Devices That Interfere With Mobile Signals

By Diani Gatenby Davies

Mobile phones get their signal via radio waves.
i Piotr Stryjewski/Digital Vision/Getty Images

Mobile phones were designed to be used as a way to communicate when using a land line was impractical or impossible. Unfortunately, mobile phones rely on signals that can be disrupted at inconvenient times. There are many devices that can interrupt mobile phone signals, including some that have been created specifically to block those signals.

Hearing Aids

While using a mobile phone in close proximity of hearing aids may not cause you to lose a signal, a magnetic interference may occur. The radio waves emitted by mobile phones are what cause this interference. While you may not receive much interference through your mobile phone, those with hearing aids will experience a lot of discomfort.

Computers

You may have experienced a strange magnetic sound emitting from your mobile phone while around a computer during a call. That's because computer monitors are sensitive to electromagnetic fields. Sometimes the interference will disappear once you answer the call, but if the electromagnetic radiation is strong enough, you will still hear the interruption.

Cellular Jammers

A "cellular jammer" is a device that was specifically created to cause a "dead zone." When radio signals are blocked, this is a dead zone. Cellular jammers give out signals at the same frequency as mobile phones. This thereby interrupts the signal and blocks it. If you are within range of a cellular jammer, your signal will be blocked Unfortunately, there is no easy way to tell if it was caused by a cellular jammer. These jammers are available online, though they are prohibited in most countries.

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