My iPhone seems to be interfering with other electronics...

Question

Level 1

3 points

My iPhone seems to be interfering with other electronics...

I have had my iphone for about 2 months now and for the most part I love it however, i have noticed that the phone on my desk at work now makes strange static noises when my iPhone is on the desk. Also, my wireless mouse and keyboard both at work, (Dell PC w. Microsoft 8000 wireless desktop), and my wireless keyboard and mouse at home, (new iMac), act funny, long pauses while typing and the mouse behaves erratically when my iphone is on the desk. Any ideas?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Apr 13, 2008 6:30 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 14, 2008 9:54 PM in response to PEC62

Bluetooth and wireless should not affect this, it is GSM interference which generally effects unsheilded speakers

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Answer 2

Apr 13, 2008 6:36 PM in response to PEC62

Welcome to Apple Discussions.

This is largely a characteristic of spurious radio frequency interference generated by all GSM devices, including the iPhone. And, there is little you can do about it if the affected devices are not adequately shielded from such interference.

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Answer 3

Apr 13, 2008 6:36 PM in response to PEC62

I have never heard of a GSM phone affecting a bluetooth keyboard or mouse. Do you have bluetooth enabled on your iPhone when using your wireless keyboard and mouse at work and at home? If so, try turning bluetooth off on your iPhone to see if this makes any difference. If not being used, it should be off anyway, which helps conserve batter - and the same for wi-fi.

A GSM phone can interfere with speakers or the speaker wiring if either one is improperly or poorly shielded from such interference.

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Answer 4

PEC62 Author

Level 1

3 points

Apr 14, 2008 9:51 PM in response to PEC62

Thanks guys,
I have had a GSM phone for years and never had it interfere at this level, the iPhone even causes static on our polycom speaker phone in our conference room. I do leave the bluetooth and wireless on because I am on and off the phone using an apple bluetooth headset and because I get my company email and my personal email it syncs faster on the wireless environment, actually battery life is not an issue for me. I have also started to experience "frozen screen" from time to time...

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Answer 5

Nathan C

Level 5

6,266 points

Apr 15, 2008 9:37 AM in response to PEC62

PEC62,

Is this a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, or one of the Microsoft Wireless desktop combos that used the 2.4 ghz frequency, but not Bluetooth?

If it is one of the ones using the 2.4 Ghz frequency, but not Bluetooth it could be interacting with the WiFi and Bluetooth on the iPhone which also share the 2.4 ghz frequency. If it is using Bluetooth, try turning off the Bluetooth on the iPhone. It may "handshaking" with the iPhone from time to time to check and see if the iPhone will work with it. Bluetooth devices do this all the time, and it shouldn't cause them to have problems.

The 2.4 ghz frequency is used by a lot of devices includeing Bluetooth, 802.11b/g WiFi, cordless baby monitors, cordless phones, cordless doorbells, cordless security cameras, and others. It also will get interference from some electronics such as microwave ovens, air conditioners, refrigerators while actively running and electric clothes dryers.

Hope this helps,

Nathan C.

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Answer 6

Apr 15, 2008 9:43 AM in response to PEC62

My former Treo and LG phones caused interference to Polycom speakerphones, and when there are a bunch of GSM phones of all different types around the conference table the Polycom becomes unusable.

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