Why are fobs flubbing?

Photo: Darren Handschuh

It may be the most exciting explanation, but odds are aliens are not interfering with vehicle fobs in Vernon.

But many people are wondering why their vehicle fobs don't always work near the Shops at Polson Park.

Donna Siemens posted on the Vernon and Area Community Forum Page: What’s up at Polson mall??? 2 days in a row our key fobs won’t work when parked there. Lock the truck manually but set the alarm off getting back in. Key fob is disabled . Any one else have this problem?

It would appear Siemens is not alone as her query touched off a lengthy ongoing thread on what is causing the strange phenomenon.

“I have also had this issue there, once a few months back. Was super weird. Just figured it was a random thing with my car. Strange it is happening to others as well,” said one person.

Posted another: “I had the same problem, twice in the past 2 weeks. I thought it was my fob battery, so I got it replaced.”

Numerous people proclaimed similar issues in the area, as well as other parts of town.

An Internet search came up with several possible answers and none of them had to do with visitors from another planet.

Radio interference and a proliferation of wifi are believed to be the culprit.

According to topgear.com, “keyless entry signals can easily be drowned out by high-intensity interference. While wi-fi routers typically operate in the 2.4GHz radio band, as opposed to the 315MHz and 433.92MHz bands that car remotes operate in, they can still generate harmonic interference and even unintentional interference due to poor shielding or wiring. And so can a whole host of other wireless devices.”