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iPhone 3g cause interference w appliances & standard phones?

I have contacted Apple support because both my iPhone 3g and my husbands cause interference with various electrical devices and standard phones. These include a sound machine by my bed, two alarm clocks, my two-line phone at work, the car radio (which includes a car phone speaker and GPS)... you name it. The interference will occur even if the iPhone is 4 or 5 feet away from the devices. The result is buzzing, the closer the iPhone, the louder the buzzing.

I asked about the possibility of it causing problems with devices such as pacemakers, which is a concern of mine since I manager a mobile home community for seniors.

The response from Apple Support? Don't use the phone when you are in the proximity of people with pacemakers, it is better to err on the side of safety!

Excuse me? My response? Anywhere in public, you might pass someone with a pacemaker and never know it. Their response? Yes, I understand, but better safe than sorry.

Does anyone else have this problem? Are the two of us alone in this? Hard to believe!!

iPhone 3g, Other OS

Posted on Sep 9, 2008 10:37 PM

29 replies

m21635

Level 1

45 points

Sep 10, 2008 7:21 AM in response to poetandpotter

Randy Fast wrote:
I have had numerous phones do this, I will say the iPhone seems to interfere with more things but that means its signal is more powerful. There is nothing Apple can do, it is up to the makers of the other products to properly shield the wiring in their devices.

If I remember correctly you and I had this same exact discussion when this was raised with regard to the original iPhone.

I do not believe that this is a reflection of a stronger iPhone 3G signal. There are FCC limitations as to how strong a radio or cell signal might be. I cannot believe that other manufacturers do not take their cells to the maximum permissible. It could be that there is emission leakage rather than a stronger signal. Other 3G cells that do not lose calls as frequently as the iPhone 3G would also indicate that there are other 3G phones out there with at least signals as strong as that of the iPhone 3G. Difference is that with the iPhone 3G, interference is detected on other electronic devices which is what the FCC Class A or Class B standard testing is all about.

Sep 10, 2008 11:42 AM in response to HeloCaptain

It occurred to me that you may have 3G enabled on the iPhone, but reside in an area with no 3G network?

The important thing to observe is at the top left of the screen where you see the signal strength bars, with AT&T to the right of the bars and then either "E" or 3G or a small square. If you see an "E" you are on the Edge system.

If you are on the Edge (E) system, what you are describing is not abnormal, indeed, it is expected. Not pleasant, but a fact of life on the AT&T Edge network.

m21635

Level 1

45 points

Sep 10, 2008 11:55 AM in response to HeloCaptain

HeloCaptain wrote:
It occurred to me that you may have 3G enabled on the iPhone, but reside in an area with no 3G network?

The important thing to observe is at the top left of the screen where you see the signal strength bars, with AT&T to the right of the bars and then either "E" or 3G or a small square. If you see an "E" you are on the Edge system.

If you are on the Edge (E) system, what you are describing is not abnormal, indeed, it is expected. Not pleasant, but a fact of life on the AT&T Edge network.

The interference was present with the original iPhone which only had Edge and is also present with the iPhone 3G. This is an issue not related to Edge or 3G.

PCC_1

Level 1

0 points

Sep 10, 2008 12:56 PM in response to m21635

Blackberry is worse for interference. Treo, iPhone, Blackberry .. they all do this. It is most noticable during conference calls when someone has their blackberry near the phone/speaker. When the unit transmits/receives data the noise is clearly heard by all on the call. Move the unit farther away .. interference is fades

m21635

Level 1

45 points

Sep 10, 2008 1:27 PM in response to PCC_1

PCC_1 wrote:
Blackberry is worse for interference. Treo, iPhone, Blackberry .. they all do this. It is most noticable during conference calls when someone has their blackberry near the phone/speaker. When the unit transmits/receives data the noise is clearly heard by all on the call. Move the unit farther away .. interference is fades

I have a Treo, AT&T Tilt, iPhone, and iPhone 3G. I only experience this problem with my iPhones.

PCC_1

Level 1

0 points

Sep 10, 2008 1:49 PM in response to m21635

Hold your iPhone closer to any speaker. Its not as bad as Blackberry but it still produces the same interference

m21635

Level 1

45 points

Sep 10, 2008 2:24 PM in response to PCC_1

PCC_1 wrote:
Hold your iPhone closer to any speaker. Its not as bad as Blackberry but it still produces the same interference

Not so. No interference from my Treo, or Tilt. I do not have a Blackberry.

SuperKG

Level 1

0 points

Sep 10, 2008 6:30 PM in response to m21635

Try turning off the Bluetooth and see if that helps.
Also, if you want to see something cool; place the IPhone under a 5G Ipod and watch the volume go up and down by itself from the interference.

m21635

Level 1

45 points

Sep 11, 2008 1:23 AM in response to SuperKG

Turn he BlueTooth off??

Why? I want to be able to use my BlueTooth but in all fairness, turning the BT off does not fix the interference problem.

By the way, I have used the same BT earpiece on my Treo, Tilt and iPhone and iPhone 3G and again, no problem with BT on anything but the iPhones.

Sep 11, 2008 7:19 AM in response to Randy Fast

From everything that poetandpotter has said, this happens not only in the house but also in the car, and friends houses miles away, and the other phones do not do the same thing with the same appliances, it is obvious the problem is with their particular IPhones. Maybe some issue with a particular production run or something. I don't know. But assuming all information is accurate the IPhones are at fault in this case.

They should be returned to Apple for replacement.

The Omega

Sep 11, 2008 7:23 AM in response to Argyron

Although most of what you say is true, if you read what poetandpotter has said about the problem, and we assume it is all accurate, then this problem is with the IPhones and they should be returned.

This happens not only in the house but also in the car, and friends houses miles away, and the other phones do not do the same thing with the same appliances and at the same locations, it is obvious the problem is with their particular IPhones. Maybe some issue with a particular production run or something. I don't know. But assuming all information is accurate the IPhones are at fault in this case.

They should be returned to Apple for replacement.

The Omega

Argyron

Level 1

65 points

Sep 11, 2008 12:31 PM in response to The Omega

The Omega wrote:
Although most of what you say is true, if you read what poetandpotter has said about the problem, and we assume it is all accurate, then this problem is with the IPhones and they should be returned.

I did read the entire post, and I stand by the fact that interference is simply a fact of life, and will continue to take the position that his/her experience is merely a result of the receiver.

These "other phones" are almost guaranteed to have minor differences to them that just miss the 'sweet spot' of signal transmission that the iphones are hitting. I myself can rearrage my sub and cables so that my iphone makes them chatter when checking mail about 4 feet away. If you've ever had to make a parabolic reflector...
( http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template/ )
...to focus your wifi signal to reach through 2 walls to a specific spot, then you know that signals do a lot of odd bouncing around even when faced with normal wood.

The environment is literally filled with radio signals of all sorts. Such as being able to read laptop screens from the way the display circuits emit radio signals...
( http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2007/04/seeing-through-walls.html )
...It could even be something that the OP is carrying around that is getting hit by the iphone's signal and resonates at an interfering signal.

Sep 11, 2008 12:50 PM in response to poetandpotter

Interesting that you should mention this. I have an iPhone 3g and see the same thing from time to time. I often plug the phone into my stereo using the earphone jack, and get a periodic beeping/buzzing sometimes. I didn't think much of this... I don't think the cheap cable is shielded and it's no big deal.

But just yesterday I was watching a DVD on my plasma TV and the iPhone was on a table about 10 feet away. The TV has a pair of amplified studio monitors connected to it (just cheap cables again). But I heard the exact same noise coming through those speakers even though there was no direct connection like I had with the stereo. I looked at the iPhone and it was accessing my e-mail on schedule, using my home wifi network. I live out in the middle of nowhere and don't usually get a decent EDGE signal. Bluetooth is not enabled.

No big deal for me, but I was just surprised because it's the first time that has ever happened.

Dec 6, 2008 8:01 AM in response to poetandpotter

I know this topic is a couple of months old, but I own a recording studio, and this noise problem has existed for years. It is not the iPhone itself, but the particular bandwidth and the way that AT&T creates it's signal. This became evident when one of my engineers had a Razor on the Verizon network, and mine was on AT&T. Every time I received a call, there were bursts that played through the speakers before the phone rang, and it continued as long as the phone was in use. The Razor on the Verizon network made no such noise. We ran experiments, and the Verizon phone was always clean, while the AT&T phone always made noise. I know have an iPhone 3G, and it creates much less noise than my Razor did, but it still will make noise. I don't know the technical reasons behind this, but T-Mobile phones make the same noise, but Sprint or Nextel phones don't. It has something to do with the bands being used, but that's all I have been able to determine.

iPhone 3g cause interference w appliances & standard phones?