New WIFI 6 Interfering with SDS200

darkness975

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Hi all,

I am having an aggravating issue that I am hoping someone can help me with.

I recently upgraded my home WIFI to a Netgear Orbi Wifi 6 system. Unfortunately for some reason it appears to be interfering with certain analog frequencies on my SDS200. I have my 200 hooked up to a mini discone antenna indoors. The frequencies in question are coming through with an incredibly annoying "helicopter" type sound which renders the transmissions all but unreadable.

Has anyone else here had issues with wifi interference like this or have any suggestions for mitigating this incredibly irksome problem?

Thank You in advance.
 

Whiskey3JMC

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Having antennas indoors makes you more susceptible to RFI as you've found. Do you still experience the noise if you connect the stock telescopic antenna?

have any suggestions for mitigating this incredibly irksome problem?
Mount the discone outdoors away from sources of RFI & high above your roofline if at all possible
 

dave3825

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I believe if you have a pc or laptop you can log into the Orbi (change channels etc). If there is a setting to turn wifi off, select it and if issue goes away, its that. If it still causes problems after wifi is off, then definitely a cheap noisy wall wart is likely the culprit. If that's the case, try to replace the power source with a better one of the same voltage output specs.
 

darkness975

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Sounds like a bad wall wart. I doubt WiFi 6 is the culprit.
Everything was fine until literally within the hour I turned on the new Wifi 6 system.

Having antennas indoors makes you more susceptible to RFI as you've found. Do you still experience the noise if you connect the stock telescopic antenna?


Mount the discone outdoors away from sources of RFI & high above your roofline if at all possible
That's the problem. I am not able to mount it outside as it is a rental and I can't drill into the siding of the building.
 

belvdr

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Everything was fine until literally within the hour I turned on the new Wifi 6 system.


That's the problem. I am not able to mount it outside as it is a rental and I can't drill into the siding of the building.
And by turning it on, I assume you plugged it in? Do you have more than one unit? if so, try unplugging one at a time. You may even be able to unplug the units and leave the wall wart plugged in to see if it's still there.

Unless you got a 6E unit, you're still using the 2.4 and 5GHz bands; nothing changed there. I'm not saying it's not WiFi, but it seems highly unlikely, as wall warts do this all the time.
 

darkness975

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And by turning it on, I assume you plugged it in? Do you have more than one unit? if so, try unplugging one at a time. You may even be able to unplug the units and leave the wall wart plugged in to see if it's still there.

Unless you got a 6E unit, you're still using the 2.4 and 5GHz bands; nothing changed there. I'm not saying it's not WiFi, but it seems highly unlikely, as wall warts do this all the time.
When I unplug the satellite router, the interference remains, though slightly less.

This is what I have:
 

tkenny53

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Try to move the wifi further away, also try a duckie antenna.
I know in my car the stock radio would interfere with the scanner, one a 470mhz and also on a vhf air freq.
 

dave3825

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When I unplug the satellite router, the interference remains, though slightly less.

And when the router was unplugged, was the satellite extender still plugged in?





in my car the stock radio would interfere with the scanner,

Years ago could not listen to 800mhz smartzone in house. Go outside, crystal clear. Come in, nothing. Short story, baby monitor was culprit.
 
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darkness975

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Try to move the wifi further away, also try a duckie antenna.
I know in my car the stock radio would interfere with the scanner, one a 470mhz and also on a vhf air freq.
I can't. The place isn't big enough to move the unit out of range.


And when the router was unplugged, was the satellite extender still plugged in?







Years ago could not listen to 800mhz smartzone in house. Go outside, crystal clear. Come in, nothing. Short story, baby monitor was culprit.
I unplugged the satellite extender and left the main router in the other room still plugged in. The interference decreased but was still there. There were 0 issues the day prior before the wifi upgrade.


Is the SDS200 wired to the router?

No. I'm not running Proscan or anything so I don't have it connected to the modem or router in any way.
 

darkness975

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I'm going to compare it with my BCD325P2 on the same frequencies and see what happens.
It is strange that it is only certain systems doing it. Presumably whatever the frequencies of those particular channels are are susceptible.
 

dave3825

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Are you able to log into the orbi? If so, if there a setting to turn WiFi off to see if it clears up scanner reception? If you can turn it off and problem persists than that might indicate it’s the wall warts.
 

trentbob

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I'm going to compare it with my BCD325P2 on the same frequencies and see what happens.
It is strange that it is only certain systems doing it. Presumably whatever the frequencies of those particular channels are are susceptible.
As per our discussions on PM, keep at it, I particularly like the idea of checking for wall warts being the culprit, even ones that have not given you a problem in the past, the combination of the new Wi-Fi and other power sources could be an issue.

Check all of your wall warts, try plugging them into different spots on your power strips, even moving the cables around, positioning them differently could help.

I'm familiar with your antenna and your space restrictions, you have a mini discone on a wooden hat rack with LMR 400. Although you can't move the hat rack as there's no room and it will interfere with opening a door you can try rotating it or moving it even a few inches if possible.
 

darkness975

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Are you able to log into the orbi? If so, if there a setting to turn WiFi off to see if it clears up scanner reception? If you can turn it off and problem persists than that might indicate it’s the wall warts.
Yes. I unplugged the system (essentially shutting down the wifi) and the issue went away instantly.

@trentbob
 

darkness975

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No. unplugging the system eliminates 2 variables, with 1 being the wifi signal and the other being any noise being generated by the wall warts.



If you log in, and kill the wifi, leaving the warts plugged in, is the interference still there?

I will have to try that tomorrow and report back.

I will have to try that tomorrow and report back
 

trentbob

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No. unplugging the system eliminates 2 variables, with 1 being the wifi signal and the other being any noise being generated by the wall warts.

If you log in, and kill the wifi, leaving the warts plugged in, is the interference still there?
Yes, as I say, I don't use the original power supply with my SDS100 or 200, what I was finding was as so many people do, VHF guard and UHF guard were a constant carrier, I actually got power supplies, better quality than Uniden and the problem went away on both frequencies. As far as the brand or such I got them at $5 and below for about 8 bucks, funny huh?

Point is they were different. That's when I got the new Comcast cable box and I was back in trouble again LOL.

I had even put the wall wart for Comcast on an extension cable and separated it as far as I could for my radios but it was the box, not the wall wart, when I cut the cord after 30 years and I cut out cable, returned the box to UPS, by the way the clerk said congratulations, and got a bill from Comcast cable for $7 and kissed them off, no problem since. Found other options for TV. I see a PM from you. I'll talk to you there, I do feel this problem is solvable.
 

darkness975

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Yes, as I say, I don't use the original power supply with my SDS100 or 200, what I was finding was as so many people do, VHF guard and UHF guard were a constant carrier, I actually got power supplies, better quality than Uniden and the problem went away on both frequencies. As far as the brand or such I got them at $5 and below for about 8 bucks, funny huh?

Point is they were different. That's when I got the new Comcast cable box and I was back in trouble again LOL.

I had even put the wall wart for Comcast on an extension cable and separated it as far as I could for my radios but it was the box, not the wall wart, when I cut the cord after 30 years and I cut out cable, returned the box to UPS, by the way the clerk said congratulations, and got a bill from Comcast cable for $7 and kissed them off, no problem since. Found other options for TV. I see a PM from you. I'll talk to you there, I do feel this problem is solvable.

I'm going to test if the wall warts for the routers are the issue.
 
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