Anybody here have problems or successes with the AT&T SynJ system? A friend installed three of these in restaurants. Two work GREAT.

In the other restaurant, everything works fine until they open. Then, the more customers they have, the worse the phone system works.

We've theorized that the problem is bluetooth interference after realizing it probably wasn't wifi, but we're stumped as to why only one out of three systems, with no remarkably different installation scenarios, performs so poorly.

Thanks in advance for any insights you have about this.

Can you program the phones to the different bases? Example you have Base A and Handset A, then Base B HS B and Base C and HS C. Can you take HS C and program it to Base A, and HS A to Base C? This is just to see if it's the base or the HS that is causing the issue.

Also, are all 3 bases located in the same spot? Or are they in different areas? Where the poor reception one could be getting interference from something close to it.

KOT

Those are DECT 6.0 so they should be outside of Bluetooth's spectrum.
What does your trusty spectrum analyser look like in the 1.9 band when they are open?

My trusty spectrum analyzer looks like empty space, since I don't have one. Oh, well.

I bought 1 base, 7 desktop phones and 1 portable handset for our restaurant about 2 1/2 years ago and it has worked just fine 99.9% of the time 7 days a week. We only use line 1 and line 2. The base is in the office on the 3rd floor and the rest of the units are scattered around the building. The building is a completely wooden structure about 100 years old. About 12000 sq ft. We have 2 waps, 1 for private wifi and 1 for public wifi.

Only very very occasionally it will have some strange interference noise, but not enough to really be a problem.

Have actually been amazed at how well the system has worked out as cheap as the setup was. Actually bought an extra desktop unit assuming we would have at least one failure at some point. It is still in the box...

Does anybody have any new news on this? I've done a bit of study but haven't run across any other kind of device that works on 1.9 GHz and so could interfere.

At this point it looks like we'll tell a new client about it, install is, and hope we can recoup our cost on it.

As another anecdotal data point, I've been using a SynJ system with 1 base unit, 2 repeaters, and 6 handsets across 3 buildings on an acre lot for 5+ years. Also have extensive 2.4 and 5 Ghz WAN WiFi coverage and lots of bluetooth devices floating around, have never noticed an interference problem. 1 base unit did fail about 1-2 years in, otherwise the system has been working great.

Ernie, given you have 2 systems working well under presumably very similar conditions (lots of customers with bluetooth/wifi devices), it's a reasonable guess the problem with the third system is either:
a. A problem with the system itself (most likely the base station if the static occurs on all them handsets). I'm not a EE but I'm sure there are potential mechanical or electrical problems that would significantly reduce interference from the bluetooth spectrum, or even couple that RF in and cause active problems.

b. A problem in the environment that doesn't happen at the other 2 locations. It would have to be interference in the DECT band. What's next door to the restaurant and gets busy at the same time - other restaurants, bars, etc that might have their own phone systems? I

My guess would be the first scenario. DECT does automatic channel selection, 2 systems in proximity should be able to select around one another if both are working properly. Easy enough to test by swapping base stations between locations. Yes the handsets can be re-registered with new base units... or get a spectrum analyzer and definitively rule out external interference in the DECT band...

I'm not sure, but I think you might be thinking there are two systems near one another. There aren't.

The place opens its doors at 11 AM. We have no interference before that, and it seems to worsen as more customers are on site.

At the time we decided we couldn't use the system, next door was a bar/club that was being remodeled. Those workers site started early so it seems unlikely that they had anything that contributed interference... starting around 11!

We'll try it in another location and I'll let you know. Some mysteries don't get solved.