Green Bank America’s Town Without Wi-Fi or Cell Phones

Green Bank America's Town Without Wi-Fi or Cell Phones

In West Virginia state of the US, a few hours south of Pittsburgh, there exists a town where the use of cell phones is prohibited. In this unique location, Wi-Fi access is restricted, and locating a radio station can prove to be quite challenging.

Green Bank is commonly known as the quietest town in America. Visitors to this unique location must depend on conventional navigation methods, such as reading road signs since GPS signals become ineffective near the town.

This charming community is home to two churches, a primary school, a library, and the largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world. Despite its proximity—only a four-hour drive from Washington, —the town lacks Wi-Fi internet service.

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The underlying reason for this absence of modern connectivity is that Green Bank is situated within the National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ), a distinctive area established in 1958 that covers 33,000 square kilometers.

An American Town without Wi-Fi or Mobile Phones

The NRQZ was created to reduce radio frequency interference.

The Green Bank Observatory, which contains the steerable radio telescope, is located here.

To protect the functionality of the telescope, the use of technologies that emit electromagnetic waves, including Wi-Fi and microwave ovens, is strictly forbidden in the vicinity.