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Is Remote Keyless Entry Any Safer Than It Used to Be?
Clue4All asks: "The time has come for me to start looking for a new car to buy after the winter snows have come and gone. Every car I'm interested in seems to come standard with Remote Keyless Entry with all their models. Has this technology become safer since I last bought a car? I remember seeing a news story years ago about burglars receiving signals used to open garage doors, and Google turned up articles like this from a few years ago. Apparently, some keyless entry systems now use "code hopping," which changes the signal after each use, making copying the signals pretty hard. I've requested information from a few car companies as to whether they employ such technology, what are your findings? Are these safe? I ask because I live in an apartment complex, not that I'd worry about anyone living around me doing something like this, but the thought is still there."
My wife's Saturn is a 97 and it uses code hopping. In fact the car gets pissed off if you only use the key to open the door if the alarm has been armed.
In Republican America phones tap you.
Anything installed from the factory is bound to be the cheapest possible component. AudioVox makes alot of these factory units (the car companies don't actually make their own car alarms)...But it depends on what kind of alarm is being installed...if it's sold for under $40k, most likely it doesn't have code hopping...so do what I did and buy a vehicle without an alarm and simply have a good one installed by a local shop that warantees their service (no crap from Wal-Mart or Best Buy).
It's true that modern security system installation is nothing but a connection kit...some of em don't even have to drill holes...but they can still skrew it up if they don't know what they're doing...
In most cases you're talking about $99 for a factory installed alarm. And a good unit from Viper (500ESP+) that will have the code hopping feature is gonna cost you at least $300. The other advantages of a GOOD alarm system is that you can install modules like power window/sunroof and remote start (for automatics).
Anyhow, it's not really smart to rely on those factory alarms for security.
Although I usually do not recommend this approach, consider obtaining security through obscurity.
:)
:) I'm just a happy customer.
Factory-installed keyless entry / remote starter systems all come from the same company, so if you get a Dodge Intrepid with an installed system, it will be identical to every other Dodge Intrepid's system. If you're afraid of someone scanning the remote's codes to gain access to your car, consider getting an aftermarket system. They're abundant in today's DYI market, and every automotive store carries a few different brands. Most of them are likely to have varying circuitry, varying frequencies, varying communication protocols, which make it that much harder and impractical for a would-be thief to get a scanner for (instead, get a scanner that caters to a wider "audience", if you will).
Naturally, a thief bent on stealing your car might get frustrated with not being able to crack your remote's code, perhaps to the point of using a jimmy and scratching the precious paint job, or even using a blunt object and simply breaking the glass. But at least your car will still be there
Personally, I use a remote system from ICDynamics. It gives me remote start, keyless entry and trunk release options, and that's good enough for me. Gets good range, too (over 300ft), so I can start my car up from the comfort of my home on days like today (a few degrees below freezing).
No, I do not work for them
Have EVDO, will travel.
Actually, I felt kinda dumb when I opened the manual and it described how the code hopping work and what the chances are that you would hit another keyless remote with the exact same signature.
I've seen the same description in other japanese autos manuals and remotes. (haven't played with the american domestics for a while though)
What if you have multiple remotes?
I read some technical literature on code-hopping remotes- you can have multiple remotes and so forth. A code hopping remote is a one-way device- it only transmits, and it transmits a different code each time you press the button. The reciever knows what the code was the last time you pressed the button, so it knows what the next code should be (they use very, very long pseudo-random sequences).
So what happens if you press the remote when you're too far away, or your 3 year old finds it in the car and presses it merrily for a few miles until he gets bored? If the current code is code N, the next to be transmitted is code N+1, and the next that the reciever will key on will be N+1 to some range of N+X where X is pretty large, but still far smaller than Y, the total number of different codes.
In addition to keying on something in the next group of X codes, another safeguard thats used is to key on two successive remote-keys- lets say my transmitter is out of sequence, say by A - the reciever is looking for a code between N+1 and N+X- it recieves the code N+A (where N+1N+AN+X) It won't key on that, but if the next code it recieves is N+A+1, it knows that it got the right sequence, and will only open after the next keypress.
For multiple remotes, it adds a separate domain to key upon(say, Y to Y+N)- slightly less secure, but of course the more keys there are for any door, the less secure it is.
True. I used to own a white Mazda Familia wagon, fairly anonymous, no extras at all except for air conditioning. I bought it because it was ideal for my needs at the time (low mileage, only a couple of years old, excellent condition, and I needed the luggage capacity of a wagon). It was stolen one night (Christmas Day, actually), and the police found it a couple of weeks later. They told me that from evidence found in the car it was apparent it had been used in a couple of jewellery store burglaries, and that meant they would've picked my car precisely because it was anonymous. So, not the sort of vehicle to rate a second glance from the kids who want a joy-ride, but ideal for thief transit to be dumped later on -- neither flashy nor ratty enough to draw attention.
The Remote Keyless Entry systems that automobile manufacturers install as standard equipment are there for convenience not for any added security over and above the key/ignition electromechanical interlocks and the standard alarm systems. Those impediments and deterrents to theft would be there regardless of the little remote dongle. (As several others have pointed out, a thief is going to get your car if he wants it bad enough.)
Frankly, my RKE dongle can be a pain in the ass. Depending on how it happens to twist in my pocket against the rest of the keychain, I can set off the panic button by turning just the right way.
--- "It annoyed me, so I fixed it." -- Tom's First Principle of Engineering
buy a steering wheel lock, like the Club
Those are completely useless. Yeah, they're case-hardened steel, but your steering wheel isn't. Thieves simply cut a chunk out of the wheel and remove the club.
It's already patented in the USA, UK, Europe-wide and is on sale in USA and Britain.
You can't patent things which other people have (well, you shouldn't be able to, anyway.)
Though this doesn't address what happens when a transmission gets missed (from interference or distance), but another reply covered that one pretty well...
It looks for codes that are n codes away from the next desired, as well. So if you hit the button n+1 times away from the receiver, you're buggered unless you can reset them both to code 0, but I can personally attest to this working. (I have a button-happy 18-month-old son).
they didn't steal your truck cause they were there to steal your radio. sounds like the alarm didn't help at all...
That's what I thought at first too, until I tried to start it and the ignition was all jacked up from them trying to start it. The alarm was a factory alarm, just honked, and as I said, i'm too far away from the truck at home to hear it when it goes off, that's why I suggest the CodeAlarm which beeps when the alarm goes off
-matt
Here in the Northeast US, I love not dealing with frozen locks in the winter. It's quite nice to be able to just "click" open the doors without dealing with lock de-icer on particularly nasty days.
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