Would a wireless network affect the remote control

I know this is very random but if I park outside our local shops then I struggle to lock my car using the remote key fob. It takes 5 or 6 attempts to lock and then similar to unlock the car.
If I lock the car using the key then the alarm goes off when I unlock the car and open the door.
Other than this the remote and alarm work fine.

Could it be that one of the shops has a wireless network that is interfering with the alarm signal or are the frequencies totally different?

YES YES YES

may not be a wireless network, but something on the radio waves

Does same to my disco AND triumph STR at tesco's in York and seen honda CRV and a couple of other cars being pushed away from under the canopy for the remotes to work properly

not an issue on the bike, but attendants are a bit annoyed at being asked to push disco and other cars out of way. This is also known to happen near radar stations on N Yorks moors (hush hush can't mention the names)

and heard an urban rumour that it happened in more places when gulf war was on as all signals from Iraq were directed to Menwith Hill (bugger mentioned it) and other way round

Would this happen anywhere near an emergency services station (police / ambulance / fire service etc)?? If so then you could well be having interference from TETRA radio. There's a local control office that has TETRA near me, and the RAC/AA men are always having to tow people away from it to get them started. If you google TETRA you can find out the frequencies that it uses, and some of them match remote locking fobs:doh:

My immobilisor came on for no reason down a local estate once, nothing I would do would sort it, eventually the RAC man arrived and it started 1st turn. He mentioned it was probably a wireless network interfering with the fob that has now probably been turned off, I have been down that estate countless times before and after and have never encountered the problem again, I personally think it was the spider playing up but these things obviously do happen enough for the RAC to be aware of it.

most if not all keyfobs work in the freq of 433.975 Mhz give or take a few Kilo herts.

this freq is in part of the ham radio band but it is also the same freq as a lot of other bits of kit they do not need a liecence ie keyfobs
some cheap nasty video senders use the same freq to send its audio

I dout that is the shops wireless network assuming you mean wifi which is usually on the 2.4Ghz band or 5Ghz. if others are having probs at the same place.it could be worth having a word with the local radio ham club and seeing if one of the lads there can pick up the freq in the carpark.once you know the source usually a polite letter to the shop if privatly owned or its head office.

some times places have stuff installed by a subcontractor thats good for its job but should not be sold or used in the uk. A polite letter informing them this and asking them To remove such problem usually does the trick. also refer to OFcom in the letter. As most places dont want a visit from them as it could end up with a fine for them.

But also a lot of other remote control equipment uses the same freq and is allowed in the UK
not much can be done about them. one of the common things is the X10 home automation systems use the same freq. and some telematic systems also use it as well. like home power monitors which continually transmit. Aswell as some remote water meters as well

elmer_d said:

YES YES YES

may not be a wireless network, but something on the radio waves

Does same to my disco AND triumph STR at tesco's in York and seen honda CRV and a couple of other cars being pushed away from under the canopy for the remotes to work properly

not an issue on the bike, but attendants are a bit annoyed at being asked to push disco and other cars out of way. This is also known to happen near radar stations on N Yorks moors (hush hush can't mention the names)

and heard an urban rumour that it happened in more places when gulf war was on as all signals from Iraq were directed to Menwith Hill (bugger mentioned it) and other way round

Click to expand...

yeah me too at Tesco's - Clifton Moor. Immobiliser came on twice and remote fob wouldnt work. Should have seen the queue behind me

There is a spot outside our work where td5s won't start sometimes. You never know when it's gonna catch you out, but roll em back 10 feet and it's fine again.

I just lol it

Thank you for the replies. I guess I am going to have to find somewhere else to park.

I have heard that on Disco Td5's that if you hold the plipper close to the centre of the windscreen, it will often work - the receiver is mounted above the rear view mirror so the closer you can get the keyfob to that would make sense.

I go past a shopping centre where I live on the bus, and I have a portable radio. The distortion near there is amazing, and I have spoken to one Disco owner who had this exact problem.

As someone who works in IT, I agree with the above poster - it's unlikley a WiFi network would be powerful enough to cause this problem.

Cheers!

The answer is YES!!

Take a look at this -

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9346846.print/

Take a look at this -

Mysterious interference locks drivers out of cars at Tesco petrol filling station (From York Press)

It is well documented that interference can cause problems with many radio based alarm/unlocking systems.

However, as I and another poster said, this is very unlikely to be a WiFi network - they are not that powerful and work on a completely different frequency range.

So it's not likely to be a wireless network but some other source of electromagnetic interference.

Cheers!

not know all details and not having the test equipment any more.

most key fobs for uk cars are in the freq range of 433.975 Mhz
the recievers in the cars are of a wide reciever so they will prob pic up the freqs from about 433.500 to 434.000Mhz.

Im stabbing in the dark here but it is poss and plausable
how many people have those Ipod rf tansmitters so you can hook you ipod to your car and tuning the radio in to a freq about 108 Mhz so you can hear your ipod or whatever or your phone via a bluetooth adapter

3-in-1 Bluetooth® Stereo Headset, Hands-Free Car Kit and FM Transmitter : FM Transmitters : Maplin Electronics


those transmitters are not that narrow so give of a wide spectrum. plus its harmonics from it ie 4th harmonic 180*4= 432.000 mhz.
Now I dont know the range on these things. but its harmonics could just be enough to deafen the car alarm reciever so it does not recieve you fob signal.

I have recently had this problem, it first started back in February at my parents house, on the week it snowed !!

Nothing would get it going so I had it flatbedded to my local LR specialist and whilst my lovely warm 4X4 was bring looked at I did the 45 mile round trip to work through the snow on my 400cc Scooter !!

Turns out they can't find any fault but the central locking wont work and the immobiliser cuts in within about 150m of the house so I have to Park the car down the road and walk back up.

The problem is always there and other people are experiencing similar problems, I've contacted Ofcom but as yet no response :-(

The point here that everyone has missed is that its not just the EXACT frequency that matters.The RF receiver on P38's for instance will accept just about any strong rf near it - which causes the flat battery issues.The newer the LR the more chance you have of the rf receiver being a bit more selective,the YWY500170 upgrade for P38's really does work,but until the automotive industry pay for specific bandwidth,(Unlikely) you will get odd problems like these.Saying all of that,the DII is alot better in this respect.

We've not long had antennaes fitted to the street lamps at work (some kind of radio control switch on thingy) lo and behold everyone with a land rover has to park elsewhere! Key fob and immobiliser issues.

We live in a small village near Ipswich and have just had a relay for street lamps erected in the village, we don't even have street lights, and now have intermittant problems with our freelander locking system - either won't lock or unlock. My husbands ford transit is also having problems with his locking and alarm system. As soon as we move the vehicles off the drive they work ok and it is only a problem for part of the day and evening.

Also try getting in touch with local ham radio club they might be helpfull in tracking the source down unless your in ne lincolnshire and i can pop over

this also happens in danbury essex, right near the school, so you can understand the chaos it causes on the school run.......lazy sods should walk anyway.............

Graham Carter said:

I have heard that on Disco Td5's that if you hold the plipper close to the centre of the windscreen, it will often work - the receiver is mounted above the rear view mirror so the closer you can get the keyfob to that would make sense.

I go past a shopping centre where I live on the bus, and I have a portable radio. The distortion near there is amazing, and I have spoken to one Disco owner who had this exact problem.

As someone who works in IT, I agree with the above poster - it's unlikley a WiFi network would be powerful enough to cause this problem.

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Er, no it's not ! It's mounted between the roof and the headlining just in front of the rear sunroof.