Wifi Light Bulbs Interference with Nexus 4

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brandoncolorado

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Feb 8, 2014
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10,510
Happy Saturday!

I have a strange wireless networking issue that is a bit above my pay grade, so I'm reaching out to the Tom's community for help. I bought some Wifi light bulbs from Home Depot to place in the fixtures next to our bed. I love them because they allow us to be woken up with light, we can adjust them individually even though they are on one switch, and they seem to work well.

Here are the wifi bulbs that I bought:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/TCP-Connected-Smart-LED-Light-Bulb-Starter-Kit-with-2-A19-LED-Light-Bulbs-LCG2LD11/204474334

So, I installed them and the light bulbs work fine. They have a gateway that plugs directly into our wireless router. Our chromecast (wifi) and desktop computer (medialink usb wifi) also seem to work just fine. My Google Nexus 4 cell phone (wifi) does not work though. It goes in and out of wifi coverage constantly. When I am connected to wifi, pages often won't load. Then, it will switch to 3G coverage, and I can instantly access the internet again.

All of these problems stop the instant I turn off the wifi light bulbs at the switch.

So, I assume that this is an interference problem. Is this a design flaw? Something I can fix? I tried running my Nexus 4 in only 2.4GHZ mode and in only 5 GHZ mode, but I didn't see any improvement.

My router: Medialink WAPR300N
Phone : Google LG Nexus 4

500 dogecoin to anyone who can come up with the right answer (if you're into that sort of thing).
 
Solution
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That exact fcc id does not exist but if you put in just the z3m part which normally gets tons of stuff you get other equipment.
It appears this is manufactured by Greenwave Reality. A lot of the stuff they make says it users the 2.4g band. So far I have not found if they actually use ALL of it or just part it. Sometime they don't reveal details like that they just show they conform to the restrictions on the 2.4g.

This means it should not be using the 5g range.

I suspect they are not going last long if they were to jam the wireless one peoples routers.
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bill001g

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Aug 9, 2012
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They sure do not tell much technically on these devices. I still can not find the frequencies they run on so you could try to avoid interference. They obviously do not use any of the standard protocols.

So as the last resort since it is a radio device it must be certified by the FCC. I can not find the FCC id for that device no matter how hard I search it may be very new so few links on the internet. I did find a competitor and they use 900mhz which should cause no issues at all with WiFi devices.

If you can find the FCC id It should be a number like SBP26722...this is the competitor I found. The FCC is must be printed on the box and many times even on the device itself

you can then go here and see what frequencies it uses...plus lots more stuff like internal photos.

https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/GenericSearch.cfm?calledFromFrame=Y

Very technically if it operates on the 900mhz frequency and it interferes with the 2.4 or 5g frequencies it is in violation of the FCC regulations big time.

 
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brandoncolorado

Honorable
Feb 8, 2014
6
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10,510


I can't find that number on the box anywhere unfortunately. I did find it on the gateway itself -- Z3M-GGL30. I'll do some research and post back if I find a solution for others.

Thanks for your help.
 
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brandoncolorado

Honorable
Feb 8, 2014
6
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One other thing that I found -- I turned my wifi off on my cell phone and turned the bulbs off at the wall switch. When I turned on the wifi, it worked perfect. I then turned off wifi on my phone, turned on the bulbs at the switch. When I tried to turn back on my wifi on my phone, every single wifi network in the area was out of reach. In other words, it is blocking all of the wifi signals. As soon as I turned the switch off again, I was able to see the networks.
 
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bill001g

Titan
Aug 9, 2012
28,367
2,766
125,640
That exact fcc id does not exist but if you put in just the z3m part which normally gets tons of stuff you get other equipment.
It appears this is manufactured by Greenwave Reality. A lot of the stuff they make says it users the 2.4g band. So far I have not found if they actually use ALL of it or just part it. Sometime they don't reveal details like that they just show they conform to the restrictions on the 2.4g.

This means it should not be using the 5g range.

I suspect they are not going last long if they were to jam the wireless one peoples routers.
 
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Solution
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Pooneil

Honorable
Apr 15, 2013
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11,960
It is a pretty cool idea but I want more information. At least in your example, of the trade off between ease of use and broad compatibility, it seems to be a fail. It also raises the question about the security of their wifi or at least wifi-ish signal. That wireless control box has to communicate on the internet and that makes it vulnerable from either side. Perhaps if the bulbs could just use the already in place home WiFi? The guys at HD are great for finding the right thing for me in the store and giving repair tips, but I am not ready to trust HD with my network security just yet.
 
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thops

Reputable
Apr 7, 2014
1
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4,510
That base station uses a Jennic 5148, which is a 802.15.4 radio operating at 2.4 GHz.
Thus, it should not be interfering with your 5GHz WiFi. This is where you start yelling at the company that makes the bulbs because their product sucks.
 
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