It is more than likely that, when entering different elevators while talking on the phone, the call was cut off , it was heard with interference or it was impossible to continue the conversation. It is not something that only happens to low-end mobiles or to those people who have worse coverage in different areas. Rather, it is because of the elevator.
You may not know it, but if your call is cut off when you enter an elevator, it is because we have lost coverage. But why is there no signal in the elevators? This is the big question that many ask and it has an explanation. Although, it does not occur in all elevators , but it will depend on a series of factors that influence whether or not we will finally have coverage on the smartphone.
Faraday’s cage and its effect
Before starting to see exactly what is happening right now when you enter an elevator while talking on the phone or looking at Instagram, it is important to know what the Faraday Cage effect consists of . Basically, to understand this, we have to look back to the year 1836 , when the English scientist Michael Faraday discovered that a conductive material showed the effects of an electric discharge only on the outside.
With this observation of the scientist, everything pointed to indicate that the different loads of the conductor were distributed in such a way that they canceled the electric fields inside it. Therefore, in order to take his hypothesis for granted, he had to prove it. To do this, he even covered the walls of a room with aluminum sheets . Then, he began using an electrostatic generator to apply a high-voltage discharge to the outside of that same room. After the experiment, he verified with an electroscope that, inside the same room, there was no electric field.
Well, the same thing happens in an elevator . Basically, because these spaces are a kind of “cage” as well, since we are in a small metallic space that is completely closed, so it blocks or interferes with electromagnetic signals. And, among these, we find mobile coverage.
Does it happen in all elevators?
The answer is no. More than anything, because not all lifts are the same . Basically, it will be the material in which the elevators are manufactured and the way in which they are built, the factors that determine whether that space will finally have a mobile signal, the coverage that we have on the telephone will decrease or if, on the contrary, , it will completely prevent us from having a network on the smartphone when setting foot on it.
Also, in the event that we get stuck inside an elevator, and we don’t have a network, we will always have the emergency button inside it. This bidirectional emergency communication mechanism has a telephone line that communicates directly with the elevator maintenance company . And, in general, they are made of copper or fiber, so there will not be any type of coverage problem. Although, over time it has been established that this emergency communication is a mobile line.