How did mobile signals disappear from Jantar Mantar to Parliament? Learn about the jammer technology that disrupts phones.
During any major protest or march, it’s common to see people’s mobile phone networks go down. This happened last Monday in and around Jantar Mantar. The Cockroach Janata Party’s “Parliament Chalo” march was held on July 20th, and according to reports, the police used a network jammer during the march. This raises the question of what a network jammer is and how it can cause a complete network outage in an area.
Let’s understand in detail how a small machine breaks the connection between a mobile tower and your phone. And can it still transmit signals?
A jammer is an electronic device that blocks mobile phone, Wi-Fi, and GPS signals.
This device emits strong radio signals at the frequencies at which mobile towers and phones connect.
The noise or waves emitted by the jammer suppress the mobile tower’s signal. This causes the phone to lose connection with the tower, resulting in a “no service” message.
In the area where the network jammer is activated, all calling, messaging, and internet data are completely disrupted.
These jammers range from small, covering 10-20 meters, to high-power jammers with a range of several kilometers.
Every phone uses a specific radio frequency to connect to its nearest phone tower. A network jammer targets that frequency.
As soon as the jammer is activated, it emits very strong, high-power radio waves in the designated area.
The waves emitted by the jammer suppress the signal coming from the mobile tower. You can think of it as if a loudspeaker is turned on very loudly in a room, blocking all other sounds.
The jammer’s signal disrupts the connection between the mobile phone and the tower, resulting in a “no service” message on the phone.
As soon as the jammer is turned off or disabled, mobile phones automatically reconnect to the nearest tower and the network becomes normal.
The jammer’s technology works in such a way that no phone within its range can receive a signal. Many people believe that emergency calls can be made while within the jammer’s range, but since the network is completely blocked, even emergency calls cannot be made during that time.
Unless you move out of the jammer’s range or the jammer’s power is so low that the tower’s signal is stronger than it, only then can the phone receive some network. Otherwise, it is impossible to receive a signal while the jammer is active.