Can Routers Ruin Wireless Headphones?

A phenomenon has occurred at an elderly relative's house where
wireless Internet service was just installed. Two perfectly fine RCA
headsets used to amp up the volume (partially deaf) have stopped
working. I wouldn't perceive a connection to interference if both
didn't konk out after a "MyEssentials" router (Belkin?) was installed
with the wireless internet service.

You plug the headphones into the outlet; they power on for thirty
seconds max--then go completely dead.

I noticed that any VOIP activity (cordless phones) interrupts the
router. At first I thought it might be a faulty cable modem, but the
cable folk gave us a new modem to see if that was the source of the
VOIP interrupts. I plan to take the router back today for some other
brand.

So before I go out and buy two new headphones, I want to know if
something beside normal wear-and-tear, and weird coincidence, could be
responsible for both crashing at the same time.

Thanks.

mutefan@yahoo.com hath wroth:

>A phenomenon has occurred at an elderly relative's house where
>wireless Internet service was just installed. Two perfectly fine RCA
>headsets used to amp up the volume (partially deaf) have stopped
>working.

Are these RCA headsets wireless? If not wireless, are they plugged
into anything that uses 2.4GHz wireless such as a cordless phone.

>I wouldn't perceive a connection to interference if both
>didn't konk out after a "MyEssentials" router (Belkin?) was installed
>with the wireless internet service.

Yeah, MyEssentials stuff is Belkin. I couldn't resist the price and
bought a few to play with. They work, but I'm really irritated by the
firmware insisting that I have to reboot and wait for every single
page in the setup. Yech.

>You plug the headphones into the outlet; they power on for thirty
>seconds max--then go completely dead.

What outlet? On what devices?

>I noticed that any VOIP activity (cordless phones) interrupts the
>router.

It's also the other way around. 2.4GHz cordless phones will interfere
with wireless internet at 2.4GHz. You're best option is to replace
the 2.4GHz phone with a 900MHz or 5.8GHz model.

>At first I thought it might be a faulty cable modem, but the
>cable folk gave us a new modem to see if that was the source of the
>VOIP interrupts. I plan to take the router back today for some other
>brand.

A new wireless router won't help. The transmission characteristics of
just about all models is the same. If one interferes with your
cordless phone, so will the others.

>So before I go out and buy two new headphones, I want to know if
>something beside normal wear-and-tear, and weird coincidence, could be
>responsible for both crashing at the same time.

Is the headphone actually broken? Plug it into something else that
does not involve 2.4GHz such as a cell phone, boom box, hi-fi,
scanner, or midi synthesizer. Hear anything? If yes, then your
headsets are fine and something else is happening. I need to know the
details of what you have to work with before pronouncing a culprit.

Incidentally, in the past, I did some semi-charity work at a large
retirement home. Blown stereo headsets were epidemic. The problem
wasn't over powering the headset to compensate for hearing loss. It
was mechanical damage caused by mishandling. The tenants would wear
them to bed while still plugged into the TV or Hi-Fi so as not to
disturb the neighbors at night. When they roll over in bed, the
stress on the cord was too much. I arranged for a few magnetic quick
disconnect connectors, but even that was insufficient to prevent
ripping the cord apart (usually internally).

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Jun 2, 12:58 pm, Jeff Liebermann <j...@cruzio.com> wrote:
>
> Are these RCA headsets wireless? If not wireless, are they plugged
> into anything that uses 2.4GHz wireless such as a cordless phone.

Yeah, they're wireless.

> It's also the other way around. 2.4GHz cordless phones will interfere
> with wireless internet at 2.4GHz. You're best option is to replace
> the 2.4GHz phone with a 900MHz or 5.8GHz model.

Thanks for letting me know this. What I can't figure out is why my
old DLink router never was affected by this phone or another, separate
cordless line I had in the house.

So--

> A new wireless router won't help. The transmission characteristics of
> just about all models is the same. If one interferes with your
> cordless phone, so will the others.

Then why didn't my DLink crash like this MyEssentials?

> Is the headphone actually broken? Plug it into something else that
> does not involve 2.4GHz such as a cell phone, boom box, hi-fi,
> scanner, or midi synthesizer. Hear anything? If yes, then your
> headsets are fine and something else is happening. I need to know the
> details of what you have to work with before pronouncing a culprit.

I busted ass after reading your response on another thread. The
lovely folks at RCA don't even have archived Help available for the
WHP 150 headphone model (an excellent wireless headphone, BTW). Thank
God I found the original manual, which said "If the transmitter does
not detect an adequate audio source, it will power down after sixty
seconds." First I got one headphone up-and-running after finding the
jacks plugged into the wrong connectors. The second is more
interesting.

The elderly relative had used regular AA batteries for 4+ years, and
the headphones specified NiMH. One of the battery terminals was shot;
I used steel wool on it. But the more interesting thing was that this
headphone was attached piggy-back to a digital converter, then to a
DVD player, and THEN to an old NTSC television. I removed the digital
converter and attached the headphone to only the DVD player, and--at
least as of now--the headphone seems to be recharging.

> Incidentally, in the past, I did some semi-charity work at a large
> retirement home. Blown stereo headsets were epidemic. The problem
> wasn't over powering the headset to compensate for hearing loss. It
> was mechanical damage caused by mishandling. The tenants would wear
> them to bed while still plugged into the TV or Hi-Fi so as not to
> disturb the neighbors at night. When they roll over in bed, the
> stress on the cord was too much. I arranged for a few magnetic quick
> disconnect connectors, but even that was insufficient to prevent
> ripping the cord apart (usually internally).

What a heck of a nice guy. Not too many kids would be concerned with
noise pollution in places where noise pollution is torture (I also
volunteer at nursing homes).

On Sat, 02 Jun 2007 02:52:57 -0700, in alt.internet.wireless ,
mutefan@yahoo.com wrote:


>I noticed that any VOIP activity (cordless phones)

cordless phones or VOIP? The two are completely different (though you
can get cordless voip phones, or use cordless DECT phones on a voip
line).

>So before I go out and buy two new headphones, I want to know if
>something beside normal wear-and-tear, and weird coincidence, could be
>responsible for both crashing at the same time.

Unlikely, unless they also use 2.4GHz
--
Mark McIntyre

mutefan@yahoo.com hath wroth:

>The
>lovely folks at RCA don't even have archived Help available for the
>WHP 150 headphone model (an excellent wireless headphone, BTW).

The WHP-150R is a 900MHz headset, not 2.4GHz.
<http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?InvtId=WHP150-R&cat=SPK&cpc=DSP>
There should NOT be any mutual interference with 2.4GHz wireless
devices. Something else is wrong here.

The headset has 3 channels. Try one of the others.

I have a few of the Belkin MyEssentials wireless routers in my
palatial office. If I have time, I'll put it on the spectrum analyzer
and see if there's any spuriour garbage in the 900MHz area.

More later. Somewhat busy tonite....
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

There can be a number of interference problems.

Here, the 900 mhz phone impacts on the 900 mhz cordless video monitor, and
it impacted the cordless headphones. I replaced the heaphones with one that
operate at 950, and replaced the cordless phone with a 5.4 ghz unit.

Similarly, the 2.4 phones interfered with the wireless router and with the
2.4 cordless video monitor. The router/phone problem was fairly well
discussed here some time ago.

We found that all channels were afftected to some degree, so I gave up
trying to find the right combination, and just purchased new equipment.

I sugest you look into 950 mhz headphones. Mine are Sennheiser ( sp? ) .

Stuart



<mutefan@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1180777977.619645.301740@m36g2000hse.googlegr oups.com...
>A phenomenon has occurred at an elderly relative's house where
> wireless Internet service was just installed. Two perfectly fine RCA
> headsets used to amp up the volume (partially deaf) have stopped
> working. I wouldn't perceive a connection to interference if both
> didn't konk out after a "MyEssentials" router (Belkin?) was installed
> with the wireless internet service.
>
> You plug the headphones into the outlet; they power on for thirty
> seconds max--then go completely dead.
>
> I noticed that any VOIP activity (cordless phones) interrupts the
> router. At first I thought it might be a faulty cable modem, but the
> cable folk gave us a new modem to see if that was the source of the
> VOIP interrupts. I plan to take the router back today for some other
> brand.
>
> So before I go out and buy two new headphones, I want to know if
> something beside normal wear-and-tear, and weird coincidence, could be
> responsible for both crashing at the same time.
>
> Thanks.
>

mutefan@yahoo.com wrote:
> A phenomenon has occurred at an elderly relative's house where
> wireless Internet service was just installed. Two perfectly fine RCA
> headsets used to amp up the volume (partially deaf) have stopped
> working. I wouldn't perceive a connection to interference if both
> didn't konk out after a "MyEssentials" router (Belkin?) was installed
> with the wireless internet service.
>
> You plug the headphones into the outlet; they power on for thirty
> seconds max--then go completely dead.
>
> I noticed that any VOIP activity (cordless phones) interrupts the
> router. At first I thought it might be a faulty cable modem, but the
> cable folk gave us a new modem to see if that was the source of the
> VOIP interrupts. I plan to take the router back today for some other
> brand.
>
> So before I go out and buy two new headphones, I want to know if
> something beside normal wear-and-tear, and weird coincidence, could be
> responsible for both crashing at the same time.
>
> Thanks.

Yes, and cause cancer, TB, aids, the clap!

--
..