Squeezebox Radio connects and the freezes after about 1 minute

[Redrum]

doobre - thanks for coming back with an update. You still have a problem with the boom on wifi, still within 4m or closer? I also wonder if you have tried slartibartfast's suggestion of changing wifi channel with the new microwave?

Radiation from the uwave is in the 2.4GHz band, so the wavelength is about 12cm. You holes/gaps smaller than 1/2 the wavelength or 6cm which is still quite large, but, if the hole is rectangular, it can be just a slit. See this for everything you wanted to know about microwave radiation: https://physics.stackexchange.com/qu...radiation-from

specifically, this paragraph from the second response, 8th paragraph:



So, I would suspect the door seal, or fitment within the oven (e.g. two metal panels that are supposed to be attached with no gap, have a gap. Maybe you could try wrapping some al foil around your door seal (as a test). Also, from what I read, the energy in the cavity (oven) is less when there is large food being heated, and more when it's small. You could try testing heating, say a cup of coffee vs a bunch of potatoes

Since I have gone down the microwave rabbit hole, here's an interesting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp33...el=engineerguy

One last thought, if you do want to go wireless, I wonder if you could use an wifi-ethernet adaptor (like the vonnets) and use the 5GHz band.

Sorry I got carried away

Jim

[doobre]

Thanks again Redrum for the suggestions, that YT video was both entertaining and informative..

I am going to leave the Boom on ethernet and not get further into the wifi interference issues, and I have now a wifi extender with an ethernet cable output, set to the 5Ghz band, and that does not get interferred with at all, so I will keep it that way... that Boom stays in that one place anyway... I have too assume that the new oven still leaks, but less than the original... also that the old technology inside the SQBox'x may be more susceptable as well.

The stackexchange article states "A cellular phone inside a Faraday cage will be protected from outside EM transmissions, just as conversely, the transmissions of the phone inside the cage will be blocked from reaching outside the cage." > I found that my iphone X will still work in both incoming and outgoing calls in the older mWave and the new one..!

All my tests have been with just a glass of water inside the mWave, so that has been a constant throughout. But I take your point.

I have also tried various channel numbers on the router at different times, as suggested, with no improvement. It's now back to the default setting "Auto".

Anyway, I am happy to have all my SQBox units working 24/7, at last...

Thanks to all, cheers CD

[Redrum]

I just thought of something, and thought I would mention it first. If you do not have a good line power ground, your microwave's EMI/RFI shielding will be compromised. This could be in your receptacle, or even into your home's wiring. Long shot, but it could be why both microwave's behave similarly, one a little better. The energy gets absorbed by the shielding, but it has to go somewhere and it uses ground for that. I don't know what your utility power is like, but here in the US, the neutral is tied to the ground at the panel. With the power off, at the outlet, you can measure impedance (or DC ohms) between the outlet's connection.

But you are happy with your setup. I tend to get carried away....

The stackexchange article states "A cellular phone inside a Faraday cage will be protected from outside EM transmissions, just as conversely, the transmissions of the phone inside the cage will be blocked from reaching outside the cage." > I found that my iphone X will still work in both incoming and outgoing calls in the older mWave and the new one..!

That remind me of a funny memory. I worked in product development - toys and infant/parent products, and we had an actual faraday cage in our lab, big enough for 4 people and allot of instrumentation. In the early days of cell phones (flip phone era). I was in it one day/all day and repeatedly tried to place calls to someone I really needed to get a hold of. "No Service". A friend came in and said "you don't expect that to work in here do you?" Duh....

Reasons your phone might work in a microwave are first the possible breech, but second the microwave is not a full faraday cage. Cell tower carrier signals are 900MHz to <2000MHz (2GHz). They are also multiband using the lower frequencies to travel distance, higher to serve more dense users. Also, the power can vary based on distance to the tower. The microwave was just designed to keep it's frequency/power inside. I am also unsure of the difference in seen power of the mobile, wifi, and microwave.

An interesting experiment, and something I think I'll try, If you have wifi calling or texting, turn off the mobile connection (relying on your wifi) and see what happens then. Or not

Jim

[doobre]

Thanks for your reply..

I had thought about the earthing situation before, when running a wire to the metal tape on the radio's..
There are two ground spikes around my house and both seem well connected.

A test with a multimeter shows 0.9ohms between the power outlet's earth pin and the water pipes, and the same between the mWave door hinge and the pipes, so I think that is doing its job..

Regards the wifi calling, I did that with "whatsapp calling" at the same time as the 'normal' call.. same result...

cheers for your time and for the help, much appreciated
CD

[Redrum]

It's fun thinking about this stuff. 1 ohm is excellent earth to outlet.

The most important thing is you and your sb are in a happy place

Jim

[Redrum]

I did an experiment with interesting results. My Microwave is about 12m from my router. There are two solid walls in between. I used an app (android) called myphonexplorer which connects a phone wirelessly to a PC as a file explorer and more.There is a feature called screen mirroring and control (but control only works if tethered).

I connected to my 5GHz wifi, and accessed my wifi's network settings, mirrored my phone to the pc, and outside of the microwave, but in proximity the signal was listed as "excellent". I put the phone in the microwave, and saw from the cast on the PC the connection changed to "fair"

I did the same thing after connecting to the 2.4HGz wifi. It was also "excellent" outside of the microwave, but inside the microwave the first time there was a "!" along with something (I forgot) that I took to be barely alive. Since that time I repeated the test, and always lost connection to myphonexplorer.

I'll use guess, because conclusion is too strong for a poorly controlled test. My guess is the microwave is better at attenuating 2.4GHz. My thought is because 5GHz does not travel through walls as well. However, my wifi strength measuring to this point is only the phone's excellent/Good/Fair resolution. I think I'll retest both bands with the wifianalizer app, but not today...

Jim

[mrw]

I'll use guess, because conclusion is too strong for a poorly controlled test. My guess is the microwave is better at attenuating 2.4GHz.

It is my (possibly incorrect/incomplete) understanding that commonly available domestic microwave ovens operate at circa 2.4/2.5GHz. Your finding/oven is perhaps consistent with that, because an important property of the enclosure is to contain the radiation that is generated inside the oven. This presumably limits the possibility that the operator will be cooked together with his grub.

No doubt ovens can be made to operate at different frequencies, although they would probably be confined to the unlicensed radio bands, just like any WiFi/Bluetooth/garage door opener/etc.

EDIT: Should have read the thread before posting. doobre may wish to examine himself for any signs of unexplained cooking.

[kidstypike]

edit: Should have read the thread before posting. doobre may wish to examine himself for any signs of unexplained cooking.

Like the humour!