have Caller ID in your area, that is the box they have to install the hardware in (as you can see there are lots more of these than BT exchanges), also amplifiers to get the signal for TV distributed in the local area, batteries to power the phone exchange in the event of a power cut (as telco is an emergency service or something). Cable modem equipment (is this where the UBRs are?). It's the termination of the NTL backbone into the local cables.

Others with full knowledge of the NTL network will be better placed to elaborate on this though.

The two smaller cabs are very similar for content, one just holds more than the other, nothing powered in there, just lots of terminations.
The big cabs are mux cabs aka nodal cabs.They are the termination point for the fibre. The muxs (multiplexers) turn the light into electric (as well as compressing all the signals etc.) from here on in it is twisted copper pairs to the home, via a DP/ DA cabs. It's not an exchange but it is fed from the exchange/headend/hub/switch. UBRs are kept at the headend etc not within the nodal cabs. It does have batteries in case of a power cut. I'm not sure of the life of them but its around a few days.

The fibre that terminates on the nodal cab is local ring fibre, the main ntl backbone fibre terminates at the headend/switch.

Generally speaking the nodal cab is telco only and they are usually accompanied by the main CATV cab, you will find two or sometimes three cabs sitting right next to each other. They usually feed an area of up to 500 homes.

greencreeper 20-07-2004 15:16
Re: those green boxes.
 
There's a tall one near my house but I think it's higher than 5 feet and has doors at the front (2) and one door at each end.

I've also spotted a little green box on my house wall - which I hadn't noticed til now :rolleyes: Not entirely sure what it's for - it's probably only a few meters from the brown box that marks the entry point for the cable.

SMHarman 20-07-2004 15:26
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre
<snip> It's not an exchange but it is fed from the exchange/headend/hub/switch. <snip>
But this is where CLI hardware would need to be located as this is the first point NTL telco is put through copper?

Pierre 20-07-2004 15:47
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SMHarman
But this is where CLI hardware would need to be located as this is the first point NTL telco is put through copper?
I'm not sure there need to be any "special" hardware for CLI. I can't speak for all the ntl access networks but the mux equipment in the cabletel areas was Cmux/Cmux2. I would have thought it was software at the Switch, which in cabletel areas was System X that would have the CLI software/hardware.

I dont see why the fibre/copper demarcation would be significant.

SMHarman 20-07-2004 16:11
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre
I'm not sure there need to be any "special" hardware for CLI. I can't speak for all the ntl access networks but the mux equipment in the cabletel areas was Cmux/Cmux2. I would have thought it was software at the Switch, which in cabletel areas was System X that would have the CLI software/hardware.

I dont see why the fibre/copper demarcation would be significant.
Read in another thread that the CLI is a simple modem signal sent down the copper, it cannot be sent down the fibre in that manner so the equipment in big green cabs had to be capable of creating CLI signals. Some Cable infrastructure builders cut corners and bought cheap equipment that did not do this.

Pierre 20-07-2004 16:28
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SMHarman
Read in another thread that the CLI is a simple modem signal sent down the copper, it cannot be sent down the fibre in that manner so the equipment in big green cabs had to be capable of creating CLI signals. Some Cable infrastructure builders cut corners and bought cheap equipment that did not do this.
I don't really know enough so I can't argue with you, it just doesn't sound right to me. I've been inside nodal cabs many times, even installed HDSL units and business fibre in some and I have never seed a special piece of hardware specifically for CLI.

Perhaps a current ntl engineer can explain.

SMHarman 20-07-2004 16:49
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre
I don't really know enough so I can't argue with you, it just doesn't sound right to me. I've been inside nodal cabs many times, even installed HDSL units and business fibre in some and I have never seed a special piece of hardware specifically for CLI.

Perhaps a current ntl engineer can explain.
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...3&page=1&pp=15
Post 15?

Swansea-Jack 21-07-2004 06:10
Re: those green boxes.
 
Noticed another green box that needs a look at, its in uplands crescent, Swansea, bottom has been pulled away and cables are exposed.

Dont know the postcode sorry but do have a street map.
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.sr...app=newmap.srf

BBKing 21-07-2004 07:52
Re: those green boxes.
 
Interesting thread. SMHarman's conjecture is slightly wide of the mark, the UBR is actually in an central head-end way above the cabs in the hierarchy. They can serve thousands of customers so putting one in a cab would be a waste of capacity (and easy to nick - the chassis is generic and quite expensive).

greencreeper 21-07-2004 13:35
Re: those green boxes.
 
The standard green box that's always being broken into seems to have been designed on the assumption that no one would want to break into them because there's nothing of value inside, which isn't how the mind of a chav works :D

Gareth 21-07-2004 13:44
Re: those green boxes.
 
BT's green boxes are interesting to noob phreakers who have just discovered boxing....maybe the vandals are assuming they can do similar things with ntl's ones too ...or maybe they're just bored and smashing 'em up is a fun thing to do for someone with a pea-sized brain.

greencreeper 21-07-2004 13:54
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by GDW1975
maybe they're just bored and smashing 'em up is a fun thing to do for someone with a pea-sized brain.
Gets my vote :tu: :D

homer 21-07-2004 15:14
Re: those green boxes.
 
Hi ALL,

Just looking through this thread that this problem is not only in the northants area it is everywhere surly to god ntl should look at this before sombody gets hurt.


homer

Ps in northants they are open everywhere you look

andrew_wallasey 23-07-2004 08:05
Re: those green boxes.
 
When I did a bit of work at BT as an engineer a while ago. *******s were always opening the cabs, pouring petrol in them and setting them on fire.

andrew_wallasey 23-07-2004 08:07
Re: those green boxes.
 
Probably just need a better locking system on them.

greencreeper 24-07-2004 01:32
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew_wallasey
Probably just need a better locking system on them.
It's awful. Everywhere I go I find myself looking for boxes and noting the colours and configurations. There's nothing wrong with a green anorak :p:

Anyways. I've noticed that the ones in the city centre are much more sturdy and have big locks on the front. They're also grey but I think that's a aesthetic thing. It seems silly that the el cheapo flimsy boxes are in residential areas, where they're most likely to be damaged, and the tougher ones are in the city where they're least likely to be damaged. Could it have anything to do with the fact that in the city the boxes supply services to businesses? Hmmm.

COOPERMAN 25-07-2004 05:24
Re: those green boxes.
 
My green box, which I keep a very good eye on, as only been vandalised with graffiti. Engineers keep leaving the damn doors open, so I lock them using a good old 12inch screwdriver (perhaps I shouldn't be telling you this)!

Vlad_Dracul 28-07-2004 07:41
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hoggyspuds
The police for starters.......and then the firing squad! Kids these days have no fear!
Thats true. I work in the gas industry and recently visited a large site in Bishop Auckland which houses large turbofan compressors and other associated high pressure gas distribution equipment. The site has twin high electrified fences (perimeter and inner),but security tell me they still get children trespassing on the site. When told about the electric fencing they apparently just said "..it doesnt bother us,it just throws us off and we climb back up again..",,ah well,where theres no sense,theres no feeling!. I suggested that he turn the fence up a few notches and kill the b*******..!!

greencreeper 28-07-2004 07:49
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dooper786
Thats true. I work in the gas industry and recently visited a large site in Bishop Auckland which houses large turbofan compressors and other associated high pressure gas distribution equipment
Go on - scare us all silly :D What's the worse case scenario? I.e. what's the worst a kid could do, tampering with the equipment?

shibby 06-08-2004 00:28
Re: those green boxes.
 
what measures do ntl take if the boxes where set on fire, would there be a chain reaction?

madcap 12-08-2004 12:42
Re: those green boxes.
 
A while back in my mums area the kids were actually prising the small cover at the end of people's gardens where the cable goes through to the house and ripping the whole cable out :Yikes:

andrew_wallasey 12-08-2004 13:39
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by madcap
A while back in my mums area the kids were actually prising the small cover at the end of people's gardens where the cable goes through to the house and ripping the whole cable out :Yikes:
Its very difficult to do that.

madcap 12-08-2004 15:42
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew_wallasey
Its very difficult to do that.
never underestimate the determination of bored teenagers on a rampage

Escapee 12-08-2004 16:52
Re: those green boxes.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by shibby
what measures do ntl take if the boxes where set on fire, would there be a chain reaction?
I seem to remember a few cabinets having petrol poured in them and set on fire a number of years ago in some rough areas of Cardiff!


All times are GMT. The time now is 08:54.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2026, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
All Posts and Content are © Cable Forum