Unlock My Car

Someone passed me an email with a list of unusual things that can be done with a cellphone. Included in the list was the ability to unlock your car remotely:

Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other “remote” for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk). Editor’s Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone!”

I am sure that it works. Provided that the person at home is within range of the car. In other words, the cellphone plays no role in unlocking the door.

Cellphones operate on signals above 800 MHz. Remote locks operate between 300 and 500 MHz. Cellphones transmit voice and data. A remote door lock works by sending a low-power radio signal to a receiver in the car. The radio signal is encrypted to work specifically with a car.

I suppose I could test this out myself, but why bother? Life is short for such foolishness.

However, some folks persist in perpetuating this urban legend. The comments on this post are amusing to read.