Ring jamming garage door remotes frequency

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#1

HI

I have fitted my ring doorbell and now my garage door remote fobs will not open or close the garage door , also the car remote dont work as godas before

I contacted ring support who said I need to remove the doorbell to somewhere that doesnt interfere with the garage , I sail this is inpossible as the doorbell needs to go on the door lol

Is there a solution or a way to adjust the frequenzy of the door bell so it doesnt interefere with the garage door

When I take the doorbell off the door everything works

#2

Hello @kingkarl ,

Sorry to hear you are having issues with your Garage Door Opener (GDO). It is affected by Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). More and more homes are becoming “smarter” as we purchase new additional wireless devices. And with so many of these new devices, we see a much higher trend for even more wireless Wi-Fi devices, and faster Wi-Fi speeds as usage hungers for the higher increase bandwidth for heavy Wi-Fi data-streams than we’ve ever seen before. There are so many numerous devices that can affect your GDO, and we continue to add more of these in and around our homes, that now it appears your GDO reached it’s ‘tipping point’ and the added Ring device pushed your GDO ‘over the edge’ in its ability to function properly.

If you have one or more Ring cameras that use 2.4GHz Wi-Fi of large data-streams (audio & video), these can cause issues with older GDOs. I don’t know if you also have added a Ring Alarm system too (with plenty of alarm sensors) or Smart Lights that use Z-Wave frequency. Although these are on different Radio Frequencies (RF) than your GDO, they too still all add to the interference that can affect your GDO. Also, remember your neighbors are all contributing to increasing RF “interference” while they make their homes “smarter” with their additional devices and Wi-Fi routers too!

Especially if you have an older GDO, it is very susceptible to RFI, which wasn’t too much of a issue before this explosion of new high-tech devices. To just name some things that can generate RFI would include:

  • Power lines & Cell phone towers.
  • Appliances, even while they are turned off.
  • Plug-in transformers, laptop chargers, USB chargers, & cordless power tool chargers.
  • Wireless doorbells and security cameras.
  • Computers using Wi-Fi, including Wi-Fi wireless printers & connected mobile phones.
  • Active Motion detectors.
  • Energy saving lights, especially LEDs, Fluorescent Lights (FL), CFL (Compact FL), and Halogens.
  • Electric motors of small appliances.

So basically, almost anything that uses electricity can generate RFI ! So you basically have two choices: Either you can attempt to reduce/move some of these devices that generate problems and do without those devices (probably not what you want to do, nor can you inhibit your neighbor’s device purchases), OR you can concentrate your efforts on your reducing your GDO’s susceptibility to these increasing interferences.

Things you should consider:

GDO Remotes typically use 300MHz to 390MHz. As GDO are becoming more effected with so much competing RF energy that contributes to the 'background RF noise", newer manufactured GDOs are dual-band or dual frequency (even triple freq band) to help “hop” to the least affect frequency, to reduce experiencing interference. I also see more garage door conversion/upgrade “Kits” and/or devices to make your current existing GDO better able to cope with all the increasing RFI.

https://store.geniecompany.com/blogs/genie-blog/garage-door-opener-remote-reduced-range-or-radio-frequency-interference

Some RF reducing interference devices are filters that will reduce GDO RFI that may be coming through power lines, such as high-tech surge protectors for your GDO. Some devices work on the ‘antenna’ part or reception for your GDO to cut down on the increasing RFI. Also, newer compatible GDO Remote Controls utilize a narrower frequency-band to help cut through RFI background noise.

http://thedoorworks.com/garage-door-openers-a-short-history-part-ii-rfi-radio-frequency-interference/

I would recommend ‘googling’ online for what your current GDO manufacturer might have available to upgrade your current GDO (kits or improved remote controllers) to be more RFI resistant. Or look for other ‘after-market’ GDO kits or devices that also can reduce GDO RFI. You can even find GDO Antenna ‘extenders’ to help it better receive the signal from your remote.

There are also other online techniques/hints to help, such as insuring your GDO antenna (the short little wire typically hanging out of your GDO) is not all curled up like a pig-tail, but rather hanging down and nice & straight. Ensure the battery in your remote is new and full, to make your remote’s signal strength is as strong as it can be. Or if you decide, it may be time to replace your old GDO, while looking for the best model to handles RFI.

All these new improved GDO devices/kits are becoming more common in this age of increasing RFI, from the high-tech devices that we are purchasing and enjoying.

I hope you find this information useful :slight_smile:

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