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If only they could do the same thing for airports (e.g. LAX) where they don't explicitly block your signals, but they also don't allow any cell towers to be bui

If only they could do the same thing for airports (e.g. LAX) where they don't explicitly block your signals, but they also don't allow any cell towers to be built in the area...

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
- somedudethere 11y ago
  Cell towers don't need to be a freestanding structure. There are tons of micro towers hanging out on existing buildings.
  - heywire 11y ago
    I've seen them tied to the side of existing buildings, and even masquerading as a tree :) Something I've noticed is that it seems the denser the population, the lower the towers are.
    - alricb 11y ago
      It's logical: the higher the antenna, the larger the area it has in its line of sight. If your base station is going to serve a large area, you want it as high as possible. If it's only for a small one, not so much.
- digikata 11y ago
  Not to mention that airports can also be rich RF environments, and extra sources of noise pose extra complexity.
- cbhl 11y ago
  You don't even need a tower per se -- you just need smaller antennas covering the terminal building connected to a fiber backhaul.
tehwebguy 11y ago
I'm convinced that LAPD has a few Stingrays set up at LAX - my phone shows full service but the connection is terrible and I always lose about 30% of my battery life between touch down and getting in a car.
- eli 11y ago
  Phone bars typically just measure signal strength. You can show full service but have a poor connection because there's a lot of noise or because the tower is overloaded.
- nooron 11y ago
  Maybe you can confirm this if you live in LA? That would be a cool catch. http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/12/31/snoopsnitch_is_an_app_by_the_german_srlabs_that_detects_imsi_catchers_stingrays.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/12/31/snoopsnit...
jpollock 11y ago
Well, airports charge carriers a lot of money to have a cell site at the airport. Roaming customers are very, very profitable and devices will frequently connect to the first, strongest signal they see.
- jebblue 11y ago
  >> devices will frequently connect to the first, strongest signal they see That is worrisome, someone could build a portable station to hijack people's phones, do some phishing then move on to another location.
  - freehunter 11y ago
    That's the entire basis of Stingray devices.
  - lbearl 11y ago
    You literally just described the Stingray devices. It is very worrisome.
  - jsprogrammer 11y ago
    Not only could you do that, but government officials and others have been doing it for a long time.
Shivetya 11y ago
most structures like that will have repeaters in the building for each vendor. they are common in many buildings which have site line issues to include basement level boosting
sliverstorm 11y ago
To add insult to injury, they usually give me free WiFi. The bastards.

If only they could do the same thing for airports (e.g. LAX) where they don't explicitly block your signals, but they also don't allow any cell towers to be built in the area...

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

somedudethere 11y ago
Cell towers don't need to be a freestanding structure. There are tons of micro towers hanging out on existing buildings.
- heywire 11y ago
  I've seen them tied to the side of existing buildings, and even masquerading as a tree :) Something I've noticed is that it seems the denser the population, the lower the towers are.
  - alricb 11y ago
    It's logical: the higher the antenna, the larger the area it has in its line of sight. If your base station is going to serve a large area, you want it as high as possible. If it's only for a small one, not so much.
digikata 11y ago
Not to mention that airports can also be rich RF environments, and extra sources of noise pose extra complexity.
cbhl 11y ago
You don't even need a tower per se -- you just need smaller antennas covering the terminal building connected to a fiber backhaul.

tehwebguy 11y ago

I'm convinced that LAPD has a few Stingrays set up at LAX - my phone shows full service but the connection is terrible and I always lose about 30% of my battery life between touch down and getting in a car.

eli 11y ago
Phone bars typically just measure signal strength. You can show full service but have a poor connection because there's a lot of noise or because the tower is overloaded.
nooron 11y ago
Maybe you can confirm this if you live in LA? That would be a cool catch. http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/12/31/snoopsnitch_is_an_app_by_the_german_srlabs_that_detects_imsi_catchers_stingrays.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/12/31/snoopsnit...

jpollock 11y ago

Well, airports charge carriers a lot of money to have a cell site at the airport. Roaming customers are very, very profitable and devices will frequently connect to the first, strongest signal they see.

jebblue 11y ago
>> devices will frequently connect to the first, strongest signal they see That is worrisome, someone could build a portable station to hijack people's phones, do some phishing then move on to another location.
- freehunter 11y ago
  That's the entire basis of Stingray devices.
- lbearl 11y ago
  You literally just described the Stingray devices. It is very worrisome.
- jsprogrammer 11y ago
  Not only could you do that, but government officials and others have been doing it for a long time.

Shivetya 11y ago

most structures like that will have repeaters in the building for each vendor. they are common in many buildings which have site line issues to include basement level boosting

sliverstorm 11y ago

To add insult to injury, they usually give me free WiFi. The bastards.