Unidentified object on light pole

[andy404ns]

Hi all,

These boxes have been popping up on light poles around the area. They are about 10 inches cubes with what looks to be a window on one side and single element antennas sticking out of the top and bottom. We guessed that they may relay data to the power company regarding how much power is flowing / if there's a problem, but the positioning of the units (right near the light on the arm) doesn't support this conjecture. Anyone know what they are? Thanks - Andy

 

[n9mxq]

Looks like an RFID reader to me.. Such as the tollway uses for it's iPass system here in Illinois.

 

[mancow]

City WiFi?

 

[NeFire242]

It'd be a real shame if one to just simply fall and you could take it back to the garage get us better pix and some model info off of it. I doubt anyone would notice for at least the first ten minutes.

 

[btritch]

Looks like an RFID reader to me.. Such as the tollway uses for it's iPass system here in Illinois.

RFID Meter?? What does RFID stand for.. I thought about it but nothing came to mind..

Perhaps that's a traffic camera for that road? I've seen similar but not exactly that..

 

[n9mxq]

Radio Frequency IDentification

 

[burner50]

WiFi


The phone company around here is putting up similar devices.

 

[bootsfirst]

Saw this about the same time I read this post.

http://hackaday.com/2008/11/09/new-wpa-tkip-attack/

 

[poltergeisty]

Yeah, more than likely wifi. Either provided by the city or from a company. Seen numerous articles on them.

http://www.dslreports.com/psearch?c=Search+for+Wireless+by+US+ZIP+Code

 

[ajpritch]

Those are the same boxes we have in our city which deployed an entire city wide WIFI

 

[WouffHong]

Scary Stuff..

Hi all,

These boxes have been popping up on light poles around the area. They are about 10 inches cubes with what looks to be a window on one side and single element antennas sticking out of the top and bottom. We guessed that they may relay data to the power company regarding how much power is flowing / if there's a problem, but the positioning of the units (right near the light on the arm) doesn't support this conjecture. Anyone know what they are? Thanks - Andy

HOPEFULLY not the dreaded BPL (Broadband over Power Lines) communications-destroyer!

Tom

 

[airbear21200]

It is definitely WiFi. The company I work for has put up a number of these systems with boxes similar in nature to these. Our's are called MotoMesh. Our's has four elements and operates in two different bands. 802.11 and usually a 900 propietary for closed network application. One of the systems allows PD and FD units to monitor fixed camera locations, even using PTZ controls on cameras located throughout the city. The dispatch can also PTZ a camera to a given spot and units responding can view the cameras from their mobile laptops while enroute. Great for responding to traffic accidents or incidents (at the schools) where the cameras are located. It also works like a "hot spot" for internet connection, but allows the user to be mobile through the grids like cellular. The don't have to log back in each time they change locations. That works for passing data such as reports, bmv photos and info, city database info shared from the utilities, etc.
Dave

 

[andy404ns]

Thanks for the responses everyone. So if I'm understanding this correctly, the WiFi being provided by these units is strictly for municipal use? That is, the public at large won't have access to the service?

 

[N_Jay]

It is definitely WiFi.

Maybe WiFi and may be non-WiFi Mesh,
Could be 2.4 or 5 GHz ISM, but could also be 4.9 Public safety or 900 MHz ISM.
Could be public access, or could be a closed network.

Lots of guessing going on here.

 

[Jay911]

Mesh networking is nothing at all like conventional home networking "wifi" except that it uses wireless radio signals to connect multiple users on a wide-area network.

If it's a mesh (or MOTOMESH, perhaps) deployment, it's about 99% certain that it's for city/corporate use and not the public, and there'd be nothing of use on there for non-corporate users.

If it is intended to be a public Internet access system, I would think your city would publicize it as much as possible in news media.

 

[airbear21200]

No , not strictly for such. It depends on the system, who it is for and who is puting it in. The previous example I gave was a PD puting one in for their internal use. Some cities and even communities have put them in as open WiFi access in downtown areas , along bus routes, etc. On the MotoMesh as I described, it can do a closed system for internal city use and the 802.11 can be open for public or can remain closed. It depends on the customer and what they want to accomplish with it.

 

[airbear21200]

If it is intended to be a public Internet access system, I would think your city would publicize it as much as possible in news media.

There is a key factor of who is using it. Certainly if it is for public use, the user would have made it know through the media. Some places have used the puplic usability to promote even partial funding for such projects and still allows the govt to use a private and seperate band on the same system.

 

[andy404ns]

Well there certainly have been no indication from the town that this system is set up for public use and really I wouldn't expect them to do anything like that... However no one on our Fire Department has heard anything about this so maybe it's just for police MDT use or some other system they rely on? That's about all I can think of since our town isn't all that large and doesn't have the need to coordinate anything other than PD. Again, thanks for all the quick responses.

 

[Jay911]

It could be for utility workers (water/sewer/power), it could be for police, meter maids, or any sort of city/county/etc agency/agent that could benefit from network connectivity.

The main thing about mesh networks - specifically MOTOMESH - is that clients (i.e. the MDT in a police cruiser) act as extra nodes in addition to the fixed point nodes being mounted on your street light poles. Imagine that your city's hazmat unit is called to a town a few miles away for a spill. Hazmat wants to get updated data sheets on the ethyl-methyl-bad-stuff that's on the ground, but they're outside the range of the city's MDT network. If they're using mesh, the network can use other MDT-equipped vehicles as ad-hoc extra "nodes". So they could relay the signal to the hazmat unit by way of a mesh-equipped county police cruiser and the fire district chief responding out to join the hazmat. So the signal reaches the county cop, and the network forwards the data to the chief's truck, which then relays it to the hazmat unit. That's all done automatically by the network.

This is how mesh was depicted to me by a Motorola rep at a fire chiefs' conference in 2002; other applications are, I'm sure, possible, but this is how it was told to me.

 

[airbear21200]

Hey J....sounds good, but you have to take the cop out of the scenario... You know he is going to be the first one running in to the scene, getting out the car, sticking his finger in the yuckie stuff and taste testing to see if it's a HAZMAT !!! LOLOLOLOL ROFLMAO...... :lol: Sorry, I just couldn't resist that. and I am qualified to say that after 20 yrs of being a cop, medic and ff.