Does anyone here work for a wireless service provider? It would be interesting to hear how major sources of interference are identified and dealt with.
Driver caught using cell phone jamming device
11–20 of 207 posts
Re: Driver caught using cell phone jamming device
#12I don't know if you noticed this but in my area most of retail stores have terrible cellphone reception. I'm assuming they put cell jammers in their store too
That's a pretty unsubstantiated assumption. Could it simply be that cell signals have trouble penetrating the store walls?
Re: Driver caught using cell phone jamming device
#13My impression that the biggest domestic market for these is hotel operators, who secret them around the premises to force their customers to be gouged by the hotel phone. EDIT: reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/07/business/07jamming.html?_r... There is disagreement about whether this actually happens in the US; seems to be more evidence for it in the UK.
Any evidence or reference?
I can't believe this is true, since such persistent, immobile jammers would be trivial to locate (and presumably would be -- cell providers track down problems as the OP's article attests), and hotels would have so much to lose from being caught, and so little to gain by doing it.
Re: Driver caught using cell phone jamming device
#14Does anyone know if it would be legal to use something like this if it was sufficiently clear with big signs?
I'm thinking movie theaters or coffee shops that have huge signs "Your cell phone will not work in there. If you don't agree, don't come in", etc.
Re: Driver caught using cell phone jamming device
#15I don't know if you noticed this but in my area most of retail stores have terrible cellphone reception. I'm assuming they put cell jammers in their store too
There are building materials that naturally block/reflect/absorb mobile frequencies which is perfectly legal.
That is different from transmitting a signal to jam which is highly illegal.
Re: Driver caught using cell phone jamming device
#16The real surprise here is that MetroPCS noticed the lack of service.
As someone who has used Cricket [they bundle Sprint and MetroPCS together] ... they couldn't care less about spotty reception within their given coverage map.
Re: Driver caught using cell phone jamming device
#17Does anyone know if it would be legal to use something like this if it was sufficiently clear with big signs? I'm thinking movie theaters or coffee shops that have huge signs "Your cell phone will not work in there. If you don't agree, don't come in", etc.
Certainly not without FCC approval, which I'd doubt would be easy to get.
The big issue (as described in the article) as that the chance of interfering with a legitimate emergency communications system is fairly high.
Re: Driver caught using cell phone jamming device
#18I've dreamed of doing this for a decade, even found some sources in the U.K. to purchase a few and looked up schematics for building wideband jammers.
Ultimately it was the very serious approach the FCC takes that stopped me from really exploring it, even for fun. Everthing I'd read indicated that you'd be caught and fast, so I'm sort of surprised it took two years, even if it was on a highway.
But lord I still might push it whenever I'm at the grocery store and someone's doing a remote, live shopping list with their wife down every aisle.
Re: Driver caught using cell phone jamming device
#19My impression that the biggest domestic market for these is hotel operators, who secret them around the premises to force their customers to be gouged by the hotel phone. EDIT: reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/07/business/07jamming.html?_r... There is disagreement about whether this actually happens in the US; seems to be more evidence for it in the UK.
Given the competition for hotels in the states... I don't buy that for a minute.
Re: Driver caught using cell phone jamming device
#20My guess would be driving around with a relatively short-range jammer actually increases the odds of being hit by a distracted driver. Rather than people driving near you being distracted by conversations on their phones, they're going to be even more distracted because their call just got dropped, prompting them to look at the display waiting for the bars to come back so they can re-dial.