This bar blocks Wi-Fi signals to make its patrons more social - CNET

Steve Tyler decided to do something about it. He owns the Gin Tub bar in Hove, England. He got fed up with customers not talking to each other.

So he tued to science. As Sky News reports, he built a Faraday cage around the the bar in order to block Wi-Fi signals. That would be a structure of conductive material that acts as a hindrance to unwanted advances by electrical currents or radio waves. Some are fancier than others.

"It's not difficult at all. It's silver foil in the walls and it's copper mesh," he told Sky News.

He added: "It's not the perfect system, it's not military grade. The Americans are still listening."

That's a relief.

It's not entirely clear whether this is legal. In the US, authorities have frowned on those who, for example, use jammers to block cell phone signals.

In the UK, Faraday cages appear to be open to interpretation, as they don't proactively block a signal. They merely make it difficult to get one.

On the bar's Facebook page, some are enamored of the cage. But not everyone.

"I'd avoided a place like this because of the threat of terrorism. What if we, as customers got trapped in the building during an attack, we can't call for help!" wrote Si O Connor.

The Gin Tub didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.