Camping with a keyless entry car
I've recently just bought a car with keyless entry. It's great when you're carrying shopping etc and you just have to swing your foot under the bumper to have the boot opened for you but then I got thinking of when we're away in the caravan.
If we have the keys in the van with us they are going to be very close to the car. In theory the car will be able to be opened by anyone passing just by pulling the door handles or swinging their foot under the rear bumper. How do other people deal with this issue, I can't be the first one to have this potential issue?!?
Would the key not be able to transmit to the car if I keep the keys in a small tin whilst in the caravan?
Any advice would be handy, thanks in advance.
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Varies between manufacturers but my wifes car will operate within 1 metre, outside of that and it stays locked. Of course keyless fobs are always transmitting and there lies there fault in that theives with the right equipment can intercept that code.
If you are worried about the range or thieves then purchase a cheap Faraday bag from the likes of Amazon.
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Brilliant Metheven, didn't know you could buy such items. I'll get one ordered after this reply.
My mate had his keyless Mondeo stolen from outside a hotel in Birmingham last year. CCTV showed they didn't even break a window, all by electronics. I've since used a disk lock on the steering wheel to at least put some people off. This is the first time I've had a keyless entry car though and although handy it's the same as anything new, it just creates different problems rather than solves anything completely 😫
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I had keyless and tried a Faraday Bag that is supposed to block the signal but some testing seemed to throw doubts on its effectiveness. Tin boxes don`t work that well, its a copper that apparently lines a Faraday Bag. The VW then Mercedes I`ve had needed the key within about a metre. The bigger risk especially in the larger cities - Manchester is deemed a hotspot is having the car stolen off the drive simply by a thief amplifying the signal from the key in the house, he`s able to open the car, start it and its in a container at Felixstowe before the owner wakes up.
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My keyless entry doesn't work unless I physically have the key fob on my person. I have stood next to my son without touching him and he couldn't open door. I do use a faraday bag when at home and one in caravan just for extra security. I have tried to open door with key in bag and bag in pocket and wouldn't open till removed from bag.
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The key has to be within 80cm on my car to work.
As regards faraday bags, having read an article in my paper about the method employed by thieves, I made my own version. I had a small tin which is just large enough to fit my key fob and the spare. I lined this with kitchen foil and it works.
I've tested it by taking the tin within 80cm of the car door and with the keys in the tin I can't open the door but as soon as I take one key out of the tin the door unlocks.🤓
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My Land Rover was picked up for a service and went several miles before the driver noticed the warning that the key was not detected. Do not know how far it would have gone, but it would have been plenty to load into a container.
we have faraday pouches and they work on both our cars.
we also have faraday wallets/purses to protect our bank cards.
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When the professionals steal the car they have a device which duplicates the key signal so the car thinks a key is in the car. It's the sort of device that would help you out if you lost your key and needed rescuing I imagine.
I thought I'd do a test this morning and parked next to my caravan. Keys in the van I tried to access the car. It allowed me to open the boot no problem but not the car doors. On further investigation my car (Merc C220) needs to have the key within 1 metre from whichever door is being opened at the time. However, when I park on site sometimes it will be within that meaning a door could be opened by anyone walking past. I've ordered a key bag and I'll try wrapping it in foil if it doesn't work.
I know you can't cover for every eventuality but after seeing my mates car stolen so easily it did make me a little wary.
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Thanks [Deleted User User]. 😊
I did buy a disc lock to go on the steering wheel last year. I travel around the UK with my job, often staying in hotels. When my mates car got taken one night in Birmingham it was a real shock so I bought the steering lock then and have used it ever since when parking in public places. I know it might not stop a theft but they might think twice about taking mine.
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I always keep the electronic key in an old tobacco tin lined with cooking foil. A home made Faraday Cage.
Tested it and it works to block the keys signal even when standing next to the car.
Without the foil the signal still gets through the tin and can then be picked up by an electronic scanner, duplicated and car nicked.
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I’m a little confused about the relaying of your fob’s signal explanation. Our keyless entry car is rather fussy about unlocking the doors unless the fob is very close, and the engine stops shortly after the fob is taken out of range. So when a thief manages to detect your fob, inside your house, and relays its signal to a mate who is standing next to the car, the doors will open and the engine start. But once the car has been driven away, the engine will cut off as soon the replayed signal is lost. A powerful relay transmitter will keep the signal going as long as the first thief stays close to the owner’s house/ fob - which isn’t ideal from the point of view of avoiding detection. So we’re left with a need to quickly load the stolen car into a truck, onto a trailer etc. By now we’ve moved into seriously professional theft. Which requires silence, proximity and additional transport.
We know that these thefts do take place, so overcoming the above obstacles can certainly be done. But the physical presence of car transporters and their very obvious presence might mean that many locations aren’t practical for thieves. That unsuitability would particularly apply to caravan sites.
Just thoughts.
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My son's girlfriend has a Renault with keyless start/entry. My son drove it around the block while it's key remained with us .... we didn't find out what would happen if it was switched off while at its furthest point. 🤔
We'll have a play with my daughter's keyless start Yaris sometime.
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On ours i do not need to "fumble" for the fob in a pocket when " OH has loaded me with bags as i just touch either front door handle "button"to open the car or boot door,and just push "start button" when going, so just keep fob in my pocket
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My last car had both facilities - the totally keyless as described by JVB, or the ability to use the push buttons as per Brue's car. The best of both I think.
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Depending on the make of vehicle you own the keyless mode can be turned off, before I turned my keyless entry off |I used to keep the keys in a tin box and even standing next to the car the doors would not open.
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If a thief traces your key fob in the house, the laptop that he/she uses to do this copies the key fob and then acts as a key to steal the vehicle, they can then buy a spare key of the internet and transfer the codes from laptop to the key and use car with cloned number plate to commit more crimes.
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I considered the scenario which you described, before posting. But I couldn’t find any reports of computers storing the key fob code for keyless entry, though there are plenty for capturing data from traditional remotes. Certainly there are reports of amplifiers picking up the code from a keyless entry fob and relaying it. Which leaves me wondering why I can’t find anyone describing the computer code storage method - unless the fob code changes dynamically to be matched by an identical dynamic change within the car. Synchronisation could easily be achieved by an initialisation code.
But I don’t know and I suspect that manufacturers won’t want me to.
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