The Police and MY Network

[TexasComputerDude]

just wondering if any of yall have ever heard of this.

Last night around 3am one of local police officers pulled a guy over right in front of our shop. He was prob. within 20 yards of my router. Well at the moment he pulls the guy over my wireless router starts flipping out. My computer would connect then disconnect really fast. (well as fast as vistaly possibly.) Then after 30 minutes the officer drives away and everything starts working again.



anyone know what could have caused this?

[WildBill]

just wondering if any of yall have ever heard of this. anyone know what could have caused this?

Never heard of this happening, but one of their transmitters must be on the same frequency band as your router.

[Skiprr]

Coincidence? Either that, or there was a federal officer in the patrol unit.

There's been a big point of contention since shortly after 911 (actually earlier, but it got much more visibility after that) about the Communications Act of 1934. By the book, local and state law enforcement--and any other corporate or civilian entity--is prohobited from using signal-jamming devices, but federal agencies can use them.

In 2004 or 2005, a U.S. manufacturer of jammers made a formal judicial challenge to the constitutionality of the FCC restrictions. A state court heard the case and decided it didn't have jurisdiction. I don't think it's ever hit the SCOTUS docket. All the cellular service providers, not surprisingly, are opposed to changing the rules.

Personally, my vote goes to state and local law enforcement. Every scumbag on the street now has at least one cell phone. They can be used for nasty stuff like remote bomb detonation, but the real, day-to-day impact on law enforcement is that the bad guys have a ubiquitous, mobile communications network. Gone are the days when a drug dealer would have to physically go to a pay phone to coordinate the final stages of a deal or phone his homies for backup.

The small, handheld jammers scramble from 800MHz to 1900MHz, so it could bounce an older wireless router but shouldn't mess up one working at 2.4 or higher. And they have a pretty small effective diameter, about 10 or 12 yards. Plenty during a traffic stop or other close encounter, but not enough to disrupt a lot of passers-by unless it's used in a mall or similar.

Bigger jammers can work over very large areas by interfering with the actual signal from a tower. I know of at least one company who says it can control the affected area pretty tightly. Its intended application is for correctional facilities, to keep prison inmates from having free communication to the outside...which seems like a worthy goal to me.

[boomerang]

Bigger jammers can work over very large areas by interfering with the actual signal from a tower. I know of at least one company who says it can control the affected area pretty tightly. Its intended application is for correctional facilities, to keep prison inmates from having free communication to the outside...which seems like a worthy goal to me.

It would be nice if they put them in movie theaters and classrooms.

[rgoldy]

Of course it could also be that his MDT was operating in 2.4Ghz or close to it. Having a somewhat more powerful
transmitter in the same band (could be he is on cell phone MDT) or close by, could easily cause overload on your
stuff.

[TexasComputerDude]

I figured he was on the same frequency or something as me lol. I wonder if it was possible that I was giving him interference too, cause his traffic stop took forever.

btw, what does MDT stand for?

[TexasComputerDude]

Coincidence? Either that, or there was a federal officer in the patrol unit.

Yikes! lol, oh well, I've got nothing to hide that isn't already hidden lol. jk haha

[WildBill]

I figured he was on the same frequency or something as me lol. I wonder if it was possible that I was giving him interference too, cause his traffic stop took forever.

btw, what does MDT stand for?

Mobile Data Terminal. Don't feel bad, I had to look it up.

[jimlongley]

Probably, as someone suggested, on one of the bands assigned by the FCC to the police. A lot of routers use the same bands under FCC part 15 rules that allow very low power unlicensed operation on the same bands on a non-interfering to the licensed service basis.

What Part 15 basically says is that if the police set up a roadblock in front of your house and interfere with your wireless (phones, router, anything else) you have no recourse, but if your (wireless) interferes with them, they do.

[TexasComputerDude]

I guess I just need to keep my handy dandy 50ft ethernet cable with me at all times then. I always need it when I don't have it.

btw, NEVER buy a belkin wireless router. I thought I would give them a shot and boy am I disappointed.

my netgear and linksys routers work like a charm however.

[TexasComputerDude]

Probably, as someone suggested, on one of the bands assigned by the FCC to the police. A lot of routers use the same bands under FCC part 15 rules that allow very low power unlicensed operation on the same bands on a non-interfering to the licensed service basis.

What Part 15 basically says is that if the police set up a roadblock in front of your house and interfere with your wireless (phones, router, anything else) you have no recourse, but if your (wireless) interferes with them, they do.

well at least I've learned something from the experience. I need to put some shielding on the wall going along the highway lol.

[MrsFosforos]

It would be nice if they put them in movie theaters and classrooms.

I wonder if one of our movie theaters has something installed to jam cellphones. I get great coverage all over the country - except in this one movie theater, NO reception!

[chewy555]

It would be nice if they put them in movie theaters and classrooms.

I wonder if one of our movie theaters has something installed to jam cellphones. I get great coverage all over the country - except in this one movie theater, NO reception!

By law the movie theater can not have anything that jams cellphones in the theater. Now that said, sometimes being inside of big buildings you dont get as good of a signal.

[Keith B]

It would be nice if they put them in movie theaters and classrooms.

I wonder if one of our movie theaters has something installed to jam cell phones. I get great coverage all over the country - except in this one movie theater, NO reception!

Many theaters use corrugated galvanized steel sheets on the walls as the 'wave' design makes for good acoustics and helps deaden sound between the theaters. In turn, the steel sheets block the radio frequencies in and out of the theater, hence the loss of cell signal. That is a plus in my book for those that refuse to silence their phones before they enter the theater.

[TexasComputerDude]

I've always wondered if putting chicken wire around a room would kill the cell signals.

or steel confetti, or whatever that stuff from ww2 or whatever was.