Computers, iPads, and smartphones are likely the first things that come to mind if I asked you what kind of wireless devices are in your home. For many people that barely scratches the surface. Wireless signals are baked into many devices. If the device has a remote, there’s a form of wireless communication used to interact with it. Sometimes these devices don’t play well together and you end up with wireless interference.
One of the wireless devices that’s been around homes the longest is the garage door opener. Push a button in your car and the door goes up. A simple concept that originated with the first radio frequency controlled Genie branded openers way back in 1954.
The fundamentals haven’t changed all that much in the 70 years that followed. While there are garage door openers that can communicate via WiFi, the basic mechanism is still commonly a radio frequency signal operating in the 300mHz to 390 mHz range.
I mention all this because my garage door opener recently started functioning poorly. In the two years I’ve lived in my current house, the door opener consistently worked from at least 50 feet away. More recently I would have to patiently wait for the signal to register while sitting just outside the garage.
I first assumed the battery was low and replaced that with no change in performance. I thought maybe the dangling antenna for the RF receiver might be directional, so I tried moving that. Nothing would fix the issue. I was almost at the point of giving up and buying a new garage door opener.
And then I remembered that I had installed a new light fixture in the garage. The light came with a remote to turn it on and off. On a whim, I unplugged the light. Garage door remote in hand, I walked a few houses down from the front of my garage and pressed the button on the remote. The door opened.
I will not be using that light in the garage anymore, but it also was a good reminder. When technology suddenly stops working, even simple technology like a garage door opener, the best course of action is to return things to the last working configuration. In this case, a configuration that excluded the light.
Wireless devices can be handy when they work, but too many of them create wireless interference and you never know what might stop working. If you’re reading this, I hope it provides some troubleshooting inspiration before you throw out something perfectly functional. It’s also a good lesson in knowing a little bit more about the frequencies used by the products you purchase. I’m not sure how to keep track of them all, but in this case in particular, knowing my problem was simple wireless interference solved by unplugging a recent purchase would have saved plenty of swearing.
