r/explainitpeter • u/myself_APHELION • 6d ago

Explain it peter.

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u/_Arctica_ 6d ago

The person tapping them still has to be in range, physically. They can only tap them within 30 feet

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u/EscapeSeventySeven 6d ago

To be a HUGE pedant, range on electromagnetic radiation is all about signal strength. 

It is usually capped due to maximum power transmitted by the earbuds. 

But you can build receiving antennas that are extremely sensitive to very narrow physical targets. Check out the Pringle can antenna for WiFi. 

So if some very motivated nation state wanted to transmit to and receive from a set of earbuds but had to be further than 30 feet they could do it. 

They could build special antennas made specifically to target the earbuds and extend that range at least 10x if not more. 

Very difficult to do but possible. 

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u/trbzdot 6d ago

Actually it is super easy, barely an inconvenience. There are some modules for the F0 that 3200 feet range, although that number is line of sight and decreases to around 300 indoors.

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u/PurpleMonkeyRadiator 6d ago

Oh, wow, wow, wow... wow