Fairy lights
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Chatting to a friend in the pub last night he told me of a problem a friend of his had with is broad band connection over Christmas, in the UK. Every day between 16:30 and 23:00 his connection was absolutely crap, I assume he was using a USB modem. After Christmas he removed the 'flashing' fairy lights from outside his house. Now his connection was fine, he then realised the connection was always crap when the fairy lights were on. Coincidence or were the fairy lights affecting his ADSL connection, if so why?
"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." - Ellen Goodman
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Chatting to a friend in the pub last night he told me of a problem a friend of his had with is broad band connection over Christmas, in the UK. Every day between 16:30 and 23:00 his connection was absolutely crap, I assume he was using a USB modem. After Christmas he removed the 'flashing' fairy lights from outside his house. Now his connection was fine, he then realised the connection was always crap when the fairy lights were on. Coincidence or were the fairy lights affecting his ADSL connection, if so why?
"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." - Ellen Goodman
I have often heard this story and a quick google shows it is common[^].
regards, Paul Watson Ireland & South Africa
Shog9 wrote:
I don't see it happening, at least not until it becomes pointless.
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I have often heard this story and a quick google shows it is common[^].
regards, Paul Watson Ireland & South Africa
Shog9 wrote:
I don't see it happening, at least not until it becomes pointless.
I should have Googled:doh: The guy who told me the story is an ex telecoms engineer, he did not believe it. But I am sure he assumed the lights conformed to all the relevant emission standards.
"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." - Ellen Goodman
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Chatting to a friend in the pub last night he told me of a problem a friend of his had with is broad band connection over Christmas, in the UK. Every day between 16:30 and 23:00 his connection was absolutely crap, I assume he was using a USB modem. After Christmas he removed the 'flashing' fairy lights from outside his house. Now his connection was fine, he then realised the connection was always crap when the fairy lights were on. Coincidence or were the fairy lights affecting his ADSL connection, if so why?
"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." - Ellen Goodman
I assume they were flashing and without any suppression that is a large spark gap transmitter connected to an emourmous ariel!
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Chatting to a friend in the pub last night he told me of a problem a friend of his had with is broad band connection over Christmas, in the UK. Every day between 16:30 and 23:00 his connection was absolutely crap, I assume he was using a USB modem. After Christmas he removed the 'flashing' fairy lights from outside his house. Now his connection was fine, he then realised the connection was always crap when the fairy lights were on. Coincidence or were the fairy lights affecting his ADSL connection, if so why?
"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." - Ellen Goodman
I thought they only had fairy light problems in San Francisco...
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
Chatting to a friend in the pub last night he told me of a problem a friend of his had with is broad band connection over Christmas, in the UK. Every day between 16:30 and 23:00 his connection was absolutely crap, I assume he was using a USB modem. After Christmas he removed the 'flashing' fairy lights from outside his house. Now his connection was fine, he then realised the connection was always crap when the fairy lights were on. Coincidence or were the fairy lights affecting his ADSL connection, if so why?
"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." - Ellen Goodman
Ted Ferenc wrote:
were the fairy lights affecting his ADSL connection, if so why?
More than likely, yes. I had terrible problems a few years ago when a house just across the road from me decided to put thousands of flashing lights outside their house. Every time they came on, my house's main circuit breaker would trip, and then even after resetting I couldn't use my home cinema (the amplifier wouldn't work) and my ADSL connection dropped. I ended up unplugging loads of stuff like my TV, etc, to prevent it being damaged, and had to buy a UPS for my PC. I got through three Netgear modem/routers over that Christmas period because the circuitry was unable to cope with all the noise (which was well over CE standards, I hate to think what else was damaged). :( I complained to the neighbour concerned after the cause was confirmed and the following year they promised to use certified lights and I haven't had the problem since. I must have cost them about £300 because they had a *lot* of lights, but I don't feel bad about it because I spent at least that on replacing dead equipment and fitting filters on all my sockets. It is probable that your friend has purchased lights that where not CE certified (cheap Chinese imports that do not met CE standards are rife on the highestreet before Christmas). If they are CE certified then they shouldn't generate damaging levels of noise so the problem is either his neighbours or some other equipment.
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milk -
Ted Ferenc wrote:
were the fairy lights affecting his ADSL connection, if so why?
More than likely, yes. I had terrible problems a few years ago when a house just across the road from me decided to put thousands of flashing lights outside their house. Every time they came on, my house's main circuit breaker would trip, and then even after resetting I couldn't use my home cinema (the amplifier wouldn't work) and my ADSL connection dropped. I ended up unplugging loads of stuff like my TV, etc, to prevent it being damaged, and had to buy a UPS for my PC. I got through three Netgear modem/routers over that Christmas period because the circuitry was unable to cope with all the noise (which was well over CE standards, I hate to think what else was damaged). :( I complained to the neighbour concerned after the cause was confirmed and the following year they promised to use certified lights and I haven't had the problem since. I must have cost them about £300 because they had a *lot* of lights, but I don't feel bad about it because I spent at least that on replacing dead equipment and fitting filters on all my sockets. It is probable that your friend has purchased lights that where not CE certified (cheap Chinese imports that do not met CE standards are rife on the highestreet before Christmas). If they are CE certified then they shouldn't generate damaging levels of noise so the problem is either his neighbours or some other equipment.
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milkI thought this was an urban myth, but now I see it is not.
"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." - Ellen Goodman
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I thought this was an urban myth, but now I see it is not.
"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." - Ellen Goodman
I seem to recall it got a mention on the BBC Breakfast news just before Christmas last year. I thought that non-CE electronics would be illegal in the EU, but it seems importers are able to get around it if it is. :(
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milk -
I thought they only had fairy light problems in San Francisco...
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001Naw. Key West too.
