Remote keyfob problems

**kurtas2006** · 25-09-2008,10:17 AM

Yesterday the remote keyfob was working fine and locking and unlocking the door from at least several metres away. This morning nothing from 2-3 metres and it would only work if I went very close to the car.

I went to the supermarket and then it unlocked from more than 8 metres away. Got home and it is playing silly buggers again. I had to get next to the car to lock the car.

I tried the spare and got the same results. Besides changing the battery are there any other common problems with these remote keyfobs or the sensor for them in the car.

Thanks.

**kurtas2006** · 25-09-2008,03:43 PM

Just tried a new battery and it is no better. Got to be less than a metre from drivers/passengers door for it to work.

This gets better, the keyfob works fine apart from when the car is on the drive at home. Looks as if rogue interference is messing things up.

**toptek** · 25-09-2008,05:21 PM

i have had problems locking car sometimes, but always on my drive when car is alongside the house, when car down drive not near house, never a problem, bizarre! thought it was batteries, still same and recently had to have set of brand new locks and keys fitted when the garage i'd left the car with lost them !!!!!(unbeleivable) anyway reprogrammed with audi in chester and still same problems now, so i'm lost also any answers would be good!! thought maybe our security light maybe affecting the keys, so i turned the light off at mains, yep you guessed still the same!!! crazy

**kurtas2006** · 25-09-2008,05:49 PM

Its truly bizarre as nothing in our house has changed in terms of new gadgets. I have even turned off the electricity at the mains just to make sure nothing in the house was doing it.

I think a neighbour must have bought something that is interfering. The car was fine at the supermarket this morning and fine this afternoon. Looks like it is a problem local to the house/neighbouring house.

Toptek I take it your car locking is fine everywhere else apart from your own drive. The basta£d computer operator from hell would say the earths magnetic fields were particulalry strong today and causing the problems.

**Flakmunky** · 25-09-2008,06:34 PM

Scan for new WiFi networks? If the name is broadcast you may be able to tell which neighbour it is and ask them to change the channel...

I used to have an MGF a long time ago and the alarm would go off whenever we used the microwave...

**kurtas2006** · 25-09-2008,06:50 PM

Originally Posted by Flakmunky

Scan for new WiFi networks? If the name is broadcast you may be able to tell which neighbour it is and ask them to change the channel...

I used to have an MGF a long time ago and the alarm would go off whenever we used the microwave...

Theres about 15 different wifi routers I can pick up from the house. I fancy getting a wifi blocker and blocking the $hit out of all the local wifi routers but that is illegal so I will not do such a thing. I thing I might get my old wifi smart phone and see which ones have a strong signal around the car.

**kodkod.84** · 25-09-2008,07:32 PM

Very strange- nearly everyone in my flats has wi-fi (including me) and I can lock-unlock through the double glazing down to the car which is at least 12m away.

Maybe if you try recoding the key to the car it might get better

**kurtas2006** · 25-09-2008,08:01 PM

Originally Posted by kodkod.84

Very strange- nearly everyone in my flats has wi-fi (including me) and I can lock-unlock through the double glazing down to the car which is at least 12m away.

Maybe if you try recoding the key to the car it might get better

Thats the thing, it works fine in the supermarket car parks and even worked through their double glazing to the car. Get home and its same old thing. If it was a recoding issue it would still not work in the supermarket carparks. Defo an interference issue I think but not easy to sort out. I could use it from otherside of the living room before without a problem, now I got to be within cm's of the car when it is on the drive.

Just noticed someone has a new wireless router (livebox so they are probably using Orange broadband). Who and where they live is a different matter. Maybe if I change my wireless name to Orange virus they may pick it up and ditch their router.

**Flakmunky** · 25-09-2008,09:34 PM

I seem to remember that the keys transmit on 434Mhz. I don't know enough about radio transmitters and WiFi (2.4Ghz or 5Ghz?) to know if this could be the root of your problems...

**danclyon** · 26-09-2008,08:53 AM

Originally Posted by kurtas2006

Yesterday the remote keyfob was working fine and locking and unlocking the door from at least several metres away. This morning nothing from 2-3 metres and it would only work if I went very close to the car.

I went to the supermarket and then it unlocked from more than 8 metres away. Got home and it is playing silly buggers again. I had to get next to the car to lock the car.

I tried the spare and got the same results. Besides changing the battery are there any other common problems with these remote keyfobs or the sensor for them in the car.

Thanks.

Look for new mini-CCTV systems having been installed - the cheap ones of these commonly operate in the 400-500mhz bracket and they are noisy as hell - that could be chewing into your signal?

Cheers,
Dan.