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Remote function fob not working when parked in large parking lot.

ZoMojave

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I have been running into this issue in the parking lot where I work. This is a larger parking lot at a big box home improvement store. The lot typically has 60-70+ vehicles parked at any time.

About a month and a half ago I started having an issue using my fob to remote start my vehicle from the building and unlocking when walking to it. I park closer and where I can see my vehicle from a window. Four out of five times the vehicle will not respond to the commands of the fob. This was also happening on my 2020 Ram 1500 (that I traded on my new 2022 JTM) a couple of weeks ago. Never was there a problem in the past in the same parking spot (at least in the 5 years I have been there). Tried switching fobs with the new unused ones to debunk the low battery question in my mind. Same issue.

Some of my co-workers have stated the same exact issues with their vehicles and all started happening about the same time. The other makes are (GM, Ford and a couple of imports). In each case, everyone's vehicles fobs have NO range and will not function in any way until you are standing next to the vehicle. AND in each case, everyone's vehicle remote function fobs work perfectly once away from our parking lot.

Someone told me about a possible RF signal issue caused by another parked vehicle that may be malfunctioning and creating a "block" in frequency.

Is there any truth to this and is anybody else experiencing this?
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Minty JL

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Having a specialty in Electronic Warfare and working in the RF spectrum............99% its an interference issue. The key fobs/remotes fall under Part 15 of the FCC.

Being the keyfob/remote is a transmitter, it falls into this category. There are many more items that fall under this then the mentioned items below.

Here is the BLUF: FCC Part 15 is a federal regulation that sets limitations on the amount of electromagnetic interference allowed from digital and electronic devices such as wristwatches, musical instruments, computers, telephones, and low power transmitters.
 

Kevin_D

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I know for a fact that a strong RF signal can interfere with the fob. And it doesn’t have to be on the same frequency.
Has anything new, RF-wise, been added in or near the lot? WiFi? Wireless cameras?

Kevin
 

Minty JL

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WiFi (IEEE 801.11xx) operates on 3 different parts of the RF spectrum: 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz and 60ghz (802.11AD only) - fixed my typo

The cameras would be on the same freqs if they're running in a wireless mode instead of over ethernet or coax.

Now I'm curious to see what freq these remotes work on now
 
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Kevin_D

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WiFi (IEEE 801.11xx) operates on 3 different parts of the RF spectrum: 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz and 60ghz (802.11AC only)
You mean 6.0GHz
Now I'm curious to see what freq these remotes work on now
Common frequencies are in the 300-400MHz range.

Kevin
 

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ZoMojave

ZoMojave

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I know for a fact that a strong RF signal can interfere with the fob. And it doesn’t have to be on the same frequency.
Has anything new, RF-wise, been added in or near the lot? WiFi? Wireless cameras?

Kevin
I am unaware about any changes at the store, but I will look into it. A definite possibility.
 

Minty JL

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You mean 6.0GHz

Common frequencies are in the 300-400MHz range.

Kevin
Kevin,

Yup, typo

802.11AC operates on 5Ghz
802.11AD operates on 60Ghz range(between 57-71Ghz)

The JL/JT fobs operate on either 315Mhz or 434Mhz, based on the locksmith sites I have looked at
 

Mr._Bill

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It's interference from an outside source. It could be old equipment with issues that is spewing RF, or it could be new equipment (police, fire, EMS) that was installed.
 

ShadowsPapa

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Having a specialty in Electronic Warfare and working in the RF spectrum............99% its an interference issue. The key fobs/remotes fall under Part 15 of the FCC.

Being the keyfob/remote is a transmitter, it falls into this category. There are many more items that fall under this then the mentioned items below.

Here is the BLUF: FCC Part 15 is a federal regulation that sets limitations on the amount of electromagnetic interference allowed from digital and electronic devices such as wristwatches, musical instruments, computers, telephones, and low power transmitters.
Am I correct in stating that put bluntly, these devices must accept interference but not cause interference with other devices?

I'd wonder if there's a new cell tower or some radio transmitter, etc. - I can recall driving in certain areas years ago and getting things coming across the radio that had nothing to do with what station you were on. Really bad in the old AM world.

Anyway, the issue won't be another vehicle as they won't block anything. The fob transmits, the car receives and it won't be blocking your fob.
It's something else in the area. Could be new security system, around here cell towers are always springing up from nowhere, they've put huge boxes on the power poles here that transmit information back to a monitoring system, there's a lot going on out there.
 

dcmdon

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I would do this experiment. Just because this would drive me nuts not to know.

Go to the parking lot at like 3:00 AM. When you are the only one there.

Confirm the problem exists when there are no other cars in the lot.

One other thought. Did you put in new door opening sensors? Do they operate in the same band range as key fobs?
 

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ShadowsPapa

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I would do this experiment. Just because this would drive me nuts not to know.

Go to the parking lot at like 3:00 AM. When you are the only one there.

Confirm the problem exists when there are no other cars in the lot.

One other thought. Did you put in new door opening sensors? Do they operate in the same band range as key fobs?

Did you not see that it's happening to OTHERS, and he had the same experience with a RAM?
>> This was also happening on my 2020 Ram 1500 <<

Door opening sensors? Antenna - not something you'd replace and there's no frequency matching to it.
There's no band or range to these as far as fobs vs. the antenna.
The clue is that it's happened with multiple vehicles.

The problem is not a vehicle or vehicles, it's something in that area, and it's not another car blocking things. Cars listen, fobs transmit, so a car can't block other signals.
 

Mr._Bill

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There was a story in the paper of a similar issue about 10 or 15 years ago. The guy lived on the east end of the valley at the base of the hill. He got someone involved, I think from Ford, after the dealer was not able to fix the problem. They eventually traced it to a failing piece of radio equipment that was flooding the spectrum and causing massive interference. Once it was repaired, the problem went away.
 

Mr._Bill

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Am I correct in stating that put bluntly, these devices must accept interference but not cause interference with other devices?

I'd wonder if there's a new cell tower or some radio transmitter, etc. - I can recall driving in certain areas years ago and getting things coming across the radio that had nothing to do with what station you were on. Really bad in the old AM world.

Anyway, the issue won't be another vehicle as they won't block anything. The fob transmits, the car receives and it won't be blocking your fob.
It's something else in the area. Could be new security system, around here cell towers are always springing up from nowhere, they've put huge boxes on the power poles here that transmit information back to a monitoring system, there's a lot going on out there.
Part 15 rules cover the unlicensed spectrum (like Wifi uses) that is available to everyone. It states that you cannot intentionally create interference, and you must accept any interference that exists from equipment that is operating legally.
 

ShadowsPapa

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Part 15 rules cover the unlicensed spectrum (like Wifi uses) that is available to everyone. It states that you cannot intentionally create interference, and you must accept any interference that exists from equipment that is operating legally.
That's what I recall, yeah, been years since I dealt with anything where I cared about it.
 

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Whoa. This just happened to me in our local grocery store parking lot with my wife's brand new Honda Accord. Nothing on the key fob would work. No door locks, truck, nada. I had to figure out how the key came out of the fob to open the door. Once in the car it started just fine. When we got home everything worked again. In the back of my mind I was wondering if something or someone was blocking the fobs signal
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