In Room With No Cell Service, Verizon Works On Future of Mobile 85
alphadogg writes "If you think your house has bad cellular coverage, Verizon Wireless has you beat: A small, windowless room high up in a San Francisco office building gets no service at all. That's not because carriers are neglecting the bustling South of Market business district where the room is located. Instead, it's because Verizon is paying so much attention to what's going on there. The room with zero bars is in the heart of the Verizon Innovation Center, where Verizon network and business experts help developers of new wireless devices and apps to turn their ideas into products."
can you hear me now? (Score:3, Funny)
I said... can you hear me now?
Re:can you hear me now? (Score:5, Insightful)
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hmmm... (Score:1)
that "...small, windowless room high up in a San Francisco office building (that) gets no service at all." sure has one hell of a view according to the pic in TFA.
Re:hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)
They just took a picture of a room that gets no Verizon service at all. You can find oh so many of them.
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Go anywhere on the dessert for one.
I stood on a few pies to test this hypothesis, but I still had signal. Am I doing it wrong?
Nothing like driving 100miles on a dangerous road with no signs of civilization anywhere when you need 911 the most.
Why are you doing such a thing without, at minimum, an emergency kit in the trunk consisting of a spare tire and tools, basic first aid supplies, a couple of blankets, flares, a firearm, some ammunition, and a jug of water? I don't travel for any significant distance in remote country without everything on that list. Even in town, most of that is still in the vehicle.
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Hey! That image looks really familiar! It fact, it looks just like where I work!
They must have the wrong place. There's no innovation or new ideas around my office.
Re:hmmm... (Score:4, Interesting)
that "...small, windowless room high up in a San Francisco office building (that) gets no service at all." sure has one hell of a view according to the pic in TFA.
The shielded room, about the size of a walk-in closet, only has space for a small desk, a couple of chairs and a bank of network equipment. It isn't meant to stay wireless-free. Instead, Verizon engineers use current and emerging wireless gear to create special radio environments for testing.
The "shielded room" is a small part of the VIC.
Re: hmmm... (Score:2)
I used to work at a contractor that built radio based stuff. It was intended for at-sea use, so the devices were overpowered and overlapped with regular radio and TV so testing needed to be contained. We had whole labs 20x30 and bigger with copper mesh under the cheap tacky paneling, even the doors had mesh seals so the rooms were a perfect Faraday's cage.
It's been 10 years since I worked there... Those would be Awesome for NOT getting signals now!
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and stories like this are ran every year.
every radio developer and most bigger operators have such rooms and cages, usually with equipment to simulate wireless coverage of varying qualities.
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These rooms are common for anywhere people build radio products. We had dozens in an auto radio group I worked in. You also need them so you can run test broadcasts without it escaping to mess with the real world.
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that "...small, windowless room high up in a San Francisco office building (that) gets no service at all." sure has one hell of a view according to the pic in TFA.
it get's even more interesting when the ground starts moving...
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that "...small, windowless room high up in a San Francisco office building (that) gets no service at all." sure has one hell of a view according to the pic in TFA.
That's not the room.
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RF chambers feel like coffins and definitely are not for the claustrophobic. Additionally they are not that rare . Anechoic chambers are in practically every place that does RF testing or RF engineering. See if you can find one at your local University. This article was clearly not written for scientists or engineers.
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RF chambers feel like coffins and definitely are not for the claustrophobic. Additionally they are not that rare . Anechoic chambers are in practically every place that does RF testing or RF engineering. See if you can find one at your local University. This article was clearly not written for scientists or engineers.
Right you are. People also forget that every MRI machine, in every hospital, everywhere in the world, is in a totally shielded room (and much, much larger than the little test closet in the article.)
So reading about a room (closet really) that "Oh my golly gosh - has NO cel service!!!. Imagine that!!" is kinda lame.
MRI RF Shielding specifications
Copper soldered RF shielded enclosure for MRI scanner
SECTION 13095 RADIO FREQUENCY SHIELDING FOR MRI SOLDERED COPPER RF SYSTEM
PART 1 - GENERAL
1.1 DESCRIPTION
The p
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8 years ago, I worked for a wireless manufacturer in San Diego - and we had a room like this. It's an amazing new (177 year old) invention called a Faraday cage.
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This is Verizon we're talking about - so its about on par for them catching up with modern tech :-)
Eh? (Score:2, Insightful)
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Is there a good reason why the blurb for this is so poorly worded/written?
The editors must be furlough-ed?
Please pass the budget or /. will have poorly worded summaries!
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"The editors must be furlough-ed?"
Editors?
You must be new here. Slashdot has never had editors.
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Probably because the article that the blurb is about is also poorly written.
Because it's an advertorial? (Score:1)
Please, please, please, please... (Score:4, Insightful)
Not only are they surprisingly bad at it (hands up, everyone who ever had the pleasure of a phone with a fully Verizoned ROM, or a Comcast-rented cable box UI); but the conflicts of interest inherent between offering a product or service and controlling the infrastructure over which that offering is delivered are irreconcilably dangerous.
Faraday Cage (Score:4, Insightful)
It is called a Faraday Cage [wikipedia.org] and it works very well at blocking RF signals. Pix.... [google.com]
I helped assemble one many years ago. There was an FM radio inside the cage that would receive the local campus station quite well...until the cage door was closed, then would just hiss.
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I studied your pix and was intrigued by one that seemed out of place... In six months, when Verizon shuts down the innovation centre after if fails to return 1 bajillion dollars for every thousand poured in, they could rent the room to this lady: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2236215/Woman-51-spends-15-hours-day-a-Faraday-cage-claims-intolerant-modern-technology.html [dailymail.co.uk] At least then she'll have what is likely to be a real Faraday cage.
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Different frequencies get blocked though. One at work being built with ferrite tiles for a large amount of money because of the frequency range that needs testing. It's one thing to be in a typical shielded room that has a wire mess, a bit more claustrophobic to be in one with tin plated walls, but creepy to be in a room covered in dull black squares.
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A room with no service? (Score:1)
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Commercial Radio Studios (Score:3, Insightful)
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If you go to your home improvement stores, you can buy "magnetic paint" that significantly attenuates RF. Two coats and running the paint over a copper strip that goes to the outlet ground will make a HUGE dent in RF penetration into a room. It has an incredibly high iron content and it is decently conductive.
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I agree, or make airplanes out of metal. I am so tired of these wood and cloth airplanes that Delta has been flying.
where Verizon network and business experts ... (Score:3)
There. FTFY.
Come on, Verizon. Charging EXTRA to tether when they're ALREADY paying for the data?
Booooooooo.
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I asked to get out of contract because they weren't holding up their end of the service and they wouldn't let me go. Apparently Verizon gives one sided contracts where they don't have to provide a service on their end, but you need to still pay them. PS: A Faraday's cage isn't impressive technology, they teach undergrads and possibly highschoolers how to make em.
translation (Score:2)
A small, windowless room high up in a San Francisco office building gets no service at all...... because Verizon is paying so much attention to what's going on there.
If you're wondering, that means that they've built a faraday cage the size of a room. They're a lot of fun if you can get one.
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If you're wondering, that means that they've built a faraday cage the size of a room. They're a lot of fun if you can get one.
In what way? Every company I've ever worked at has either had one, or bought time in one. They suck. They're poorly ventilated, noisy & hot (from all the equipment running in a confined space), and if you forget to leave your phone outside, they'll kill your battery.
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and just turning your phone off is cheaper and just as fun.
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Holy shield room, Batman! (Score:5, Insightful)
Anybody who develops or tests radio receivers of any kind (including cell phones) has one or more shield rooms - it's no big deal. As a more economical (though less effective) alternative, many also have screen rooms, which are little rooms built out of two-by-fours that are surrounded with copper screening. It's about as amazing as the fact that Ben & Jerry's R&D department has a freezer.
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Re:Holy shield room, Batman! (Score:4, Funny)
"In Room With No Heat, Ben & Jerry's Works On Future of Ice Cream"
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No heat? What are you talking about, it must be 250 kelvins in there.
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"In Room With No Heat, Ben & Jerry's Works On Future of Ice Cream"
Good one, wish I'd thought of that. :-)
What will they come up with next? (Score:2)
* Innovative means of continuing to maintain a completely locked down network, even in the face of FCC regulations regarding LTE, in the name of security.
* Forcing device manufacturers to lock down bootloaders such that only Verizon can issue security updates.
* Failing to issue said security updates, creating insecure devices, forcing customers to upgrade.
* Requiring upgrading customers to obtain a downgraded (limited) data plan in order to qualify for subsidized phones. (You're
Rogers (Score:2)
That's nothing. All of Canada is blocking Rogers cell service
Perhaps they could steal some innovation (Score:2)
why didn't they just come over to my house? (Score:2)
the bars I get on my verizon iphone 4 are there for looks only. the moment i step into my house, all bets are off. I can go from 4 to 0 to 1 to 4 and back, just sitting in the same fucking location.
WiFi Is The Answer (Score:1)
spam spam spam (Score:1)
spammity spam!
Fuck off, Samzenpus.
Have you seen Apple's version of a testing room? (Score:1)