Old beer fridge knocks out neighbourhood wireless network – will yours?

June 7th, 2013

Appliance News Fridges & Freezers Humour

Many Australians have a special place in their heart for the backyard beer fridge, so when one of these hardworking appliances goes wrong, it’s SERIOUS BUSINESS.

That said, generally when our bar fridge blows out, the worst problems we have to deal with are drinking warm beer and ordering a replacement from Appliances Online, neither of which is especially challenging.

So spare a thought for Craig Reynolds of Wangaratta, Victoria, whose faulty beer fridge managed to disrupt the local wireless network behind his back, at least until a team of Telstra techs managed to track it down.

Not the fridge in question, but impressive nonetheless…

According to the Herald Sun, Telstra’s engineers regularly monitor their network for “black spots” of connectivity trouble, so when an automated alert informed them of a disruption in the Wangaratta area, a team armed with scanning gear was dispatched to seek out the trouble’s source.

Following the readings from a specialised antenna of Japanese design (the Yagi-Uda), Telstra tech Greg Halley was led to the garage of Mr Reynolds, in which the chilly culprit was lurking, its defective motor emitting electric sparks of a large enough magnitude to generate radio frequency noise wide enough to create blackouts on the 850 MHz spectrum that carries mobile voice calls and wireless internet data.

Artist’s impression (not really) of Wangaratta residents with wireless internet at the time of the outage

Mr Reynolds was reportedly shocked that his old chiller could cause such a fuss, and resolved to check it the next time there’s a problem with the network.

According to Telstra, they keep a general eye out for anything that could mess with the signal, and don’t put any particular focus on finding faulty fridges.  Other electrical appliances that have reportedly blacked out wireless networks have included faulty ATMs, lights, and illegal phone and TV signal boosters.

The 420L Electrolux Fridge ETM4200SCRH, with a 4-star energy rating

While keeping that old second fridge in the garage might not necessarily be the reason you can’t get a good mobile signal at home (you’d probably need to be pretty unlucky to replicate Mr Reynolds’ feat), there are other ways they can cause problems in your household.

Keeping an elderly secondary fridge running out the back is certainly convenient for grabbing a drink on a hot summer arvo, but its energy consumption can really do a number on your electricity bill, so it could actually be more cost-effective in the long run to buy a new energy efficient model.  To learn more, check out our Eco Friendly Appliance Buying Guide, and our blog on how to save money on your power bill by efficiently running your fridge.

When you buy a fridge from Appliances Online, if you experience any issues, from uneven cooling to widespread wireless signal disruption, our 24/7 customer support will always be available to provide assistance online or over the phone (assuming the fridge is letting you get a signal through).  What’s more, the full manufacturer’s warranty on every product we sell and optional extended customer care plans should make it easy to organise a repair or replacement.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m feeling thirsty…

*ZZZAP*