Razr buzz when on phone calls…

I was wondering if anyone had/has this problem with their Razr or other phone for that matter. I have noticed that sometimes when talking to someone there is a faint buzz sound, according to who I am speaking with it is pretty loud for them, louder than it is for me. It sounds almost like an interference type buzz and it will come and go, but when talking to certain people it is not there at all. I am wondering if this is a Razr problem or something with Cingulars network? I have had it happen while talking with people on there home phones too, so I know it is either a problem with my phone or the network, not a problem with their phone. Kind of sucks because other wise this is the best phone I have ever used reception wise, I don’t know if I should try to return it for a new one? I think I still have maybe 4 days before my 30 day return period is up. Its weird because with certain people it will never happen, with others it happens once and a while and with some almost all the time, which makes me think it is network related, not phone. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Thanks.

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I actually think that it may be something in my house that is interfering with it. Because the more I think about it, I am pretty sure it has never done it anyplace besides in my house. With this now in mind I will need to see if it is true however.

Do you happen to be by a tv, computer, microwave, etc.

Originally Posted by Griffzan

Do you happen to be by a tv, computer, microwave, etc.

Well in my room where I normally talk on my phone there is a computer and a TV, also a mini fridge and air conditioner. I am really thinking and hoping that it is just something interfering, the buzz sounds similar to the buzz you get when your phone is near computer speakers, that interference type sound. And tonight I was out and while talking to people I noticed there was no buzz what so ever.

It could also be the air conditioner mine does the same whenever I'm around (within 15 ft or so) the air conditioner in my house, same with the computer, and my screen vibrates (on my computer) right before it rings.

Well I am now fairly certain it is something in my house. I was just talking to someone and he said the buzz was really bad, so I walked outside a little ways away from my house and he said it had went away completely. I will have to try this experiment with a few other callers and then I will be pretty assured that it is not my phone and then I need to try and find out what could be messing with it, maybe my wireless network? Thanks for the reply Griffzan, good to know you have experienced something similar.

It could be that the wiring inside your house is causing the problem. If
your house is really old and has knob and tube wiring , they used to run
the hot and the neutral seperately, and sometimes overloading the
neutral. Now they use Romex which has the hot, neutral and ground all
bundeled close together. That cancels out excessive EMF by having the
hot and neutral close together, where with knob and tube, the hot
radiates a lot of noise by itself. If you don't have knob and tube you
should also check with a volt meter if there is any voltage between the
neutral and ground, there should be zero volts between them, otherwise
that can cause problems with computers and broadband services. Also
consider the fact that Cingular GSM is 1900Mhz, and succeptable to
interference from all kinds of modern devices. I myself think that a cell
phone has to work perfectly inside my house, so if all else fails, you
might have switch to a more powerful TDMA network (Nextel) that runs
at a much lower frequency , 800Mhz. I have never heard anybody
complain about hum on the lower frequencys.

Originally Posted by Dr. Pasquale

It could be that the wiring inside your house is causing the problem. If
your house is really old and has knob and tube wiring , they used to run
the hot and the neutral seperately, and sometimes overloading the
neutral. Now they use Romex which has the hot, neutral and ground all
bundeled close together. That cancels out excessive EMF by having the
hot and neutral close together, where with knob and tube, the hot
radiates a lot of noise by itself. If you don't have knob and tube you
should also check with a volt meter if there is any voltage between the
neutral and ground, there should be zero volts between them, otherwise
that can cause problems with computers and broadband services. Also
consider the fact that Cingular GSM is 1900Mhz, and succeptable to
interference from all kinds of modern devices. I myself think that a cell
phone has to work perfectly inside my house, so if all else fails, you
might have switch to a more powerful TDMA network (Nextel) that runs
at a much lower frequency , 800Mhz. I have never heard anybody
complain about hum on the lower frequencys.

Hmm, good theory, but my house does have romex wiring. Another potential cause that I forgot about is my computers interruptible power supply. I agree that a cell should work the best in your house since you use it there most. It does work perfect 90% of the time, and the thing about the buzz it that it does not bother me as I can barley hear it, but is apparently annoying for the person I am talking to.

I think you are right about the UPS. I have been told that the small
in room UPS is an extremely dirty device, probably because of the
circuitry and what it does, rectify A/C to D/C to charge the battery, and
then invert it back to A/C . I was told by a software provider that when
flashing (uploading) software to a controller not to be near a UPS. In big
Data Centers and manufacturing plants they have giant UPS systems in
the electrical rooms far away from the sensitive electronic equipment
they serve. Power quality issues are a very important concern for all
companys and individuals. Consider the currency counting machines
used by financial institutions, a voltage drop (sag) will cause the machine
to mis-count the bonearrows. If possible try turning off your UPS while
you are talking to someone who is complaining about the hum, see if it
goes away immediatly, if it does then you have isolated the problem, if
not then it's back to further investigation. Troubleshooting is fun to me,
and I am glad to help anyone I can, it's what I do for a living.

Originally Posted by smithdogg1

Well I am now fairly certain it is something in my house. I was just talking to someone and he said the buzz was really bad, so I walked outside a little ways away from my house and he said it had went away completely. I will have to try this experiment with a few other callers and then I will be pretty assured that it is not my phone and then I need to try and find out what could be messing with it, maybe my wireless network? Thanks for the reply Griffzan, good to know you have experienced something similar.

My RAZR does the same thing if I am using the bluetooth HS850 and I am sitting in front of my computer, the problem is my wireless network. I don' have the problem anywhere except the room with the computer.


Mike

My RAZR does the same thing if I am using the bluetooth HS850 and I am sitting in front of my computer, the problem is my wireless network. I don' have the problem anywhere except the room with the computer.

Good to know I am not the only one, so it is the same way, worse for the person you are talking to than it is for you? I still need to experiment with a few things but I am pretty sure it is the UPS (interesting info about them Dr. Pasquale) or the wireless network.

The problem could very well be your bluetooth and wireless routers.
I myself don't use wireless routers or bluetooth. I do have a wired network
at my home and office. And I purpously bought a phone that did not
have bluetooth. I have absolutely no need for bluetooth. If I need to
transfer contacts to my computer I use a $20.00 data cable. I don't
trust the security of transmitting propriatary info over the airwaves. Also
I don't like the fact that it is basically a repeater, running at a very high
frequency (2200 Mhz) , that doubles the RF's in your space, you have
a narrow band cell phone being repeated . What is the benefit?. So maybe
one can slap a tranceiver on your head , and really get bombarded with
RF. No thanks, I use a speakerphone handheld, and plug in to a real car
kit with a mic in my vehicles. The good Doctair reccommends never
holding a radio phone on your head. Unfotunately a RAZR does not have a
REAL car kit available, and they don't make a RAZR that works on TDMA.
As for wireless networks, same thing, more bombardment of RF, slower
speed and compromised security. I know many people thet use their
neighbors internet by "poaching" their services via wireless networks.
Someone told me recently that I should soon consider looking for another
job (electrician) because everything is going wireless. What about
transmitting power through the air like Tesla, and rip out all the fiber
optics, Cat 6 and coax in all the citys and buildings. FAT CHANCE.

welcome to gsm!

Originally Posted by troyboy30

welcome to gsm!

I guess so, but its weird that my old phone (moto V60i) which I had for two years with Cingular never had the same problem. Maybe the Razr is just more sensitive?

One thing I forgot, if you have any floresent or HID lights with electronic
ballasts they put out a lot of noise, and one way to correct that is to
change out the ballasts to solid core ballasts.
I too had a v60i for about 2 years, it was AT&T TDMA and it worked
great everywhere, allthough it was about twice as fat as my i830. I wear
it on my belt all day and I kept knocking it to the ground all the time. So
when I read about the RAZR I thought that this is a must have phone.
I went to the AT&T store and checked it out, it was slim but a lot bigger
than I thought or need. And they told me that the RAZR would not work
on TDMA, only the narrower band lower powered GSM and CDMA higher
frequency networks. They presented a sexy phone that you have to
switch networks to use, trying to get as many people as they can to give
up their TDMA accounts, because TDMA is a much wider bandwith and is
more expensive to maintain. After months of research and testing, I
found the Motorola i830. It is as slim as a RAZR, but smaller and lighter.
It has GPS, internet Java apps. , GPS, lots of memory, speakerphone and
is capable of being amplified up to 3 watts if need be. It does not have
bluetooth or a free low resolution camera, but I don't want or need those
extras that only add bulk and weight to a phone. As of now it is only
available from Nextel using the Motorola propriatary network, iDEN, that
is TDMA based and runs at 800Mhz. I myself would never have anything
to do do with GSM, I have heard a lot of complaints about congestion,
dropped calls, poor voice quality and general unreliaibility. It was a hard
decision to make to give up my AT&T TDMA account, because once you
do you can never get it back. But I must say I am very happy with the
iDEN TDMA and have no regrets about my choice. (cognitive dissownance)