How well do cell phone signal jammers work?
 

I'm thinking of getting one of these to keep in the car, on the bike and bring into restaurants.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Personal-Cell-Phone-Signal-Jammer-Blocker-Device_W0QQitemZ330201589888QQihZ014QQcategoryZ294 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

My wife says it could make people on the phone even more dangerous on the road, since they might try to redial or pull the phone away from their ear to look at the display. What do you guys think?

Technically illegal in the U.S. although there are supposedly a few foreign distributors who will sell them here.

I've heard they work okay but don't know first-hand.

Ok for you to fiddle with a jammer while your driving but not ok for someone to talk on the phone. What a hypocrite.

Come again? How is it fiddling with something to turn it on when I get in the car and off when I get out? I never talk on my cell phone while driving, except on very rare occasion with a bluetooth. At the very worst, I'd have to press a single button to turn it off if I came upon emergency vehicles, which I did come upon on the way home tonight. All the cars around me were plenty busy rubbernecking instead of watching where they were driving, so I doubt shutting off my jammer would have mattered.

I didn't say it was legal. But I doubt there are too many cars on the road or people in restaurants or movie theatres or on the subway who would be able to spot a jammer. Oh, it's illegal to use a cell phone while driving in DC, but it's completely ignored.

I see, so wherever you drive/bike/eat you feel you have the right to jam cellular reception? Except of course when you decide it's necessary to turn this illegal device off. Got it.

I think you need to listen to your wife.

The DC cell ban is actually on hand held phones. Its ok to use hands free devices. Using a jammer could actually get you into a lot of hot water if you got caught. The potential unintended consequences would not be be good. While I am sure it seems reasonable for you to disrupt some cellphone yacking idiot who is driving, it is perfectly possible that a passenger is using a phone for a legal and reasonable purpose. You might also consider the range of frequencies that you are going to jam. We have multiple diffrent ranges in use in the US compared to the unit you might buy. You might inadvertently jam fire rescue or police radios. If you don't know all of these things you shouldn't even think about doing this. It not as simple as turning on a little device and correcting someone's misbehavior.

Jammers are illegal. If you use it, they will catch you; have no doubt.

What if I need to dial 911?

she's Chinese. If he doesn't listen, bad things will happen to him. Eventually.

Not that I know anything about that...

Why? Are bad people with cell phones somehow ruining your life?

Ok, how about in my place of business? It would certainly be cheaper to crank up a stereo but I fear they would just talk louder. I find it incredibly rude/annoying to have joes yacking away in my shop. On days I'm feeling a bit rude myself I've been known to tell them to take it outside.
Jim

Are you kidding? They are worse than drunk drivers and come in exponentially larger numbers. Worse yet, it's legal around here, except in DC, where it's ignored. Yes, handsfree is legal, but I don't see it very often in DC. Every single day I see dangers on the road caused by cell phone chatters. I have almost been run off the road while on my bike by cell phone cagers several times.

A jammer with a 10-20 meter radius is not gonna prevent anyone from calling 911 or interefere with emergency responders. It might, however, get people to put the phone down and look at the road when I'm near them. Maybe they'd even notice the string of cars behind them in the left lane or passing them on the right.

I never go to the movies, but if I did, I'd bring a jammer in there too. I don't mind cell phones in restaurants around lunchtime, but they can certainly ruin a nice dinner and they regularly make rides home on the subway a hell. I actually got a knife pulled on me on a bus in NJ after first telling a guy to quiet down his cell phone conversation and then yelling it to him after he continued. The rest of the passengerds agreed with me and had my back. A jammer would have kept it all silent.

I would never use it in DC. I regularly pass within a few feet of Secret Service vehicles and lots of other LEO's and firefighters. Jammers are unnecessary in DC. I got held up by the Libyan foreign minister's motorcade on the way to work yesterday and got lit up by Secret Service Suburbans tonight on the way home, when they wanted around me as I sat at a red light. But on the hwys. in VA and MD, they would at least create a safe buffer around me.

Know someone that has one. It works.

But it's pointless as 99%-100% of those you jam will never guess or know why they can't get a signal.

Where I lived in NY the coverage was so bad that easily 60-70% of my calls dropped at least once during the conversation.

And I think your wife has a point. You would be creating a frustrated cell phone user and further distracting them.

How would you feel if you were the cause of an accident?

Then there is the old "two wrongs" thing.

You're risking up to an $11,000 fine and a year in jail for the first offense. IMO, you'd be a bigger jerk than the rude people using their cell phones improperly. And I agree, your wife is right.

Listen to your wife.

Just to be practical, I wonder if jamming a driver's call would actually make you safer on the bike, maybe all the "hello, can you hear me" and redialing would make her even more distracted and dangerous.

Jam the HELL out of 'em!

I'm interested. Post it if you find one that works.

Wow, It seems some people can't live without a phone stuck to their ear.

Let us know if it works.

They were developed in Israel but are illegal here. Used widely in Mexico in an interesting place, Churches! They got tired of people having their cell phones disturbing the service so started jamming the signals and all is quiet again.

I believe "freedom of speech" prolly falls under this.

Is a jammer not allowing somone to "speek" on a phone.

Also, how do you know what kinda conversation that person is having,

are they ringing the emergency services, is there kid lost, is somone in hospital.

There are probably times and places where you should and should not use a phone.

but "YOU" as joe public have no right to decided when and where somone can use there phone.

If you see an illegal act then report it, and let the law take its courcse, if you dont like the law go about trying to change it.

We all have to live according to the law, like it or or hate it.

If I knew somone was jamming me they'd better be a damn fast runner. As the jammer would be jammed up where the sun dont shine.

And I'lll take my chances in court...

can't do the time.......... dont do the crime

that is just plain rude and disrespectful.

When I've been on emergency callout, I've had my phone on vibrate, leave the church and take the call.

I've even taken a manager of mine to task in a similar situation, that if they can't wait an hour for me on a Sunday when I'm in church, they can get bent.

Actually, pastors, usually, stop dead and remind the pariosoner "not" to take a call and to respect God house, the rest of the glaring congregation is usally all it takes :)

What? How?

I really don't think so. For someone jamming cell signals in a small area around them, especially when they are mobile, it would be just about impossible to track.

No, I don't think there would be any way to catch someone with one in a car.

That said, I also think it would be useless to have in a car or on a bike. I also agree that the people around you would be even more distracted tryingh to get their phone to work.

In the article that I read, I think they talked to the owners of a small independent movie theater and a restaurant that had them (yes illegally). Yes they work.

I think the only place that they'd probably be useful would be that sort of place, restaurant, church, etc....

I was at a memorial service a few weeks ago and I swear there were at least four cell phone "violations" in that church during the service. It was just unreal. I really don't care what someone's conversation is about. If it's an emergency, it would be very obvious and would not be countless minutes of loud banter about nothing. No one on the train HAS to have a long, loud conversation. When I've been on the train and it got delayed and I had to call the office to say I'd be late, I either texted someone or made a quick, less than 20 sec. call to say I'd be late and I didn't yell it either.

My only issue is whether it would make things more dangerous on the street or not. That's all I care about. Offending people doesn't enter the equation, since I would never use it except in cases where someone is already offending me and others or, worse, creating a very dangerous situation on the road.

What does this have to do with freedom of speech? Why do people think that term has anything to do with private individuals keeping things quiet or safe in their immediate vicinity? Freedom of speech ONLY means that the state cannot silence you. It doesn't mean you have a right to an audience and it doesn't mean you have immunity from consequences by non-state actors for your speech. If I called someone's mom a whore, I wouldn't expect to not get punched by claiming it was freedom of speech.

Leave Mom out of this...

If they ever allow cell phone use on airplanes - which there has been noises about, I'll be buying one since you can't take a gun on board.

Ian

Now, I think you may get caught there.

Hey, have you heard about that new airline that goes only between Germany and Japan, is for adults only and is all smoking? How awesome is that? No screaming kids, no whiners and you can smoke all you want. Geeze, even if I hated smoking, I'd still take that airline just to get away from the whiners and kids.

I promise to patronize any restaurant that has one.

You're right , Rick! The cell phone has created a whole new level of rudeness and obnoxiousness. Why should my dinner in a relaxing restaurant be disturbed by someones loud phone conversation?? Or my ride home at the end of a hard days work? Is it necessary to be yakking on the phone when you are at a checkout counter and the clerk is trying to talk to you?

I saw a sign in a 7-11 in Pittsburgh recently that read "You will not be served if talking on a cell phone when you approach the counter". Loved it! My life was just fine before cell phones. I don't have a land line now, my wife and I share a 700 min. per month plan and never come even close to that many minutes.

I surely wouldn't use a cell phone jammer in DC. Can you imagine the Secret Service's reaction would be if their signals were suddenly jammed when a cabinet member is being chauffeured around?

+1 - put the phone down, conduct your bizness, then move on.

If I knew of a jammer that worked, I would definitely get one.

How true this is....


Cell phone users tie up traffic: study

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080102/us_nm/usa_phones_traffic_dc_3

"CHICAGO (Reuters) - If you're late for work, a driver using a cell phone may be to blame. U.S. researchers said on Wednesday that people who use cell phones while behind the wheel impede the flow of traffic, clog highways and extend commute times."




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Yup. I imagine they have some bandwidth not available to the general public and a lot of their comms are encrypted. As I said earlier in this thread, a jammer is really unnecessary in DC and certainly ill-advised. Not the case in VA and MD.

The hwys. here are just chaos and the cops couldn't care less. They only ever go after carpool lane violaters or weekend speeders who get away from the other pack of cars doing at least 20 mph over. I know I can't make difference in the driving culture here. But if I can create some tiny buffer zone of safety, I'd seriously consider it. I don't go to fancy restaurants at night either, so I can't claim that cell phones really ruin many of my dinners. The only places I go to eat are Chinese holes in the wall or other places far more known for their good food than romantic and quiet ambiances.

And as rude as I think cell phone chatters are when paying at the check-out counter or such, I would never use a jammer around them. They really have no effect on me other than lowering my already low opinion of the unwashed masses. Road safety is my top concern and respect in restaurants, churches and movie theatres comes right after that. Everything else is just a nuisance, though I can live with that.

The local college has jammers in each of the lecture halls. Not only were the faculty tired of cell phones disrupting the classes, so were other students who pay considerable bucks to be there.

http://www.globalgadgetuk.com/rx9000.htm

Me too! I'd like a nice close proximity one. Something like a 20 foot range. So you can zap the rude moron at the table next to you.

Also so much for the stereotypical women yakkin on the phone. Guys are the worst offenders.(just another example of the feminization of men...):p

So, they only work in a 20 ft. range. My guess is that if you're in a car, trying to transmit jam a phone in another car, that range is drastically decreased. You'd damn near have to be stopped next to them at a traffic light to be effective?