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frank

frank

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For some reason the remote central locking fob seemed to have stopped working on my car, have to lock the car manually now when parked outside the house. Same problem with my wifes remote for same car. Thinking the batteries in the remote had died I replaced them, made no difference. If I park elsewhere supermarket/work etc remote works as per normal. I discovered my neighbour has the same problem (different makes of car) visitors to the house have the same problem. If I park on opposite side of the street then remote works ok.

Nothing new electronically been installed in my house or neighbours and I do not see any new large ariels for example cb radio masts or aware of any new mobile antennas been erected in the immediate area.

Anyway I can find out where the rogue signals are coming ? from as this problem just suddenly started about 5 days ago.
 
Just maybe a new wireless network setup, check via your PC or laptop top for available networks to see if one has a stronger signal than yours, if so then the channel they are on may be blocking your remote in that specific area.
Should his be the case then your can find out who and ask then to change to another channel.
 
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Checked via my laptop, mines is the strongest signal. Laptop picks up 2 other networks which I assume is neighbours but their signal strength is very low just registering on the graph and no more whereas mine is at full strength. I switched the laptop and separate wirless switch off, powered down the PC at the mains so wireless router was not transmitting. Remotes still not working.

Could such a weak signal from other sources cause interference with remotes ?
 
What car is it?

On a lot of motors it is possible to recode the key to the car using a specific sequence so it may be possible to find out what that is and give it a go.
 
could still be a router
it could be set in "don't broadcast name" mode
try parking in different spots say 10 yards apart - that should give the boundaries to the problem - then look at the house in the middle of the patch!
 
For the sake of 10 yards i'd suggest just walking up and down the street a few houses and knocking on doors asking the question... I doubt you'd have to knock on more than 20-30 houses in total. Probably a bit quicker, plus you might find out if more people have been affected.
 
I might be on the wrong track but as I understand it its not always as simple as replacing the batteries with some key fobs / cars
"sometimes" they have to be re-set at the main dealers.
Now I don't know if this is true or not and its a ploy to get the batteries changed at the
"main dealers" but It was something I was told awhile back
 
Have a try of this (From the ford owners club forums)
1. Insert a key and turn it to position 2 (dashboard lights come on BUT do not start car!!!) four times in 6 seconds
2. Switch off the ignition - a tone should sound to indicate it is now possible to program keys
3. Press any button on key - a tone should sound as confirmation
4. Repeat step 3 for ALL keys
5. Switch ignition to position 2 OR wait for 10 seconds to elapse after last key programming
Click to expand...
 
frank said:
If I park elsewhere supermarket/work etc remote works as per normal. I discovered my neighbour has the same problem (different makes of car) visitors to the house have the same problem. If I park on opposite side of the street then remote works ok..
Click to expand...

That would indicate it's not a car problem....

As far as I can tell the systems work on 433.92 MHz so shouldn't be affected by Wifi etc , does it work if you stand close to the car ?
 
Ooops, missed that bit. Ignore my post!
That's what happens when I skim read at work!
 
Assuming it is radio frequency interference (maybe a false assumption)...

It's unlikely to be a computer network as they're operating around 2.4 GHz.
At 433 MHz it could be anything. There is an amateur radio frequency allocation, I believe a small CB allocation for handheld devices, and it can be used for a load of other household devices. On the bright side these do tend to be quite low power, just a few mW output so it's probably quite close.

But if the problem is there all the time then it's not likely to be a voice transmission as these are intermittent. Has anyone had a new wireless burglar alarm system fitted in the past week?
 
As it works elsewhere I'm a bit reluctant to try recodiing it and possibly end up with more problem, I believe the local Ford dealer charges well over the 100 smackers to recode the key...rip off.

Spotted a CB ariel possibly a ham radio one on a chimney stack this afternoon on a bungalow over the back garden but approx 100 yds up the road. Stopped outside the house with the large antenna on the way home from work but no problems with the remote.. Back in my own street I stopped at various intervals to check and it appears to be the whole side of the street approx' 200-250 yards, which is two 4 in a block buildings and 3 stairs which equates to 26 homes on one side of the street.

There has been quite a lot of new residents mostly immigrants from all over, not too keen to go knocking on doors asking if they have new wifi setups, they might think I'm casing their homes for a burglary:suspect:

Looks like I'll have to live with it.
 
have you tried streets parallel to yours?
 
Yes, parallel streets are ok, no shops or industrial units in the immediate area. It's definitley emanating from my street, we got some weirdo characters moved into what was a really quiet cul de sac for decades, gawd knows what they've brought with em :gag: :suspect:
 
hmm
stretching my memory as far back as I can I think there is a "wireless telegraphy regulator" (ok I made it up) that you can report stuff like this to
If I remember correctly - they have to investigate

You might have an illegal radio station in someone's apartment!
 
As far as I know Ofcom have taken over as the regulatory body in the UK. It's worth a call anyway rather than just living with it.

Ofcom contact details:
Ofcom
Riverside House
2a Southwark Bridge Road
London
SE1 9HA

If you want to complain to Ofcom please call 020 7981 3040 or 0300 123 3333.
Switchboard: 020 7981 3000 or 0300 123 3000
Fax: 020 7981 3333
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/
 
Thanks for the info folks, I'll give ofcom a try
 
mrgubby said:
As far as I can tell the systems work on 433.92 MHz so shouldn't be affected by Wifi etc , does it work if you stand close to the car ?
Click to expand...

Isn't that a frequency used by american/foreign cordless phones, or close to it? Also seem to recall it's close to the illegal AM cb radio bands too...

I'll stand to be corrected because i can't recall with certainty, but it might give you a lead to follow up on...
 
430-440 MHZ is the Ham 70cm frequency. This is a common problem with car alarms, caused by wide open receivers on the car alarm.

Unfortunately your on your own with this one, your car alarm is the problem nothing else.
 
could be the terminals in the fob, happens a lot in discoverys where the connectors inside snap and need resoldering then it works fine

also could need resynching with the secuirty code (had to do this to an escpace recently) or something clever at a dealer considering how modern it is
 
david1701 said:
could be the terminals in the fob, happens a lot in discoverys where the connectors inside snap and need resoldering then it works fine

also could need resynching with the secuirty code (had to do this to an escpace recently) or something clever at a dealer considering how modern it is
Click to expand...

Bit odd that two fobs have done exactly the same thing at the same time though :thinking:
 
Read the thread guys.

The non-working is limited to a specific geographic area. Therefore it is not a broken system - it has to be interference of some sort.

I agree with hepburn - there is a government department that will investigate this stuff. Yes people can broadcast on a lot of these frequencies but htere are power limits as well to try and prevent such interference issues.

Try ofcom first, they can probably tell you who is responsible these days. I did once deal with the people but it was years ago, I cant remember what they were called and its probably changed now anyway.
 
Sent a email off today to Ofcom, will keep you posted on progress.
 
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