Does Anyone Know Why This Happened?

[CazH]

Last Friday the key fobs on both cars (Yaris and Avensis) stopped working at exactly the same time. The batteries are fine, the light on both fobs still coming on. However the weird thing is when the cars are away from our house, the fobs work completely normal. Could it be anything to do with wireless internet connections as we have new neighbours and their garage has been converted into an office? Our drive and garage are right next to their office and sometimes if i stand between the Yaris and their office I can unlock/lock with the fob. It's driving us mad so if anyone can shed light on this we'll be sooooooo grateful.

[Hou]

Unless someone near your home has a car fob frequency blocker?

[CazH]

Unless someone near your home has a car fob frequency blocker?

I've never heard of a frequency blocker but I'll definitely find out about them, thanks for that.

[Bizarra]

I was looking at a gadget in Lidl which can send your Sky signal to other teles in the house. Asked an expert, my Son, who told me it interferes with Wifi & mobile phones. Maybe they, or something similar, interfere with key fobs, too

[Karma Supra]

You are not near any military installations are you??

[CazH]

I was looking at a gadget in Lidl which can send your Sky signal to other teles in the house. Asked an expert, my Son, who told me it interferes with Wifi & mobile phones. Maybe they, or something similar, interfere with key fobs, too

There seems to be so many things it might be. I was looking at a forum where someone else was having very much the same problem (not with toyotas though) and there was a suggestion that a new mobile mast may have gone up in the area and that may be causing the interference. I found a website that tells you if there's been any new masts in your area and we've still got just the one and that's been there for years. I think I'll have a chat with my neighbour and see if he's using anything new in the house like the Sky gadget for instance - thanks for telling me.

[CazH]

You are not near any military installations are you??

No nothing like that, just live in area near railway line, fields, 1 mobile mast and not much else!!

[CazH]

Got the AA out now as we can't get into the Yaris at all using the fob but strangely enough we can get into the Avensis. Spoke to our new neighbours and they haven't got anything new in their house, like internet or sky. We'll see what the AA say about it. Have read much about key fob interference today and it seems to be happening frequently in various areas.

[JappyBeast]

I'm guessing you can just use the key 'old skool' style as in putting it in the lock and turning it?

[MarcTS]

A guy a couple of years ago on here had a similar problem and it turned out to be his neighbour's wireless door bell. They switched to a different frequency and the remote locking started working again

[junebug1701]

Last Friday the key fobs on both cars (Yaris and Avensis) stopped working at exactly the same time. The batteries are fine, the light on both fobs still coming on. However the weird thing is when the cars are away from our house, the fobs work completely normal. Could it be anything to do with wireless internet connections as we have new neighbours and their garage has been converted into an office? Our drive and garage are right next to their office and sometimes if i stand between the Yaris and their office I can unlock/lock with the fob. It's driving us mad so if anyone can shed light on this we'll be sooooooo grateful.

I can tell you as an electronics technician and amateur radio operator that you are definitely experiencing radio interference. Obviously a new radio transmitter of some sort has recently been installed nearby. It could be a cellular tower or a radio station, but it must be something that transmits continuously. I seriously doubt a Wi-Fi router would produce enough power to do this. Probably what is happening has nothing to do with the fobs, but with the keyless receiver in the car. That receiver is undoubtedly being overloaded by a strong signal nearby which prevents it from "hearing" the signal from the fob. I had the same problem when I went to the medical clinic near my home. There was a cell tower next door, and I had to get the fob right up against the window for it to unlock the car.

So what can you do about it? Not much I'm afraid. You can complain to your regulatory commission (here in the States it's the FCC), but they probably won't do much unless it's a life and death situation. If a transmitter is interfering with Grandma's heart monitor, they might spring into action, but unlocking a car with a key fob? Probably not.

So what are the neighbors doing in that garage? Building a time machine or a particle accelerator?

[junebug1701]

OK, I found out who to complain to, Ofcom:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/

[JappyBeast]

I can turn sky tv off with my mobile phone btw.

[dazwan]

This used to happen where I used to work. The car park was right next to a BT office and unless you were right next to the car wireless fobs wouldn't work.

[CazH]

I'm guessing you can just use the key 'old skool' style as in putting it in the lock and turning it?

Yeah we can but we didn't want to set the alarm off and creat more problems. Anyway the AA sorted it out but didn't know why it was happening. Then later on we heard another neighbour, about 6 houses away, has an automatic garage door again using a fob and it suddenly stopped working. So he's had the installation people out and they've confirmed there's some sort of interference in the area but doesn't know what. He says it could be someone's doorbell jammed in which uses the same frequency as the fobs. Happy days!! Just not using the fobs for a while until it gets sorted.

[CazH]

A guy a couple of years ago on here had a similar problem and it turned out to be his neighbour's wireless door bell. They switched to a different frequency and the remote locking started working again

When you say"they switched to a different frequency" do you mean the guy with the car or the neighbour with the doorbell? I'm guessing you mean the guy with the car. :)

[CazH]

Last Friday the key fobs on both cars (Yaris and Avensis) stopped working at exactly the same time. The batteries are fine, the light on both fobs still coming on. However the weird thing is when the cars are away from our house, the fobs work completely normal. Could it be anything to do with wireless internet connections as we have new neighbours and their garage has been converted into an office? Our drive and garage are right next to their office and sometimes if i stand between the Yaris and their office I can unlock/lock with the fob. It's driving us mad so if anyone can shed light on this we'll be sooooooo grateful.

I can tell you as an electronics technician and amateur radio operator that you are definitely experiencing radio interference. Obviously a new radio transmitter of some sort has recently been installed nearby. It could be a cellular tower or a radio station, but it must be something that transmits continuously. I seriously doubt a Wi-Fi router would produce enough power to do this. Probably what is happening has nothing to do with the fobs, but with the keyless receiver in the car. That receiver is undoubtedly being overloaded by a strong signal nearby which prevents it from "hearing" the signal from the fob. I had the same problem when I went to the medical clinic near my home. There was a cell tower next door, and I had to get the fob right up against the window for it to unlock the car.

So what can you do about it? Not much I'm afraid. You can complain to your regulatory commission (here in the States it's the FCC), but they probably won't do much unless it's a life and death situation. If a transmitter is interfering with Grandma's heart monitor, they might spring into action, but unlocking a car with a key fob? Probably not.

So what are the neighbors doing in that garage? Building a time machine or a particle accelerator?

Haha - I don't actually think they're doing anything in their garage/office - they've told us, with just having moved in, they haven't even got their internet connected yet so I don't think it's them. That's really good info about the radio interference - I'll have to see if I can borrow a Grandma with a heart monitor then I might get action from the necessary department!! :D Thanks for your help!

[CazH]

I can turn sky tv off with my mobile phone btw.

Yeah I've been reading about that sort of thing with mobile phones. was reading about someone who lost his car keys, rang his missus and got her to send the signal from the second fob at home, down the phone and it unlocked the car. Can we really believe that? I don't know but then again if someone's doorbell (see previous reply) can do this to our cars, anything is possible I suppose.

[CazH]

This used to happen where I used to work. The car park was right next to a BT office and unless you were right next to the car wireless fobs wouldn't work.

The AA man who came out last night said he's been constantly called to where we have a Matalan/Staples etc. Same thing happening but in this case it's because it's next to a police office and they have loads of masts. I was over that way this morning at Staples and made sure i didn't use the fob - having enough hassle without getting stuck there!!

[Norfolk n Chance]

I can turn sky tv off with my mobile phone btw.

Yeah I've been reading about that sort of thing with mobile phones. was reading about someone who lost his car keys, rang his missus and got her to send the signal from the second fob at home, down the phone and it unlocked the car. Can we really believe that? I don't know but then again if someone's doorbell (see previous reply) can do this to our cars, anything is possible I suppose.

Tried it.... it does work!!

[CazH]

I can turn sky tv off with my mobile phone btw.

Yeah I've been reading about that sort of thing with mobile phones. was reading about someone who lost his car keys, rang his missus and got her to send the signal from the second fob at home, down the phone and it unlocked the car. Can we really believe that? I don't know but then again if someone's doorbell (see previous reply) can do this to our cars, anything is possible I suppose.

Tried it.... it does work!!

Well, at least at the end of all of this I've learnt something new. I really didn't think that would work. Could be handy - you never know :D

[CazH]

OK, I found out who to complain to, Ofcom:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/

Thanks for finding that out, I think by now my neighbour who can't use his fob to get into the garage will have rang Ofcom - he doesn't hang around when there's complaining to do! :P