Last Updated on September 13, 2024
The use and popularity of cell phones have increased multifold over the past decade which is evident from the fact that there are more cell phones on the earth than the entire human population. While this is both intriguing and alarming, this also means that you may have to deal with many unwanted calls.
Fortunately, there are several ways through which you can escape this dilemma and one of them is using the signal jammer. In this article, you will get a deeper insight into how a signal jammer works so that you can put it to good use and make your life easier.
What is a Signal Jammer?
Signal jammers were first developed by the military to block radio communications and temper with the enemy’s strategy. They were then introduced to the civilian community to address privacy concerns and prevent GPS tracking. These days, signal jammers are being used widely to serve a number of purposes.
For instance, employers use them to block their employees’ cell phone signals to prevent workplace distractions. Likewise, some people use them to block outgoing signals from their phones, preventing spying agencies from keeping tabs on them and safeguard sensitive information from falling in the wrong hands.
A cell phone signal jammer is a device that allows you to block all incoming calls at any place. It does so by producing white noise radio signals and broadcasting them at the same frequency and power as those produced by your cell phone. This essentially interferes with the radio communication system and blocks out the signals that can be received by your device, disabling cellular and wireless services including calls, texts, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Working principles of a Signal Jammer
Although the basics behind the working of a signal jammer seem quite straightforward, it nonetheless has some technicalities involved in it which may be hard to understand for a layman. For this reason, we will first understand how cell phones establish communication between one and another.
You must have seen huge cell phone towers in different areas around you. Essentially, every locality is divided into zones and the phone signals generated by your device are picked up by the tower in your zone. This means that if you’re moving, your phone signals are dynamically picked up by the respective towers as you move past different zones.
So how can a jamming device elude these sophisticated phone towers? They do so by mimicking legitimate phone signals and transmitting the same radio frequency as your mobile phone. Hence, overpowering the legitimate signals produced by your cell phone device and hinder wireless communication between your device and the cell phone tower in your zone.
Types of Signal Jammers
Cell phones are based on full-duplex communication which means they can transmit and receive signals at the same time. For this to happen, they use two separate frequencies or listening and talking simultaneously and signal jammers are designed to target these frequencies. Some phone jammers directly target only one of these frequencies which tricks the device into believing that there’s no service available. Hence, no communication can take place via your cell phone in either direction.
On the other hand, some sophisticated signal jammers block several frequencies all at once or can be tuned to shun specific frequencies. For dual-mode and tri-mode phones that switch between different networks to optimally connect to an open signal, well-suited jammers can block off the signals from multiple networks too. This means that all sorts of cellular devices are vulnerable to signal jamming.
Jamming cellular signals only requires broadcasting the right frequency (or frequencies) and while all devices treat signals differently, all cellular devices use interruptible radio signals and protocols including GSM and CDMA. As a rule of thumb, cellular communication takes place with a frequency band of 900MHz to 1800MHz in Asia and Europe and 1900MHz in the US.
Signal jammers can also be categorized in terms of their range which depends on multiple factors like the surrounding environment and construction density. Low power jammers typically have a low reach and can block wireless activity within a range of 9 meters whereas high-powered ones are effective in areas as massive as a football field. Likewise, cell phone jammers used by law enforcement agencies for security purposes can block signals that are even a mile away.
Moreover, signal jammers come in various sizes, ranging for small ones that look more like phones themselves or bigger ones that can be mounted on cars and vehicles.
Now that you know how cell phone signal jammers actually work, you can start looking for one for yourself no matter if it is to ensure your safety or simply want to get away from the world for a while.
