5ESS.

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

Cellular One, McCaw Communications, upgraded and moved the Mobile Telephone Switching Office when they split from SATELCO, the San Antonio Telephone Company.
Anyhow, they left behind an entire number 5 Electronic Switching System!
The other location, on Broadway, has upgraded and now supports Grande Communications VoIP by Cable.
http://grandecom.com/index.php?kw=grand%20communication&gclid=CPLwzdbY7qMCFQtdswod9xcc2A
Just think, a bunch of hackers who now have unlimited access to a central office switch!
Originally built by AT&T and Paradyne/Pan American cellular group, depending on what cabinet you look at.
this is clearly a TelCo switch with MTSO duties added.
There are a lot of notes that explain the transition from AMPS to TDMA but was not upgraded past that.

[W4GPL]

http://jasonjeffrey.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/awjeeznotthisshitagain.jpg?w=300&h=391

[N7YA]

Well, Rudy, if YOU are well aware of it enough to put it on a ham radio site, then perhaps they have enough foresight to not be embarassed and will likely find a defense...if this is even an issue.

[WØTKX]

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Telephones.jpg

[kb2crk]

and how does this concern the real world?

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

Kevin Mitnick was Convicted of hacking the telephone system.
But after the dust settled Sun Microsystems released Solaris to the public, AT&T released Bellcore Unix and source code, and Motorola published documents it held.
The one key element that has never been published as a complete document was exactly how the 5 ESS works.
Kevin stole some manuals that were never made public with the argument that only an owner of a 5ESS should have access.
Needless to say telephone companies do not want this to be public information.
But if somebody were to somehow get hold of such a switch?
And it turns out that this is not the first time this has happened, in Canada somebody bought an old AutoVon switch building and quite a bit of the equipment was intact, Bell bought it from the DoD but the Canadian government said no to the sale to a US monopoly.
But with the end of AMPS (Analog cellular) and such this equipment will end up in the hands of the public at large.
Remember that a MTSO is a full telephone exchange with parts added.

[N2NH]

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Telephones.jpg

Yes, with the air running from one ear to the other.

[W4GPL]

Not that I'm concerned anyone would take Rudy seriously, but keep in mind this is a guy who only a few days ago referred to a 5E as a ESS5. Poserland is not lacking posers tonight.

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

Number 5 Electronic Switching System, sometimes called an E5 or ESS5 for short.
The next step past the crossbar switch that itself evolved from relay based common control to electronic (computer) common control.
This is by far the most common central office switching system in North America.
Since it is of a type that is in use there are security concerns, but security through obscurity is not the answer.
The cellular industry took a page from the Bell System and pushed for the scanner law.
With the breakup of the Bell System and TelMex most documents have been made available, 2600 has a complete set of Bell System practices manuals.
But to have a working switch, that is very unusual indeed.
And to make this clear, I had nothing to do with this latest find, it has been in the hands of the people in question since February of last year, I just decided to see what would happen on this forum.
Again, everything has been duplicated and a lot of photographs have been taken, boxes of notepads have been filled by dozens of volunteers.
The applications have been rewritten to allow them to run on some laptops to allow a simulation of this switch.
Prior to this access was quite limited but now that is all behind us.

[KC2UGV]

Hackers have always had access to CO switches, along with various other hardware. This really isn't news.

[N7YA]

YES IT IS!!!!


:hahano:

[NA4BH]

I like Mrs. Butterworths syrup the best.

[N7YA]

Hello.

[kb2crk]

what make me laugh about this thread of rudy's is that my father was working on these units back in the 80's. it is fairly old technology that was originally built by western electric.

[N7YA]

Hello.


...yes....but....um....








Hello.

[KA5PIU]

what make me laugh about this thread of rudy's is that my father was working on these units back in the 80's. it is fairly old technology that was originally built by western electric.


Hello.

Correct, and that is what makes it all the more exciting.
The 5 ESS unit is pretty much legacy, but also very much current.
Density of the cards has increased, one card slot might have served 4 subscribers but now can support 24 and who knows what number with the latest cards.
The common control computers have had several changes since this series of switch first came out.
The original administrative computer would have been an IBM 360/370 monster.
Now a laptop can run the show.

[W4GPL]

Legacy telecom is all but dead, the only people who don't know it yet are the 500 people who still have traditional analog service at their homes. The only reason ten digit phone numbers even exist anymore is because we're like trained monkeys when it comes to dialing a telephone and modest change would just be 'too hard' to learn. But let's make sure stupid gets in the way of progress; though that's another rant for another day. Most CLECs and LECs are selling "PRI service", though the entire thing is over an engineered data circuit. The translation is done by some CPE (Adtran/Cisco/take your pick). God knows it'd just be easier to deliver a SIP trunk (which many do), but there are still wars over compatibility.

If your point that the telecommunications system is more vulnerable than the day before, sure. The amount of fraud I see on a daily basis is mind blowing, but it's planned for, expected, and dealt with. Non-story from the hacker that never was.

And FWIW, I've been in the phone business on some level for the last 15 years, and I've never once heard it referred to as an E5.

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

I am on legacy land line as well as DSL.
The key advantage to legacy is that it will work even with widespread power failure.
Cellular companies plan on 30 minutes of power loss, after that they plug into an external generator, and they have a very small number of them.
VoIP is wonderful, until you consider the fact that the cable company has very limited battery backup as well.
Your home box is not provided with battery backup as a rule, you run out and buy that yourself.
Even DSL, limited battery backup is provided to the DSL unit out in the neighborhoods.
I simply do not figure on my cellphone working in an emergency, it is landline and radio for me.

Edit:
Even the telecom industry calls it a 5E.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Lucent+Technologies+new+5E-XC+high-capacity+switch+selected+by+SBC-a095579271
Simply put, after a while people tend to truncate things.
A classic example is the Truck, Light, General Purpose, everyone calls it a Jeep. ;)

[W4GPL]

Yes, 5E, not E5.

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

The Phreaker community has a passion for changing things around.
A Phone is a Fone.
A 500 set is a 005 set.
2600, the old LD idle tone, was an audible call.
Leet speak before computers were common if you will.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet
http://www.2600.com/
Most old Phreaks want to see legacy telephone continue.
Remember, from a reliability standpoint, the old Western Electric and Automatic Electric/GTE equipment simply can not be beat.
The uptime for landlines is on the order of 99.999%
Telephone technology is all about reliability, that is why the Unix platform can be configured for 2 concurrent systems and watchdog timers, something that Bell Labs put a lot of thought into.

[W4GPL]

Right, because the "phreaker community" speaks with one voice and god knows you'd be the one to know what they're saying. :roll:

Possibly the most cliche thing when discussing anything of the sort is to cite 2600. You're so out of your element it's not even funny.

[N7YA]

Rudy, i think these guys got you covered...pick another subject. You got served!

[NQ6U]

Rudy, i think these guys got you covered...pick another subject. You got served!

Preferably one that nobody else here knows anything about unless you want your BS called once again.

[N7YA]

He needs to be careful there too, if HE knows about asubject enough to bullshit us about it, then that means there is at least one expert out there that can call him on it. And who's to say that the expert doesnt happen to reside on this forum.

If Rudy speaks of meds, ill believe him. If Rudy speaks of delusional fantasies and imaginary friends, ill know he is in his element. All the rest was thrown out with the dirty dishwater a long time ago.

[N8YX]

I like Mrs. Butterworths syrup the best.
3272

[NQ6U]

3271

Link broken....

[N8YX]

Should work now.

[NQ6U]

Should work now.

Yep. Bunny/pancake.

[N8YX]

Yep. Bunny/pancake.
With Mrs. Butterworth's, natch. :snicker:

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

Think about this, I have said very little indeed.
I have observed an entire obsolete telephone exchange get studied.
As a child I remember visiting the telephone company and being able to see how the switches worked first hand, Strowger and crossbar.
Somewhere along the lines something got lost.
Now a visit to the local coca cola bottler would be out of the question.
AT&T is in fear of someone discovering some secret.
The entire US is worried, and about what?
People, somebody got hold of an obsolete telephone exchange.
I prefer Asterisk as a PBX to play with, it can do anything, include simulate a live operator for a dial-less telephone.
Automatic Number Identification can easily be both read and spoofed, forget about CND.
The 2600 bunch is about what is left of the old land line fan club.
As was pointed out, the number of physical pair subscribers is dropping every year.
Long Distance, the only thing a Telco would need to protect, is all but dead.
for me a 2 line phone with VoIP and physical pair and a cellphone will do everything I need.
A number 5 switch is something to amuse me, nothing more.
Kind of like Amateur Radio, do I really NEED an HF,VHF,UHF station with battery backup and generator?
No but it is fun to play radio, nothing more.

[N7YA]

....yep.....bunny/pancake......

[NA4BH]

....yep.....bunny/pancake......

PLUS

http://www.wackyvoices.com/images/butterworth.jpg

=

Good Eatin

[W3WN]

Hello.

Think about this, I have said very little indeed. < snip > And nothing more need be said.

[kd8dey]

I like Mrs. Butterworths syrup the best.
On Aunt Jemima pancake mix and the ole trusty waffle iron?

[N7YA]

Hello.


I think Rudy may be a pen name for e. e. cummings....does he grace these forums?

[W7XF]

Hello.

Cowthief is just looking for something else since we called :bs: on his black helicopters.

[kc7jty]

No Mrs Butterball here, only the good chit:
https://secure.cooksvanilla.com/images/uploads/pages/maplesyrup.jpg

[N7YA]

Oh yeah, thats good stuff right thurr!

[NQ6U]

Oh yeah, thats good stuff right thurr!

Produit de Canada, eh?

[N7YA]

Well, i was born on the northern edge of Maine so i have this thing for maple trees.

[NQ6U]

Well, i was born on the northern edge of Maine so i have this thing for maple trees.

Well, that's almost Canada, eh?

Must be a kind of culture shock for a Down Easter to be living in 'Vegas, though.

[W3WN]

Well, i was born on the northern edge of Maine so i have this thing for maple trees.

Kinky!

[NQ6U]

Kinky!

He only likes the ones with knotholes.

[N7YA]

Oh, it sucks, to be sure! I actually came here via Alaska back in 1986 because i wanted to play music for a living, THAT part was a good idea, but i just wish the city and its inhabitants werent such big douchebags.

This place is devoid of anything gracious, spiritual, courteous, polite, etc...25 years here and ive had it. I miss the mountains, trees, lakes and rivers. My wife and i are just waiting for my son to graduate and strike out on his own, which he seems very determined to do, then were outta here!! :yes:

I have a small circle of good friends here, who are also misplaced i might add, but i will keep in contact with them and that will be the only time i look back on this place when we leave. I dont drink, i dont gamble, i dont cheat on my wife, i dont "go clubbing", none of that. I know this city well and can work it to my advantage...but i just dont care anymore. Sometimes i guess it gets to me. :soapbox::lol:

As for Maine, i left when i was really young, but i am almost Canadian, i was born right on the border, a place called Limestone. And nothing beats real maple syrup. :drool:

[N7YA]

He only likes the ones with knotholes.

Right, but i have nothing against the guys who like branches instead.