Comment by torginus

Comment by torginus 3 days ago

TIL: pagers still exist.

I wonder, if these devices could be suspect, why don't they order these cheap Chinese GSM modules. You can't hide explosives in those.

Also, afaik all GSM modules broadcast their IMEI numbers over the network. Explosives or not, I'm sure they can all be tracked and triangulated, since they talk to the towers. I don't think these things are secure anyways.

numpad0 3 days ago

Pagers are truly receive only. A pager is effectively a pocket FM radio fixed to one station, that vibrates when a relevant message was digitally read aloud on the radio.

GSM on the other hand is cellular and bidirectional so triangulation problem applies.

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cdchn 3 days ago

They might not have been GSM but one way POCSAG pagers.

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torginus 2 days ago

That would make sense, since there's no such thing as a one-way GSM device. GSM towers (cells) need to keep track of which devices are in their vicinity and do smooth handovers to neighboring towers.
I'm not sure how the protocol you mentioned works, but I'd imagine it still needs some info about the whereabouts of the receiver to route the messages to him.

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