Interference: Where do I begin?

[interference1]

I have a question and figured this was the best group to ask it to. I am convinced there is outside radio signal interference but am unsure how to take this further.

I moved to a new location in Florida. Its suburban; the nearest house is 50-70 feet away. Cell towers are 1/2 mile away. There are about 3 cell towers.

No powerlines are overhead or close by. Power to the home comes from underground.

I use an AT&T EP5632 5.8 GHz Cordless phone (not DECT). For years, it worked solid. Good phone overall. Using VOIP, and the connection is solid.

On the base phone (speakerphone), calls are perfect. No problem with the phone line. In the last 2 months, the cordless connection for all handsets became horrible. I have 5 handsets. Total interference in the line (sounds like waves).

I bought a replacement base unit (same model). Same problem for all 5 handsets. Massive interference.

I moved the phone location 20-30 feet. I made sure nothing else was connected to the power source. Same issue.

There were no new appliances or electrical devices installed in the home.

I tried shutting the the router (ASUS RT-3200 / 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz). POWER OFF: Same issue. Interference.

Powered off cell phones, laptops, bluetooth devices, etc. Same issue. Speakerphone from the base gives a crystal clear call. All 5 handsets sound like razorblades in a blender.

One other observation: I noticed over the last month my Verizon cell signal inside and outside the area of the home degraded from 5 bars to be between 0-2 bars. I called Verizon about it and created a ticket for the interference to be examined.

I used wifiinfoview to see what might be interfering in the wifi range. The attached image shows what is in the neighborhood. ("--ME--" in the SSID column is my router). As you can see, this shouldn't be interfering.

So, what should I do? It appears interference is coming from outside the home. How do I investigate further? Do I hire a ham radio operator with a detector to come and monitor the frequencies/strengths of signals? Could the interference be dangerous as well? I've never experienced this before. I really appreciate your help here.

 

[lou9155]

if you replaced the base unit and it works (assuming it came with a new handset also) i would get a new extension handset and try it...i had a similar issue and just replaced evrything...they are not that expensive

 

[lou9155]

after rereading it seems your base is corded but try a new ext handset anyway

 

[popnokick]

interference1 - You have an older 5.8 gHz cordless phone that has very poor resistance to 5.8 gHz WiFi activity. Based on the "wifiinfoview" screenshot you posted there is a considerable amount of 5 gHz WiFi activity in your immediate vicinity. I had the same problem a couple of years ago with an older 5.8 gHz phone. I solved it by upgrading to a DECT 6.0 cordless system which is designed to work even in the presence of 5 gHz WiFi. There are many DECT 6.0 phones out there. If you like AT&T try this one -
AT&T TL96273 DECT 6.0 Expandable Cordless Phone Link: http://a.co/d/fBEmamb

 

[mmckenna]

I'll second that.
Where I work we have put a huge amount of money into improving WiFi coverage, like a wifi access point every 100 feet.

When I transitioned to VoIP, we had to do something about the cordless phones. We went with a SIP/DECT system, runs on 1.9MHz. Even with heavy 2.4 and 5.8 WiFi, as well as roof top cell sites supporting all 4 big carriers, we've had no issues.

Find a store with a good return policy. Buy one and give it a try. If it doesn't fix the issue, take it back. But I think that's going to solve it.