Best faraday pouch - advice please

[MakaveliX]

I tend to find the halfords/amazon pouches work for a couple of weeks then stop working as I'm able to unlock the car when stood right next to the door when I'd assume it's supposed to block all signals.

I found some decent looking ones by a brand called "defender" they are supposed to be the best ones going...
https://defendersecurityproducts.co.uk/shop/crimeb...

What do you guys think? It must be small enough to fit in me pocket.
At home I do have a faraday cage which I always use for a second layer of protection

Thanks

[MitchT]

I'm interested in this too as I'm after a used BMW 440i and most of them have comfort access so I'll probably be stuck with it. How could a Faraday pouch stop working though?

[Philv8s]

I have an Ananta box from Amazon, nice size and looks nice. Easy to Chuck keys in and forget.

[MakaveliX]

MitchT said:

I'm interested in this too as I'm after a used BMW 440i and most of them have comfort access so I'll probably be stuck with it. How could a Faraday pouch stop working though?

I'd assume due to it being cheap and constantly opening/closing the pouch is what I've heard

[georgeyboy12345]

Boxes are better than pouches. I guess not great if you want protection when out and about. I just use a box as it's most likely to get nicked off my driveway at home. I got one from Argos I think

[ChrisH72]

I've had a defender pouch for over 2 years, used everyday and still works fine. I'm sure it was pretty cheap.

One slightly obvious but important point is to make sure you put the key in the correct pocket of the pouch, usually clearly marked. If you put it in the wrong bit it won't work!

[shtu]

MakaveliX said:

I found some decent looking ones by a brand called "defender" they are supposed to be the best ones going...
https://defendersecurityproducts.co.uk/shop/crimeb...

I have one of that brand, it works fine.

Is it "The Best"? Who knows?

[Rozzers]

I too have a box from Argos, still shields effectively.

[anonymous-user]

I have a Skamz one from Amazon. Still works after almost 3 years but just need to remember to close the flap each time. Well worth the money and very well made.

[Ninja59]

Another box user here, had 2 pouches previously both failed over time, I think the lining at the folds begins to fail more.

[MakaveliX]

MitchT said:

I'm interested in this too as I'm after a used BMW 440i and most of them have comfort access so I'll probably be stuck with it. How could a Faraday pouch stop working though?

Could you not ask BMW to remove the keyless entry system altogether?

[SteveR1979]

MitchT said:

I'm interested in this too as I'm after a used BMW 440i and most of them have comfort access so I'll probably be stuck with it. How could a Faraday pouch stop working though?

Same issue with my 440i.

I ended up with a box. I decided that I didn't need a pouch when out and about!

[SteveR1979]

MakaveliX said:

Could you not ask BMW to remove the keyless entry system altogether?

Apparently not without rewiring a chunk of the car

[rallycross]

Repurpose an existing household favourite!



Or

[anonymous-user]

Apologies for my ignorance but what is a Farady Pouch and why do people need one? I looked on Internet and it waffled on about blocking phone signals or something?

[Mr Tidy]

MakaveliX said:

MitchT said:

I'm interested in this too as I'm after a used BMW 440i and most of them have comfort access so I'll probably be stuck with it. How could a Faraday pouch stop working though?

Could you not ask BMW to remove the keyless entry system altogether?

Or just buy a BMW that doesn't have this pointless keyless "feature"!

[anonymous-user]

Mr Tidy said:

Or just buy a BMW that doesn't have this pointless keyless "feature"!

Unless you buy a base model Dacia they seem to throw it in with everything now. I can turn it off on my MX5 (nobody nicks them anyway) but not on any of the other cars I've had that came with it.

[hidetheelephants]

biggbn said:

Apologies for my ignorance but what is a Farady Pouch and why do people need one? I looked on Internet and it waffled on about blocking phone signals or something?

The thread is about storage of cards/transducers for keyless entry to cars, but faraday pouches also protect against nefarious types scanning bank/credit cards that have contactless payment.

[donkmeister]

biggbn said:

Apologies for my ignorance but what is a Farady Pouch and why do people need one? I looked on Internet and it waffled on about blocking phone signals or something?

A Faraday cage is a "box" (I use the word box loosely - they can be the size of buildings) made of a conductive material (usually steel mesh or even steel plate). EM waves (including radio waves) cannot penetrate the box so traditionally you use a Faraday cage to shield equipment from EM coming from outside (e.g. you have an experiment running that is sensitive to spurious EM fields), or to contain EM that you don't want to leave the cage.

Think about how when you go into a lift whilst making a phonecall, often you lose signal. This is because you have just taken your radio device (phone) inside an unintended Faraday cage. Lifts aren't designed for the purpose so have lots of gaps for signals to penetrate so it's not foolproof. The sort of building sized cage you get in a lab has fancy details around the doors and places where cables and ductwork penetrate in order to maintain shielding so you literally cannot get a signal in or out with a phone.

A Faraday pouch is the same idea but in a convenient form for holding car keys. It's a flexible, conductive woven material rather than a solid box, it is basically just good enough, when properly closed, to stop a car key and a car from communicating via RF. I've not had one fail but I suspect the velcro goes or the material wears on the bends, thus allowing signal leakage.

[Draxindustries1]

A cheaper and much stronger faraday box is in the form of a ammo box which EOD use, available from any army surplus , around a fiver.