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o2 4G interference with wireless headphones
James_Twokay
02-11-2014
Just wondering if anyone else is suffering the same issue as me. I have an iPhone 5s on O2 and and it causes really bad interference with my Sony wireless headphones to the point I have to switch my 4g off. Does anyone know how to eliminate the interference or able to suggest wireless headphones which don't suffer from the same interference?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thine Wonk
02-11-2014
Bluetooth and wifi share the same unlicensed spectrum block at 2.4Ghz (or 2400Mhz), O2 4G runs off 800MHz so nowhere near.

I would understand it if the wifi was interfering, but 4G shouldn't.. You don't by any chance have the wifi on or wifi hotspot on? could it be putting it in airplane mode is turning that off and therefore solving the interference?
gomezz
02-11-2014
Are the wireless headphones Bluetooth though? Not all are.
Thine Wonk
02-11-2014
Originally Posted by gomezz:
“Are the wireless headphones Bluetooth though? Not all are.”

Well the OP doesn't say what type or make, but even the ones which aren't bluetooth normally use the 2.4Ghz unlicensed spectrum. the same as all the TV senders and other things of that kind.

The 4G spectrum is exclusively for use by the mobile networks, there were concerns about digital terrestrial tv interference as that neighbours the 800Mhz spectrum, but nothing that should affect wireless headphones.
moox
02-11-2014
Originally Posted by Thine Wonk:
“Well the OP doesn't say what type or make, but even the ones which aren't bluetooth normally use the 2.4Ghz unlicensed spectrum. the same as all the TV senders and other things of that kind.

The 4G spectrum is exclusively for use by the mobile networks, there were concerns about digital terrestrial tv interference as that neighbours the 800Mhz spectrum, but nothing that should affect wireless headphones.”

Quite a few wireless headphones do use the tiny bit of licence-free spectrum in the 800s, 863-865MHz IIRC
Thine Wonk
02-11-2014
Originally Posted by moox:
“Quite a few wireless headphones do use the tiny bit of licence-free spectrum in the 800s, 863-865MHz IIRC”

Ah that makes sense.
japaul
02-11-2014
Originally Posted by James_Twokay:
“Just wondering if anyone else is suffering the same issue as me. I have an iPhone 5s on O2 and and it causes really bad interference with my Sony wireless headphones to the point I have to switch my 4g off. Does anyone know how to eliminate the interference or able to suggest wireless headphones which don't suffer from the same interference?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.”

A lot of wireless headphones use a bit of unlicensed spectrum from 863 - 865 MHz which is right next door to the 800MHz 4G upload spectrum so there is a good chance this is the problem. O2 in particular is closest using 852 - 862 MHz for upload.

Whilst you can't alter the fundamentals you could try a few things.

Keep the phone as far away from the headphones or base as you can. Even very small distances can make a big difference when you have 2 different but very close frequencies.

Minimise the phone output. If you are connected to wifi the phone shouldn't need to use 4G that much.

Some headphones have a switch to give you a choice of channels if you are suffering interference from other headphones. This won't make a big difference as the separation isn't large but it's still worth trying.

If these don't help then you probably need to consider different headphones that use a different frequency (or a different network that doesn't primarily use 800 MHz for 4G but that's a bit extreme)!
Thine Wonk
02-11-2014
That spectrum block is really meant for wireless microphones, I have looked online as I was interested, it seems to mostly be used in amateur or consumer radio mics, but not used by professionals.

I really can't see that many consumer headphone products using 863-865MHz. I suspect most these days are Bluetooth / 2.4Ghz / 5Ghz, especially now given that Ofcom has licensed blocks of nearby 800Mhz for 4G.

To the original poster, I would check to see if the Sony model you have is using 863-865MHz and to answer your question about other headphones, any Bluetooth ones shouldn't be affected and would probably have much better audio quality and reliability.
gomezz
02-11-2014
Originally Posted by Thine Wonk:
“I really can't see that many consumer headphone products using 863-865MHz”

The Sennheiser RF range does (which I use). Much better range than Bluetooth. I assumed all other makes of RF wireless headphones were the same.
moox
02-11-2014
Originally Posted by Thine Wonk:
“That spectrum block is really meant for wireless microphones, I have looked online as I was interested, it seems to mostly be used in amateur or consumer radio mics, but not used by professionals.”

There used to be spectrum next to that for the serious wireless mic users (and the pro gear would be tunable to anywhere in that block + 863-865), but they all got shifted down to channel 38 when Ofcom/EU decided it needed to be cleared. Sennheiser/Shure and the other high-end brands still make gear for both bands as not everyone wants or needs the hassle of buying a channel 38 licence. The no-name cheap stuff will do 863-865 only.

There are more 863-865MHz headphones than you might think though. I'd speculate that maybe it's the digital/bluetooth ones that are 2.4GHz but the analogue ones aren't.
James_Twokay
02-11-2014
I will check the model number but I do know they are not wifi or Bluetooth. It's definetly a 4g issue as it goes completely when I switch it to 3G only.
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