Bought a Drayton controller / thermostat pair from Screwfix back in December. Since then my internet connection (BT Infinity) has been unreliable, dropping out on a pretty regular basis.

I put this down to the weather and a set of crappy HomePlugs. However, it’s not improved and after binning the HomePlugs the problem is still occurring. Took some advice from a local Openreach technician and wandered around the house with an AM radio trying to track down interference and voila, found this coming from the timeclock:

https://soundcloud.com/fursty_ferret/rein

The sample starts with the controller off, then switched on at the wall (the boiler power supply is isolated independently), running for about 30 seconds before I switch it off again.

With it off, the broadband works perfectly. Do you think I have any grounds for getting a refund from Screwfix?

Yep it’s faulty. To be CE compliant it has to pass strict EMC tests which this one is obviously failing…..

Ah, good one. I’ve been struggling with a REIN problem from an unknown neighbour’s house at random times. Four BT engineers and counting – it’s dead frustrating! Not sure which house and what equipment.

Yep it’s faulty. To be CE compliant it has to pass strict EMC tests which this one is obviously failing

Not necessarily. If its an RF transmitter its doing what its supposed to. Emitting an RF signal.

You could argue the BT kit is at fault as it should be immune to Rf interference on unlicensed frequencies.

Not necessarily. If its an RF transmitter its doing what its supposed to. Emitting an RF signal.

In which case it will have to meet the appropriate reg for the desired transmission signal (power, mask, susceptibility to interference) and also demonstrate that outside its designated Tx band it meets the appropriate EMC regs.

The whole point of such regs is to prevent shoddy designs which cause unwanted interference.

https://soundcloud.com/fursty_ferret/rein

Sounds like an Aphex Twin song.

I’d still be more concerned about your routers seeming lack of immunity to spurious RF transmissions.

I’d still be more concerned about your routers seeming lack of immunity to spurious RF transmissions.

Surely that depends on the level of said interference….

The RF thermostat does produce some interference but pales into insignificance compared to the programmer, which has no wireless components in it at all! The sound clip above is from the programmer.

Temporarily stuck the old stuff back in for now and the radio can’t pick up any interference from it at all. Have ordered a Hive kit to play with instead, will see how it pans out.

Top credit to Screwfix for giving me a refund with no questions asked when I described the problem. My favourite shop 🙂

Flapperon
It’s a classic rein fault
If you get a radio and tune it to 612mw
You’ll hear the interference

If you call your service provider you’ll likely be charged
For a visit as the line / adsl is not at fault

The other thing to consider is that rein faults normally
Affect more than one household , is your neighbours adsl affected too ??

Return the valve and get it changed ASAP
Hth

Have you tried changing to a different channel on your router?

As it happens I finally got a knock on the door from the REIN engineer today! BT Visit #5. Faulty laptop charger at no 10 getting into the copper wire and knocking out everyone’s signal periodically. Big sigh of relief, good detective work BT Man.

As it happens I finally got a knock on the door from the REIN engineer today! BT Visit #5. Faulty laptop charger at no 10 getting into the copper wire and knocking out everyone’s signal periodically. Big sigh of relief, good detective work BT Man.

Nice work that man! I’d be pretty chuffed if I tracked that down! Result! 😀

So as to save my Google fu points for later use, can someone give me the basics on what a REIN issue is exactly?

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/rein.htm 😛

And not an animated gif in sight. You’re slipping in your dotage Jamie.
Ta, though 🙂

Nice work that man! I’d be pretty chuffed if I tracked that down! Result!
I had more fun watching him wandering up and down the street and people’s drives with his crappy wireless tuned to 612 kHz – preferred that to his proper £1000 analyser!

Have you tried changing to a different channel on your router?

It’s the DSL being knocked out, not the wireless.

why is it specifically 612kHz and not a range of frequencies?

I think it’s actually much lower, but 612 is a harmonic of the base frequency? You can wander around with a tranny and see the effect from all sorts of gear, but it wont necessarily affect your service. It’s become a bit of a scapegoat in the trade for difficult faults.

Have you tried changing to a different channel on your router?

Missed that the first time round. Maybe the OP should try turning it on, and off again 😈

Incidentally, I had heard of REIN, but not SHINE. Is that as prevalent?

http://support.zen.co.uk/kb/Knowledgebase/Broadband-Understanding-REIN-and-SHINE