cell phone static and home stereos

March 29, 2008 12:17 PM

Why does my cellular phone cause my home stereo speakers to make strange noises? Sometimes it happens when a call is about to come in, but mostly it just happens periodically for seemingly no reason. It sounds like strange beepy static and it happpens much more frequently now that I switched to an iPhone. Is there a way to stop this besides throwing my iPhone across the room?
posted by minicloud to technology (11 comments total)

Bluetooth will do this when placed near anything even remotely electronic. It can become a real PIA sometimes.
posted by Gungho at 12:26 PM on March 29, 2008

Previously.
posted by jjg at 12:26 PM on March 29, 2008

It's not bluetooth, it's GSM (?) - the normal data/voice communication protocol used by AT&T and most other carriers. Some phones are worse than others, and the iPhone is the worst I've ever seen.

No, there's no way to stop it unless you keep your iPhone in a tin-foil case. I tend to keep mine in the other room while I'm in my office to avoid the noise, which is frankly quite silly.

The "periodically for seemingly no reason" is probably when the phone checks email, so you could at least change that setting if your email isn't time-critical...
posted by mmoncur at 12:29 PM on March 29, 2008

Ahhhh, thanks jjg. I guess I didn't use the right search terms when looking for a previous post!
posted by minicloud at 12:29 PM on March 29, 2008

my iphone does it a lot
posted by Salvatorparadise at 1:19 PM on March 29, 2008

I tend to put my iPhone in airplane mode when I'm on a call on my office phone. My standard office phone picks up the buzz worse than anything else. No buzzes when the phone part of the iPhone is shut off.
posted by advicepig at 2:18 PM on March 29, 2008

I've noticed a decent change if I just rotate the phone 180 degrees away from whatever makes the noise. Often, just a foot or two of movement away makes a difference.
posted by nevercalm at 2:27 PM on March 29, 2008

From what I understand, the problem is with uninsulated speakers that are prone to interference from radio waves and other waves, some speakers will even pick up radio signals so you can listen to the radio on them. The solution is not to put your phone in tinfoil, but put your speakers in it. Of course then they'd sound like crap...
posted by Sonic_Molson at 4:04 PM on March 29, 2008

I get what it is, and all but I have been surprised by where I do and don't have this problem. At work I have it near the computer speakers but never the speaker phone. Also I have an old 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix and I never have it there. My 99 Acura, 93 Lexus and 96 Honda had it. Current cars 2005 Honda is occasional, and 2007 Honda is never. Also had a 98 Audi for a couple months and it was fine there. Strange...
posted by thilmony at 4:54 PM on March 29, 2008

I have an iPhone now, but I used to use a T-Mobile sidekick and those were way worse. It's really bad when you're in church or some other formal setting and you have to inconspicuously reach in your pocket and turn off your phone.
posted by bmalicoat at 8:13 PM on March 29, 2008

That buzz is especially common in Cingular (and subsequently, AT&T) phones; hence all the folks chiming in with the same experience with their iPhones. A little more information here.

I saw this great band at a tightly-packed little basement show, and while they were warming up that distinct buzz came through on their monitor speakers. The singer whirled around and said, someone has fucking cingular!
posted by churl at 8:54 PM on March 29, 2008