Anytime somebody runs the microwave in my office, my headphones start crackling. I'm sitting probably 20 feet from the microwave and my computer (source of the bluetooth signal) is right next to me.
Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
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Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#32Anytime somebody runs the microwave in my office, my headphones start crackling. I'm sitting probably 20 feet from the microwave and my computer (source of the bluetooth signal) is right next to me.
My headphones are fine, and the battery doesn't drop out either -- this 3.5mm cable is great.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#33There's about 1000 watts of RF inside the microwave, it has to be attenuated to less than a few microwatts on the outside to avoid congestion, as they use the same frequency band. I'm amazed WiFi or Bluetooth ever works at all. 8) You can thank Hedy Lamar for that. Try cleaning the mating surfaces around the door thoroughly. If that doesn't work, consider replacing the microwave or relocating the speaker.
The microwave RF emission is actually very narrowband, though the frequency drifts all the time. Bluetooth uses FHSS so it will eventually go though, unless the noise is so powerful that it saturates the receiver. I'd post a screenshot from a HackRF-produced waterfall, but I don't have a microwave :). Some wifi controllers can measure energy in the spectrum and can be used to plot a simple waterfall.
>but I don't have a microwave :)
Living the dream!
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#34My microwave is less than 2 feet from my wifi router :D (but yeah, mostly use 5GHz channels for wifi)
I have no issue listening to podcasts in the kitchen while the microwave is running. I'm using Logitech H800 headphones (modified with wires going to my hearing aids).
If I put my phone in my GE microwave, I have sound breakup issues within 2-3 feet away from the microwave. Sounds like it's better "shielded" than some others mentioned here.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#35Is the interference from leaking microwaves themselves or resonant leakage from the magnetron and/or support circuitry which is desired to be as cheap as possible?
Also you can’t really see the cage: that mesh you see in the window is indeed designed to block emission, but in a cheap one you can often see a gap between the mesh and the bezel, and of course the shell is a cheaply assembled rectangle without tight corner fittings so is probably leaking a small amount here, especially at the back, where they assume a wall will catch any leaks.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#36Anytime somebody runs the microwave in my office, my headphones start crackling. I'm sitting probably 20 feet from the microwave and my computer (source of the bluetooth signal) is right next to me.
Office microwaves (assuming it's not just a retail one that happens to be in an office) can be overpowered. Think the last one I was near was a 2.5kW unit.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#37Anytime somebody runs the microwave in my office, my headphones start crackling. I'm sitting probably 20 feet from the microwave and my computer (source of the bluetooth signal) is right next to me.
My headphones are fine, and the battery doesn't drop out either -- this 3.5mm cable is great.
I think we should adapt it into devices like phones, after all who doesnt like cheap quality audio hardware that just works (TM), and for some reason doesnt degrade or die after few years due to batteries?
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#38At an old apartment my Chromecast would become unusable whenever I'd use the microwave in the other room. It took me a bit to understand why every now and then it would just take a dump, turns out it was my roommate cooking dinner.
Meanwhile my current microwave I can cook and be on bluetooth headphones paired to my laptop across the house and there's no issue.
Some microwaves are better shielded than others. It might be leakage from the actual cook box, it might be leakage from all the extra circuitry.
Even though the frequency of most microwave's primary element is going to be a little higher than what Bluetooth is supposed to run on, if there's enough energy leaking you'll still potentially drown out the signal. Filters, especially ones made to be kind of cheap, aren't perfect and can't always filter out everything.
And as mentioned you're trying to catch a few milliwatt signal right next to something that's trying to generate and contain a 1,000,000 milliwatt signal.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
My headphones are fine, and the battery doesn't drop out either -- this 3.5mm cable is great.
I think we should adapt it into devices like phones, after all who doesnt like cheap quality audio hardware that just works (TM), and for some reason doesnt degrade or die after few years due to batteries?
I hate cabled headphones on a portable device
Physically tethering to something designed to be slipped into a pocket, put in case, set down on the table while I walk around, etc is stupid
Physically tethering to a stationary object (that you can't really use if you walk away form it) makes sense in some cases
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#40You can build a "lectenna" and see where your microwave is leaking energy out.