At least the cardboard is biodegradable. The plastic bags will probably end up floating in that "Plastic Island" the state of Texas in the pacific ocean.

[en.wikipedia.org]

The single tiny screw with relatively no purpose is to lock the AP to the ceiling tile bracket. I also hate the absurd amount of packaging chooses to use, but honestly, I'd rather have left over screws and stuff I dont use than not have EVERYTHING i could possibly need to mount the AP at a customer location. Sometimes we hang these on drywall and sometimes we mount them to ceiling grids. Its nice to have everything to go either way.

I am really not trying to blame the OP but this is really typical of packaging for technology equipment. The plethora of bags is probably because the prepack each of the components so the person at the factory throws plastic packs rather than individual screws into the package. The individual units are packed at the factory with the power block in them. Just because they are not using them is irrelevant. If Cisco started sending out units without a power block, how many customers would decide later they need a power block. Plans change last minute, non technical people decide things on a whim that change the installation. So Cisco is only going to have one packaged unit they send out.

Sure this makes waste. Doing otherwise would create more chaos for the company sending things out. All of it is recycling except the power blocks.

Any thought of neatly repacking everything minus the bits you need and sending it back to Cisco? I think it would be funny to to see their customer service types peeling back the corrugated and plastic onion they created.

@bohemian: Agreed. Although this is frustrating in terms of unpacking and the environment, it's justified in terms of protection and processing.

If I'm shelling out for a Cisco product, I want a good quality undamaged product and not a single bag of stuff that I can lose.

Also, I've seen mounds of similar IT components build up in a 'build room'. If the screws don't come in bags, you have no idea how many you're supposed to have per device. In other words, what might be wasteful for a consumer product might make more sense for a business product.

back when i was in school a decade ago, we ordered 50 windows 98 licenses for our desktops in the computer lab. EACH INDIVIDUAL LICENSE came in it's OWN BOX. Yes, it came in a 2"x8"x11" box. the licenses were all individually wrapped in a sleeve of plastic too! Oh, and it gets better... shipping peanuts for each box! And then all of this was put into a couple of big boxes.

for licenses. paper licenses.

@merist: Ah yes, the thing SOOO big, it can not be seen. But I can see these bags, so they could not end up there.

@raleel: So how did the company you bought it from store these licenses? Perhaps in the boxes they shipped them in?

@consumerfan: Or worse, a screw decides to find it's way into a vent hole/slot, and will short out when you plug it in.

The packaging here makes at least makes sense. Individual components of a single access point are put into plastic bags, likely because they're used amongst different products and it's easier to pre package them and then grab the components needed for a given product. The components are then all packaged together for a single unit. For larger orders, the units are grouped together into groups of 5 and then put into a single large box.

Yes, it's a lot of packaging, but it is efficient. It's not like they used a 2x3 foot box to send a single CD.

@GitEmSteveDave_IsTheStig: bought them straight from microsoft through our onsite rep :)

As I also work for an IT department at University I used to attend... this really isn't so bad. Look at a lab getting 50 new computers, then you will understand mountains of cardbord, styrofoam, twist ties (oh, god, how I hate twist ties), and useless extra cables (at least 2-3 per computer), that just go to trash and/or recycling. The above pics aren't so bad. Besides, it's fun to play with cardboard. Why does no one ever remember this fact.

Wow, I'm clearly not the geek I thought, because I wasn't aware of Power Over Ethernet. Pretty sweet.

I, too, work IT at my college and we were responsible for unpackaging and deploying about a bajillion switches to dorms around campus. Miserable work, so I feel the OP's pain.

That's nothing. I work in the IT department at my university, and we just had a whole new building finished last year. We had 3 full closets full of boxes that they gave me the oppurtunity to crush for 10 hours over 3 days. The stack of boxes looked about twice the size in that picture, then times 3 for 3 different closets.

@Moosehawk: Oh and just like the OP mentions, half the crap they send us we won't use. There are several other materials for special attachments and we end up throwing them all in a box and recycling it.

I work for a Cisco Gold Partner and those look like AIR-LAP1131AG-A-K9 lightweight access points. (I hope they are lightweight, if you are deploying 250 of them) Those should be orderable without power bricks and cords. You should talk to your Account Manager to see if you can do that. Even if its not possible, you can always put the bricks up on eBay, I hear they sell quite well.

And yes, unboxing those is a pain and generates a ton of waste, but they are packaged for the highest efficiency in assembling the package for shipping and the ability to use the same mounting packages across several product lines. I feel your pain, having myself unboxed over 1000 of those.

Wow, I'm kind of stunned. You haven't heard of Power over Ethernet? aka PoE?

How do you think most IP Telephony installations work hehe. (yes I know you can get power bricks)

Hate to say it, but that's pretty standard Cisco packaging. Mostly because of the bags containing individual (or near individual) screws. It seems like every type of part of part grouping needs to get its own bag. Even if it's just 2-3 screws.

Give the silica packs to the maintenance guys to put in their tool boxes. The packs help keep moisture away. The packs can be reused if "cooked" the right way too...

I like how multiple commenters have stated "that's typical of electronic equipment" as an excuse. But ask yourself, should it be?

No.

@katstermonster: Power over Ethernet (POE) is great for anyone doing wireless. You don't need to install the &#^$@ power supply into the AP or have outlets installed in the ceiling.

On the happy-fun-side, you got 48 volts going through your cat 5/6 wires. Be careful if you accidentally cut a wire that is live.

@Taliskan: ours werent too bad. hp does a pretty good job packaging their computers. styrofoam on top and bottom, computer in a big plastic bag, keyboard in its own smaller box, and all the cables, adapters, manual and mouse in another bag. we ended up with boxes full of boxes and a tower of tyrofoam, which was easily strung on an ethernet cable and taken to a dumpster.

@bohemian:

the other thing is that the units aren't always sold in 5-packs, so the smaller boxes inside the bigger box is the shipping to the vendor, and the smaller box inside is the packaging for each AP, in case someone orders one instead of 5 at a time.

I am pretty sure that top picture is what cat heaven looks like.

@Front_Towards_Enemy: Cutting one that's live won't hurt you. When there's not an active link there's actually only a very small amount of voltage/wattage (less than 1) on the wire - and that is used to wake up the PoE device which then signals the switch for the amount of power it needs in watts. Total PoE max is somewhere around 17W at -48v

I've read the title to this article for a solid minute now and still can't understand it. Was it done with refrigerator magnets?

@econobiker:

Also handy if your iPod or phone gets wet. pack it in a jar with rice and as many of these as you can find around the house. With as many as this guy has access to, I could probably stop running the dehumidifier in my basement!

@D0rk: No, but they also explained with a good reason why it is typical.

Ideally, it should not be. But the world is far from ideal with most things conflicting with each other.

@Spaceman Bill Leah: I think you're right.. My cats would LOVE it.. especially the twist ties.. Which they are not allowed to play with.. but they always seem to manage to steal them somehow.

And you would complain if you needed one of those items but it didn't ship with it. Would you rather have every item as an option, which you have to pay for of course?

If you think this is absurd just wait til you get out to the "real world". And its not true that you have to have an entire Cisco shop to get support...but just try to prove that it's not the (insert other manufacturer's name here) box causing the problem. And if you think Cisco's overpriced just buy something else...

@raleel: Again, how do you think Microsoft stored them in their warehouse?

@econobiker: We save those packets when we come across them, which unfortunately isn't often since we don't buy many electronics. But they have been irreplaceable when needed.

@bohemian:

HP Procurve ships their wireless access point power blocks as a separate option. Specifically to cut down on waste.

If your ordering and installing access points at this scale (and this level of technology) then you pretty much know where and how these will be installed (and whether or not you'll need the power block or not).

Ooh, send them to me. I reuse boxes and packing all the time. I have a pile in the inner office that makes me happy. :)

I have to send all kinds of samples, literature, hardware, parts, etc. out so all sizes are welcome!

this is my submission, and ive likewise of these APs, I had to just do a tech refresh of 400+ computers, and gone through mountains of styrofoam and cardboard. but even unboxing 50 Lenovo computers wouldnt take as long as unboxing 50 of these APs. The tipping point for me was the stuff in bags, in bags, in more bags, in cardboard, in a box, in another box. the computers are just individual things thrown into a single box and called good.

And yes obviously they include more stuff than 1 deploy situation requires, so that everyone is covered. But they dont give an option. We are completely wasting 250+ AC bricks because we use PoE, and our Cisco reps know this. They dont give us the option to not including the power supplies because Cisco doesnt have that option. They force you to take everything every time. That alone is a problem for me. (Unless I'm misinformed about Cisco purchasing options, in which case my department manager needs some education in the manner)

This packaging is fairly standard on Cisco access points. Each component is separately packaged to remain organized, which is awesome when doing installations. There are extra components because there are several ways to install the AP. Obviously Cisco does not know how you are going to install each individual AP. It would be impossible to send only the hardware needed for your configuration. Would you rather Cisco dump all of the expensive equipment into a box and ship it off?

@Weebber: OP here, and they are indeed lightweight. I like how you were able to pick that out just based on pictures hah. I posted below saying we aren't given an option on whats in the box, but I admit thats just what I've been given the impression of. I blame my department manager for contributing to this wastefulness (if we indeed can order them without power)

@Taliskan: Besides installing these APs, I did a tech refresh too over the last month and Lenovo packages their computers at least decently. the chunks of styrofoam are quite large, but theres only 2 of them. besides that, theres just a bag for the mouse, a box for the keyboard, a bag for the displayport dongle adapter, a bag for the computer, and maybe 3 twisty ties. not bad at all.@bonzombiekitty: its stupid though because i have to open almost every bag to get the parts needed to install it. I'll need 1 plate from 1 specific bag and then 2 plates from another bag. It means I have to tear everything apart. they dont @raleel:

yeah... but that was a decade ago! ahhh the 90's.......

@BigHeadEd: Not a bad idea, I'd like to see what would happen with that. Kindof like collecting all the junk mail you get from a credit card company and sending it back to them in their "business reply" paid envelope

@elislider: I've learned above that we may be able to order them without power bricks, which would be nice for sure. I'll be sure that gets up the system to the purchasing guy.

@DashTheHand: haha yeah i also dont quite understand the title....

I'm with everyone else in saying that stuff is pretty much necessity. Having worked with networking gear quite regularly, I can say I've run into a situation where I've needed every single one of those little accessories, if not all at once.

@davekoob: I agree 100%. Possibly do something about the packaging, but give me everything I will need in the box, for whatever mounting conditions I may encounter at a customer location.

@Taliskan: I used to love how MPC computers (formerly Micron PC) shipped their computer when we order more than about 50PCs. Before they went downhill and moved their manufacturing to Jaurez, they would ship the computers about 8-10 per box in a refrigerator sized box. There was a little foam between each computer and all the keyboards, mice, CDs etc were in a tray on top of all of the PCs. There was still a fair amount of plastic bags since each PC had its own bag and stuff, but there was A LOT let foam packaging per computer because of the great bulk packaging.

@econobiker: When I worked in retail, I had to pull silica gel packets from rolling displays on time for candy stuff, I think I had about 10 displays to pull from, and by the time I was done, I must have had about 150 packages of varying sizes totaling 5 pounds. We had fun with a couple of them by pouring water in and making them pop, but most of them just got trashed.

When you are paying for Cisco equipment, it is probably because it is very important to you. Cisco equipment is packed to ensure the equipment is delivered in one functional piece.

I carry my own reusable grocery bag and I recycle. This is not a stupid-shipping-gang story, unless those 250 APs came in 250 giant boxes to contain the box with the AP.

I agree that it would be great if it wasn't necessary to get all the unnecessary accessories, but the truth is that is by far cheaper for a company to put everything in one box to accommodate almost anyone rather than having to keep multiple item numbers for the same product just based on the accessories.

@elislider: Hey elis, I work for Cisco and just checked our ordering tool. There is indeed an option to ship without the power bricks. Ask your account team for this option!

@Taliskan:

Besides, it's fun to play with cardboard. Why does no one ever remember this fact.

Which one of your cats posted this comment?