Aside from the inconvenience, it ruins phone sex

May 13, 2009 8:33 AM

What can I do to help a friend with interference issues causing phone problems in her house?

My friend has virtually no cell reception inside her house, so she still has a landline. She has two 2.4GHz cordless phones, neither of which works in the southwest corner of the house. They can initiate and receive calls, but there is very loud static that prevents either party from hearing.

That corner of the house (her bedroom and bath) is where the house's power line enters. I'm guessing this may be the origin of the interference, but I'm no engineer. She's tried various locations for the phone bases, with no appreciable difference (both within the room and in other upstairs rooms). The static dissipates immediately after leaving the bedroom, just a foot or two into the hallway and it's gone.

Other info, in case it's relevant:
- Under the bedroom is the garage, which does have a remote door opener.
- The computer is more than 20 feet away. There is no wireless.
- She has Dish Network. I don't remember where the satellite is, but it is possible that it is in direct proximity to the bedroom.
- In the bedroom within 24" of the wall corner where the power line enters (but approx. 4' below), are an LCD TV, Dish box, and iPod docking station.
- The building in question is a single-family house with over 30' of clearance on each side from neighbors. There is no nearby power substation or anything.

What, if anything, can I do to help her be able to use her phone in her bedroom?

posted by notashroom to technology (7 comments total)

One more bit of info: She as put filters on the phone lines, with no detectable difference to the static.
posted by notashroom at 8:42 AM on May 13

To eliminate a possible problem, have her try to borrow a non-cordless phone that plugs straight into the wall. If she still gets the static, it could be a loose connection where the outside telephone connects to the house. I had a similar problem that I thought was cordless interference, but it was solved by tracing back the wiring in the basement and finding a loose connection.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 8:48 AM on May 13

If the phone line checks out ok maybe she can try some newer phones that operate at 5 GHz?
posted by COD at 8:55 AM on May 13

Two craigslist-friendly troubleshooting options:

An old wired phone will tell you if it's the line or the interference
900GHz cordless is less susceptible to interference. Sounds worse, but has longer range.
posted by rhizome at 11:32 AM on May 13

Got any WiFi going in the house? Does the neighbor? Switch to either a DECT or 5Ghz cordless phone.
posted by bz at 5:05 PM on May 13

Oops. Missed the "no wireless" point up there. But, again, I stress that this can be coming from somewhere outside of the home.
posted by bz at 5:07 PM on May 13

Thanks for the input. She has the telco coming out to replace the wall jacks (since she's been paying for line insurance, why not?) and we're going to try disconnecting the electronics in the bedroom and see if that makes a difference. We'll also try the corded/900 MHz suggestions if we can find the phones.

I'm pretty sure it's not the actual phone lines, because it happens with all 3 phones, both bases, only in this one corner of the house. Everywhere else is as clear as you could want. The elderly neighbor on that side does not have WiFi.
posted by notashroom at 12:16 PM on May 14