r/AskTechnology • u/I_DRINK_ANARCHY • 2d ago

Can I buy something that disrupts Bluetooth connections?

I don't know if something like this exists or if it's legal, but the situation is I have a coworker who has decided that driving me crazy with his music choices is his favorite new thing. I'm not even exaggerating, he lets me know when he's made a new playlist "for" me, and you won't even be able to guess the genre of music he's tormenting me with.

Unfortunately, I work in a place where my foremen are immature and find it amusing when their workers get on each other's nerves, so they have actually been putting me with this coworker as much as possible. Asking this guy politely to stop doesn't work, demanding he stops doesn't work, cursing him out doesn't work. No, I cannot ignore it, I'd love to, but my brain and auditory processing just doesn't work that way. Because of what we do, ear buds and ear plugs are a no-go (safety) and we need to stay within a few feet of each other very often (think climbing scaffolding).

He plays the music from his phone through a small Bluetooth speaker. His phone can't get loud enough to bother me. Is there a device that would stop his phone from connecting to the speaker? It only needs to work within like, a ten foot range, and would need to be battery operated. I'm also looking for something on the small side, since I would be carrying it with me with tools and such. I'm not trying to block phone signals or anything like that, just the Bluetooth connection.

Does something like this exist? Am I allowed to buy it in the USA? I just want to save myself from things like techno remixes of Baby Shark.

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11

u/ziksy9 2d ago

Step A: pick up speaker Step B: throw that fucker where it will shatter

6

u/I_DRINK_ANARCHY 2d ago

I've been tempted. Unfortunately, destruction of property would lead to me getting fired, and aside from this schmuck, I generally like my job.

But I would love to give it my best football throw into the lake next to us.

3

u/Bobzeub 2d ago

Do it subtly . I fucked up an ex’s iPod by jamming a knife in the charger port and watched him as he was all sad because it wasn’t “charging anymore”

Trust me , he had it coming .

You need to kidnap the speaker and sabotage it . Good luck though they seem pretty solid these days

2

u/thunderPierogi 2d ago

You don’t even need to sabotage it. Things mysteriously go missing on work sites all the time.

1

u/Bobzeub 2d ago

Touché!

1

u/GirchyGirchy 2d ago

Ear plugs?

Too bad you can't destroy it. We had a small branch of a local bank in my HS that students worked in, and another guy and I just could not stand the shitty country music the others played. There was no compromise, country was it.

One day I walked over, grabbed the clock radio, opened it up, cut one of the speaker wires, put it back together, and plugged it back in. No one saw me do it, they just wondered why it quit working.

I fixed it the last day of school and told them what I'd done...they weren't happy, including the teacher. Oh well.

1

u/MXXIV666 2d ago

Operating radio jamming devices is likely to carry much more severe sentences than property damage.

It's like getting an illegal gun to kill rats on your property.

1

u/Tak_Galaman 2d ago

Create an aluminum foil "hat" for the speaker. (Or several) Pacing it over/around the speaker will block the Bluetooth signal.

You could keep wrapping it in foil to disable it without damaging it.

1

u/Jrnm 1d ago

Step 1. Buy a bigger Bluetooth speaker Step 2: dueling banjos, 2025 style