UK Bar Blocks Cell Phone Signals to Get People Talking to Each Other Again

Because disconnecting to connect should be one of life's goals.

Gone are the days when people in restaurants and other places sat down, talked, and got to know each other better.

In this day and age, almost everyone sharing a meal hardly ever glance at each other. Everyone’s caught up in their electronic devices, be it mobile phones, tablets, or laptop computers.

One bar in Sussex, England wants to reverse this trend once and for all.

They’ve installed a cell signal blocker to prevent cellphone usage in the premises.

Source: Liam Norris/Getty Images/Cultura Exclusive

The Gin Tub is looking to help people actively connect by disconnecting them from their devices. With every other establishment boasting free Wi-Fi for their patrons, Gin Tub bar owner Steve Tyler decided his pub would be a signal dead zone.

Tyler, who admits hating the effect smart phones have on social gatherings, installed a Faraday cage to block all phone signals inside his bar.

Tyler at the Gin Tub.

Source: BBC

A Faraday cage is a 19th-century invention that consists of a metal cage which traps electromagnetic waves and affects any device containing a radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip or Near-field Communication (NFC).

A small version of a Faraday cage.

Source: Fabian Bimmer/AP

Because it doesn’t jam signals and only prevents them from entering, it is legal in the U.K. under the 2006 Wireless Telegraphy Act.

No one can use their phone.

Source: Geek

Which encourages people to talk to each other instead of burying their faces in their electronic devices.

To compensate, there are old style rotary phones placed strategically so customers can order drinks or call people at other tables.

What a novel way to hit up someone at a bar.

Source: Gin Tub

Tyler outfitted the whole Gin Tub into a giant Faraday cage, installing copper wire mesh on the ceiling, and tin foil on the walls.

This effectively blocks all cell phone signals from getting into the pub.

Source: Geek

“It’s not military grade,” Tyler says, but “it does its job.”

Tyler is all for bringing conversation back to social establishments. Getting his patrons to become more social instead of anti-social makes for a fun and exciting bar.

After all, it’s good for business.