Feeling Cingular, tired of the "tic tic tic" of GSM interference
by Sean Cooper 
posted Jun 15th 2007 at 5:30PM
GSM radio interference is sadly the cost of admission -- a price we pay, but wish we didn't have to -- to the GSM club. One Cingular subscriber suffered a blown speaker from the interference and without recourse for the damage has started a site to talk about it. We've never heard of any property damage from a blast of RFi (Radio Frequency interference) when held too close to a speaker, radio, or other equipment, rather it is like a warning that a call or message is coming in. We were debating if this effect was as strong on a GSM 1900 network, so if you have any thoughts, chime in. The feelingcingular.com site has a nice ringtone to download, featuring, you guessed it, RFi noise as the tone. So if you are a CDMA subscriber (Sprint, Verizon, and such) and wonder what all the fuss is about, grab at it and enjoy.[Thanks, Justin]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
greenlight @ Jun 15th 2007 5:37PM
Thank god for UMTS, our savior. I haven't heard the GSM interference in months.
Todd @ Jun 15th 2007 5:50PM
Thank god, I thought it was just my phone. I am with Cingular ( errr...AT&T whatever ). As I sit at my desk, should a call come into my phone - the ENTIRE office knows it because of the "BZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZ CRACKEL!" from not just my computer speakers, but other people near by. Beyond annoying.
Sky Siegel @ Jun 15th 2007 6:00PM
Having previously worked for this evil company, the music video on the site made me laugh pretty hard.
Jer @ Jun 15th 2007 6:02PM
I'm a CDMA subscriber (Alltel) and I get the same interferance...
vzwcsr21 @ Jun 15th 2007 6:15PM
Then you phone is jacked up. Cdma does not give off any interference. You should have that looked into
Ashton Tibbitt @ Jun 16th 2007 1:35AM
its not the same.
they are saying that speakers near the phone go off when the phone rings.
not the "clicks" you hear when dialing a number. That is normal!
I have a 700wx on Alltel and i know what you are talking about. Its not interference...
tnkgrl @ Jun 15th 2007 6:18PM
That's a pretty lame website.
All GSM devices can cause this kind of interference, regardless of the network - some audio componets are is more susceptible to it than others... This person must have been seriously cranking the volume to have a speaker damaged by this kind of interference!
RC @ Jun 15th 2007 6:23PM
I get that problem, along with my friends, all the time since we all have either T-Mobile or Cingular. Frankly, just don't keep your phone too close to you speakers! I'm sitting at my desk right now near my computer's cheap $20 no-name brand speakers and I get that sound alot when my phone is getting a call or text come in... When I sit at my desk downstairs with $80 Logitech speakers, I don't get that problem. Maybe the guy is exaggerating the price of his speakers when in actuality they are crappy speakers??
Omagus @ Jun 16th 2007 9:27AM
I don't think it's quite that simple. I have a set of $250 Bose speakers on my desktop. I get that buzz if a call or text is about to come in (I use T-Mobile). Although I've never come close to thinking that the speakers are about to blow. It really is a matter of just moving my phone away from the speakers.
I do find this site humorous.
brian @ Jun 17th 2007 1:45AM
I use T-Mobile as well, and my Logitech speakers make NO sound at all when getting data or calls. When at work, the cheap speakers that come with computers make the interference noise, though. Maybe the BOSE speakers you have are not computer speakers... Only well shielded speakers don't get the interference.
myth90045 @ Jun 15th 2007 6:52PM
The best is the nextel phones. When I had them I could hear a phone call coming in over the loud music!! haha
Andy @ Jun 15th 2007 9:54PM
Oh yeah, Nextels are the worst. Whereas the GSMs have a beeping or buzzing type sound, Nextel's IDEN just sounds like very loud static. I not only set off my speakers at work, but occasionally the speakers of the guy several feet away.
Jorge @ Jun 15th 2007 8:09PM
Actually it is more noticeable in the 850 Mhz band and it's not the GSM part of the network, but the TDMA part of it. You will get the interference with older TDMA phones on 850, and with iDen on 800. The Alltel phone is probably on an Analog area. iDen and normal TDMA are the worst.
Jonathan @ Jun 16th 2007 10:10AM
850MHz is GSM too...
Jorge @ Jun 16th 2007 1:09PM
GSM is TDMA based as is iDEN. There are two ways to divide the radio channel: time and code. CDMA is Code Division Multiple Access and TDMA is Time Division Multiple Access. Frequency is used in FDMA but not used in cell phones, it is more common in Satellite transmissions.
The old digital/TDMA network, GSM and iDEN use TDMA as the channel access method. The 3G GSM networks are actually CDMA now (which is why Qualcomm is getting money from GSM carriers).
Because of the way they access the channel, TDMA interference is more noticeable than CDMA. Nextel, Verizon, Sprint and Cingular have 800-850 Mhz licenses. So the TDMA based ones on this frequency are the ones that cause the interference. The CDMA ones do too but in a lesser degree and AMPS I think also causes some in this range. TDMA in 1900 can also cause some interference but since the frequency is higher it is not as bad as the 800-850 transmissions.
I wonder if GSM 900 causes something similar. It must. So Europeans should have a similar issue. Maybe not as bad as 850 though.
MinceyFresh @ Jun 15th 2007 9:14PM
Before I finally jumped ship to Helio, my coworkers could always tell whenever I'd be texting someone or going online with my phone because of the interference from my Cingy phones. The interference from my GSM phones would also make my iPod click wheel go nuts... I still wonder if the iPhone is going to have that problem, seeing that it has a virtual click wheel AND is GSM.
A few years back, an Italian DJ named Mario Piu released a track called "Communication (Somebody Answer the Phone)" that sampled the GSM ticking... Anyone remember that?
Frank @ Jun 15th 2007 9:33PM
Have to agree with Jorge. Just got the HTC Touch for my Cingula... Ahem... AT&T service, it's tri-band so it operates only on the 1900Mhz band here in the US and I don't get any of the interference I have with my quad-band phones. When my HTC Advantage recieves a call it's like an EMP blast went off! It's take out everything in the room including my cable box...
JOHN P. @ Jun 15th 2007 10:58PM
i know i was with verizon for 3 years i got the bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz noise all the time and with no service. I'm with cingular/att and i get the bzzzzz but who cares cry me a river.. people should stop complaining the speaker was probably manufactured with some kind problem so when the phone rang the thing blew up... people should quit their crying. please. Who cares a least i have reception. I now know when someones is calling too.. kool.. hhahaha.
elgee02 @ Jun 16th 2007 12:09AM
Actually my Verizon Wireless phone does this to a small extent too. When I am on my computer at home I will leave my phone on my desk and my speakers will make a faint static noise right before I recieve a text message.
ShortFuse @ Jun 16th 2007 12:12AM
People need to stop saying it's a "Cingular" problem. It's happens on ALL. ALL ALL ALL ALL GSM phones in the US, regardless of carrier
mike168 @ Jun 16th 2007 1:39AM
My ATT phone sets off the speakers, makes the computer screen flicker like crazy, and turns on the clock radio from across the room...
Dipset @ Jun 16th 2007 3:53AM
AT&T subscribers: if you find your hold time is longer than it should be just remember there is probably a whiny man with cheap speakers tying up the line.
Karl Viklund @ Jun 16th 2007 6:03AM
Must be the worst speakers ever it they blew. I have never heard of any damage before. The Tci tci tci doesn't bother me either, it's just how GSM is. The rest of the world use it, it's time for americans to use it too.
Nick @ Jun 16th 2007 10:39AM
I work in a TV studio, and whenever my Curve tries to connect to the network or gets a call or email our studio intercom headsets FREAK OUT! Both my camera operators are always like, well there's his phone going off again. Its really annoying. Not as bas as my boss' nextel thoug...his computer speakers click so loud its almost scary.
paul34 @ Jun 16th 2007 12:30PM
It doesn't really matter if you know you're getting a call of ATT/Cingular, since you won't be able to hear the person when you pick, thanks to their abuse of the half-rate codec.
zenrandom @ Jun 17th 2007 12:43PM
Hrmm Nobody reads the article, they just say the speakers must have been cheap. If you RTFA, apparently they were fairly expensive speakers, and he was doing some sound work on some low source audio (so yes the volume would have been cranked up) with his phone next to one of the speakers. Phone gets the wake up and ring signal... buzz, pop goes the speaker!
Justin @ Jun 17th 2007 5:09PM
This honestly looks like a viral campaign by verizon. It's so professionally done. But you have to be an idiot to even complain about this problem. Just turn down your damn speakers (your neighbors probably hate you), move your phone, quit your whining and enjoy having rollover minutes and the ability to change your phone daily if you please.
elgee02 @ Jun 18th 2007 1:06PM
"This honestly looks like a viral campaign by verizon"
You're kidding right? I sure hope so, the world already has enough conspiracy theorists already. Tinfoil hats aren't cool dude.
beanspants @ Jun 17th 2007 10:39PM
i think it's a BS claim too. only older and new cheap speakers are suseptible. the better old ones and halfway decent and up new ones are shielded against GSM clicks.
danny garcia @ Aug 9th 2007 11:40AM
Not BS. My IPhone sets off JBL studio reference speakers. Recently, during a live event I was doing sound for the intereference from my phone was picked up by the sound system - not good.
trebor @ Aug 17th 2007 9:52PM
I find the GSM click complaint a highly valid complaint. It's completely unacceptable. I work as a designer at a TV station, and also do studio sound and music work. Sorry,shut up and keep the phone away from speakers "solution" doesn't hold a bit of water. I live my life surrounded by speakers.
So if it has to do with new GSM network technology, I say to HELL with GSM.
So where does that leave us? Go google "non GSM carrier" and look what you find. What carrier ISN'T all GSM or ominously talking of cutting all GSM service in the near future??
The complacency surrounding the issue is completely unacceptable. I'm totally taken by surprise by the number of "stop your whining" posts. Give me a break. GSM technology SUCKS. Where do these gung-ho GSM supporters come from?!?!
When was the last time such an overwhelming number of consumers hit the forums to say "stop whining and accept this crap technology" How do these people even find the forums if they're not looking for them to share their complaint in the first place. I wouldn't be surprised if these people are GSM developers themselves, nothing else really makes sense. GSM blows goats. Who LIKES that "tzzzzzk tzzzzk tz tz tz tz tzzzzzzzzzzk tzkkkkkkkkkkk zk zkz zk zkz zkk tzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzk" sound?
how far into the future will we have to wait until we have to turn off our cell phones in a car, the subway, the train or on an airplane??
Why on earth isn't there an alternative? Our culture deserves FAR better technology.
for the record i've owned a razr, treo 6800 and blackberrie pearl 8100 all within the past year and a half. all were considered high end phones. all gave GSM interference in my 2003 honda insight car speakers, EVERY studio monitor and high end speaker system i have ever worked with, JBLs, KRKs, Tannoy, etc. I get interference every 20 minutes. sometimes short bursts, sometimes long annoying buzzes. This has happened on every phone i've had and although yes it happens any time i get a txt message or incoming call, the noise is in no way limited to those circumstances. Every phone I've had in the past 2 years, so i'm not sure why not everybody has random GSM "chatter".
treb0r @ Aug 17th 2007 9:51PM
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/06/15/feeling-cingular-tired-of-the-tic-tic-tic-of-gsm-interference/#comments