Should I Be Worried About the Mysterious Boxes on My City’s Power Poles?
I don’t really pay much attention to the power poles in my area – as long as they are solid and not sparks, weird buzzing or something like that, they do their job and I do mine. However, some Lifehacker readers are a little more keen-sighted than I am.
Q: What are these strange new boxes on the power poles of our city?
In this week’s Tech 911 issue, Lifehacker reader Wayne asks an unusual question about power poles:
They were installed on telephone poles throughout the city. A conspiracy theorist claims to be public monitoring. I think some kind of WiFi boost? Thoughts?
A: I (usually) would not worry about it
Generally speaking, a city telephone or electricity company can mount any number of things on various supports scattered throughout the city. They may have even opened up the pylons for various wireless carriers to install their own equipment – presumably to fill a coverage gap or deploy even faster wireless technologies in your city.
So normally I wouldn’t worry about that. And as soon as any of you read this, you will find an article about how in one city they were caught installing surveillance cameras on their poles. Yes, it happens. Is this the most likely scenario? I would not say that.
To be honest, the best thing – if you have these concerns – is to call your local energy company and ask them yourself. They may or may not tell you what these mysterious boxes are. However, I am willing to take the risk that in most cases these are safe settings and should not interfere with your daily life. Perhaps it’s a new power relay, or some mechanism that allows your city’s various smart meters to digitally transmit data (and conversely, allows your utilities to turn off service without physically sending someone into the building).
They can also be some sort of wireless signal booster, as I mentioned, or some new battery that allows the various pole converters to work in case the main electrical current is not available. Maybe it’s a new junction box.
Update 5/29/20 4:00 PM: As Lifehacker commentator Jasons-Awesome-Display-Name says, “This is a fiber endpoint hub. Wayne’s local telco / ISP will soon be promoting fiber-to-home if they haven’t already.
The end hub allows the on-site installer to easily connect pre-fabricated fiber optic cable with an air outlet, which then goes to the user’s home […] The hub works in conjunction with an adjacent optical splitter, which allows Telco to combine multiple fiber streams from homes into one or two “networks “That return to their network.”
Thanks for your help Jason!
What I’m trying to emphasize is that the possibilities are endless. There is one chance out of an unknown amount that whatever is installed on your electrical pole is some sort of “public monitoring” device. There are many, many more chances that this is something boring, and even a few chances that it is something that will make your geek life a little better.
You did not mention where you live or I would be happy to try to get more answers from one of your utility providers. However, I would not bother with this. And the same goes for anyone who is wondering if wireless signals or 5G installations could lead to their illness, coronavirus infection, or any other ailment .
I am glad to see that this is not your main concern; surveillance is a sensible problem given the times we live in today, but it is probably lower on the list of real possibilities. And since you mentioned that these boxes were installed on poles throughout your city and not one that, say, provided a nice and clear view of your home, the actual answer is probably pretty boring.
In addition, the city could “spy” on the whereabouts of people by simply triangulating their positions using cell towers – a common law enforcement technique. I don’t think your city will need any additional equipment for even more tracking.