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How long before stores start deliberately finding ways to kill cell phone reception?
by ChrisLTD 15y ago
How long before stores start deliberately finding ways to kill cell phone reception?
- davidblair 15y agoThe FCC strictly prohibits this I believe.
- ChrisLTD 15y agoThat's my understanding as well, but they could try some surreptitious methods that would stop shy of using an actual jammer.
- Vivtek 15y ago"We've been meaning to get that cash register fixed." Although the FCC wouldn't take that excuse more than once. (And maybe not once.)
- freehunter 15y agoThey can't prohibit a store from building thick cement walls or putting metal cages around the walls. The only thing banned is cell-blockers.
- Florin_Andrei 15y agoOnce they start messing with that, legal or not, I feel there will be a huge political backlash. While the confrontation will be fascinating to watch, I believe the "stop messing with the cell phone" party will win.
- freehunter 15y agoIt really depends on if you can prove malicious intent. I know in the back of Wal Mart, for example, my cell reception is terrible. There are metal walls everywhere, thick metal shelves, and the back of the store is made of concrete and rebar. When I go into a store, I really expect my cell service to drop out. I expect a lot of people have the same expectation.
- shoota 15y agoOnly if they use electronic methods such as jammers. As far as I can tell there is no law against making a building a large faraday cage isn't prohibited.
- edj 15y agoThat's illegal in most countries, including, for the most part, the US. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_jammer#Legalities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_jammer#Legalities
- eli 15y agoThere is supposedly wireless-blocking paint. Only active blocking is illegal.
- nitrogen 15y agoIf it's RF-absorbing paint (and not RF-reflecting), and it becomes more commercially available, will people start using it to paint other things they don't want seen by radio waves?
- pyre 15y agoUntil there is a hostage situation in such a store and some of the survivors complain that they tried to call the cops before the hostage-taker confiscated their phone, but couldn't because of the wireless-blocking paint...
- eli 15y agoYou worry too much. There are plenty of existing buildings that naturally get little-to-no cell reception.
- pyre 15y agoNot necessarily 'worrying' so much as just sayin'. And there is a difference between a building that naturally gets little-to-no cell reception and a building that was actively constructed to block it out.
- marshray 15y agoI'll wager the vast majority of the calls that are made from within the store go something like "honey do you need anything, I saw X it reminded me of Y, do you want me to pick one up while I'm here?"
- smackfu 15y agoThe easier way is to have your own SKUs (barcodes), so they don't get a match on Amazon. This also prevents people from price-matching.