After a new OWC Dock to replace my Elgato, 2 main board replacements in the LG, a logic board in the M1 Air, as I reported the LG failed again in my office but worked upstairs in the house. I concluded there must be some kind of interference in the office, where I’ve got “command central” with wireless wifi hvac and security control centers, Time Machine, OWC Thunderbolt dock/ac-dc power supply, printer, ethernet switch modem/gateway, Panasonic cordless Bluetooth base station, UPS powered USB connected wireless KEF powered speakers (connected with usb), wireless garage door entry, a rechargeable portable weather radio, a wireless motion alert, an iphone magnetic charging stand and I think that covers it.
To try and cut down on visually on all the wire nest clutter I used white cables wherever I could and if that was not possible I covered them in white split loom cable covers. Extra cable was coiled and zip tied and I gathered different cables together and held them together with Velcro ties.
I did extensive research on what the interference could be and discovered it could be RF (radio frequency), Bluetooth or other
things. I purchased Faraday fabric and tape for the RF to use as an RF shield, but so far haven’t used them.
Finding what exactly is interfering with the monitor is a process of elimination. Here's what I did so far.
1. Unplugged the Bluetooth cordless phone base station and moved the laptop further from the monitor (Bluetooth can cause interference, but the wireless keyboard and trackpad are still in use)
2. Installed ferrite chokes on all both ends of power cords that did not have them; these are RF traps
3. Added surge protectors on all power outlets that did not have them where things were plugged in but not plugged into my Cyberpower 1500VA UPS (surge protectors have RF filters but not all power strips do)
4. Moved the weather radio and wireless motion alerts about 15 ft. away (discovered both of these use the 900mhz frequency and while I did not read that this band is a problem, since I could do this and unclutter my desktop at the same time, I did so)
5. Moved the Apple Time Machine further from the monitor, but still about 3 ft. That's what LG said to do initially in 2017 when they found the monitor did not have proper (or any, they never said) rf shielding inside (apparently it's a plate that covers the main board)
6. Unclipped the zip ties from any coiled cables (coiled cable can pick up RF) and removed Velcro ties from cables bundled
together
I had the monitor connected directly to my Macbook Air M1 and the monitor worked! That is, for about an hour before I had my first crash, with the same 35 second timer error message yet again with the same 35 second issue. My KEF powered speakers had knipshins since only the wireless connection was available. I had the speakers wired connection plugged into the OWC Dock which since I did not have the LG monitor connected to the dock could not work via wired USB. I tried connecting the speakers that way, which I had for years with my Elgato Dock, and they went crazy, switching randomly from wired to wireless.
Now what I am going to do is to move the OWC Dock further away and try it as it is intended to be used, which will be less convenient and in fact require longer cabling. Or I may try it covered with some Faraday shielding fabric. Or get rid of it and go back to a non-powered hub. Or relocate it under my desk (which is a 1 inch piece of quartz Silestone, but shielded with the RF fabric.
And, there's a great article here: https://www.signalboosters.com/blog/wifi6-the-next-generation-of-wifi/ on Wifi 6 and I'm going to get ATT to upgrade me to their new Wifi 6 modem/gateway whatever it takes, since the Macbook Air M1 and iphone 12 has wifi 6. What I learned from this article is that Wifi 6 is not just about speed, but it's as much about less interference from wifi signals, including from neighbors and especially if in close proximity, and a better focused signal, which also lessens signal interference.
I'm encouraged so far that I may, and I say may, have found the source of the problem. I'll keep posting and I hope this helps. I hope that the new Apple Studio Monitor released this week doesn't suffer the same fate as the LG Ultrafine 5k. I'm assuming at least part of the monitor was made by LG. Given inflation over the last 5 years, it would be priced at $1500 vs. the LG Ultrafine 5k's $1300 original price. With the Studio's improvements, it's a good value in comparison.
