Verizon came to my house, asked me to turn off my rigs

[d2dtk]

It doesn't hurt to keep the rigs running and see if they will come back again. I would see how about getting compensated for any losses if they pressure you again.

[Prelude]

I wouldn't have turned them off.

[ak49er]

so I didn't want to be a jerk and refuse to turn it off.

This sounds like the right course of action to me.  Good for you.

[leopard2]

1. most likely the fcc approval was achieved with the cards inside of a metal PC case?

2. if not I would be surprised if they can force you to turn that off

3. funny how you (and others as well) have to bear their electrosmog 24x7, while they do not accept yours, which is probably much weaker

Go for the chicken wire ...  good for mining chikun anyways

[Aboroth]

Two things:

1) If your rigs are emitting enough RF "noise", then it wouldn't be that hard for VZ techs to find the source.

2) 835 MHz != 850 MHz.  I know the numbers look like they are "close" but not when it comes to RF.  Look at how many channels we have for Wifi. The non-overlapping ones are 25 MHz apart (same as 835 to 850).  You can have two wifi networks running right next to each other, one on channel 1 and one channel 6, and have them work perfectly.

I too call BS.

The noise might not only be generated at 835MHz, it probably has a peak at 835MHz with a rolloff to adjacent frequencies.

Even if it does only emit at 835MHz, the band-pass filters for the equipment that communicates with those voice frequencies are only made to block out unwanted frequencies up to a certain amplitude. You can, for example, generate a white-noise machine that makes all FM radios in the area useless by using a 100MHz oscillator with an amplifier, simply because the filters used on the radios aren't designed to anticipate a white noise source right in the middle of the frequency range that is so much stronger than the signals from radio stations.

Your wifi network example only works because the equipment was designed with that use case in mind, plus each frequency range has a buffer zone to avoid significant pollution into the adjacent ranges.

So no, it is not BS.


Seriously, just deal with it. Block the EM noise yourself if you want. Now that you are on their radar, if you don't fix the problem by either using adequate shielding or turning it off, you will eventually get the FCC involved along with a court order.

This isn't even something worth fighting on principle. These laws exist for a reason. If there wasn't strict regulation of EM interference we wouldn't be able to use all of the modern wireless technologies today without a lot more problems. The little boys telling you to ignore this are just being childish jackasses who aren't knowledgeable enough to have a valid opinion.

[Aboroth]

It doesn't hurt to keep the rigs running and see if they will come back again. I would see how about getting compensated for any losses if they pressure you again.

There would never be any compensation, nor should there be. If their equipment is designed and operated according to FCC guidelines, they aren't in the wrong.

[grippy54]

For starters, why the hell did you admit anything to strangers knocking on your door?
Unless they have:
A) A gun with a corresponding badge with arresting authority
B) A Search Warrant
Tell them to piss off.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, turn your rigs back on. If they come back tell them they are still off since the last time they visited. If they question you, tell them to kindly leave your property. If they insist on staying or want to gain access, call the police immediately.

By the time the FCC convinces a Federal Judge to obtain a search warrant (a long time), the scrypt diff will be so high you probably switched to ASICS by then, lol. 

You do have rights you know.

+100... you don't have to let anyone in your house, even if they are police or some law enforcement agency. Never admit anyone.

If they have a warrant or probable cause that you are committing a crime, they don't need to ask your permission. So if they ask, you say no.

[omgbossis21]

How about a spread spectrum setting in the bios ?

[fran2k]

Great.

Mining Rig and Spoofing All in One.

[mccminer]

I'd like to reach out to the OP here.  I'm in a unique position here to possibly help get some clarity on this situation.  I'm an alt coin miner and I just happen to also be a Verizon Wireless technician that works on cell towers as well.  I've had to hunt down my fair share of interference over the years & I'd like to be able to reach out to my co-workers that you spoke with to find out the symptoms of the issue they were working on.

[N[e]wBie]

plot twist: They weren't really with Verizon, you now have malware on your computers

[Candsno8]

I recently received a similar visit and wouldn't let the tech in my place.  He was looking for the source of interference to a nearby cell tower.  I have 16 r9 280x mining ethereum across three rigs.  Not sure how I'm going to proceed. 

[GMPoison]

I recently received a similar visit and wouldn't let the tech in my place.  He was looking for the source of interference to a nearby cell tower.  I have 16 r9 280x mining ethereum across three rigs.  Not sure how I'm going to proceed. 

If it were me personally I'd just keep them running until something comes of it. Tell them if they want it off they can reimburse you for the lost profits. You're probably making bank off those rigs.

[adaseb]

Can keeping a GPU rig close to a wifi router cause interference? I noticed that when I am in the other room, the speed are kind of wonky.

However its an old Macbook Pro which always had wifi issues.

[joblo]

Didn't read all the posts so excuse me if this has been said.

Get the official report from Verizon and forward it to AMD and tell them you want new cards that
don't emit EMI. Don't forget to mention that your GPUs are a source of revenue which you are no
longer making.

[arielbit]

there is a tv station tower near my location, maybe ~150 meters away..i don't know if it interferes, good luck to them finding my rigs. 

[Tmdz]

It doesn't hurt to keep the rigs running and see if they will come back again. I would see how about getting compensated for any losses if they pressure you again.

There would never be any compensation, nor should there be. If their equipment is designed and operated according to FCC guidelines, they aren't in the wrong.

Well all our boards passed FCC inspection before they can be sold, so we aren't in the wrong either.

[Facultid]

It doesn't hurt to keep the rigs running and see if they will come back again. I would see how about getting compensated for any losses if they pressure you again.

There would never be any compensation, nor should there be. If their equipment is designed and operated according to FCC guidelines, they aren't in the wrong.

Well all our boards passed FCC inspection before they can be sold, so we aren't in the wrong either.

As the guys said early, these cards do not interfere when they are in a metal cage. I do not have cell tower near me.

[64dimensions]

Skims the thread....


0) A WAG. PCIe bus extension cables maybe acting as broadcast antennae.

1) You could have all kinds of legal liability, it's stupid to hassle these cell phone guys.

2) Get technical with the techs. Ask them:

a) What frequency is the alleged interference at?

b) What is the legal maximum rf field  and how much are you exceeding it? They need to give you exact numbers.

c) What is the measured rf spectral distribution?

d) What is the rf noise floor of their instrument?

e) Have these guys checked their cell tower ground?

3) If you have any ham radio friends or acquaintances talk to them about this.

4) Some suggestions. (Home Depot or Loews or tractor supply  is your friend.)

It's important to know the frequency because you want to know the wavelength.

a) To attenuate RF you use metal shielding. 800Mhz has a wavelength of 37.5 cm. 900Mhz is 33.3cm.

b) IMHO you could shield your (bare?) rigs by using wire fence material, specifically chicken wire fencing as long as the wire spacing is shorter than the wavelength. Chicken wire will also not obstruct any air cooling. You could shield a group of rigs just as long as the rigs are enclosed and the wire fencing is not shorting anything. The chicken wire shielding must be grounded. You could make some sort of cage like structure attached to a good ground using an alligator clip for easy component access. Just as long as you surround one or more rigs with chicken wire you should be ok. You can use the cheapest stuff as long as it's all metal and not some nylon stuff.

5) RF noise on the power line. You could have a bad facility electrical power line ground. Sometimes contractors omit the ground wire or just use a water/gas line for the panel ground. For the anal types, buy a copper coated grounding rod with the appropriate clamp hardware + wire  from L's or HD, install and run a new ground to your rigs. This would be the electrical code way of doing it.

6) I would also think about putting a plugin power line filter on the AC supply line.

[Subw]

It's the risers most likely. Switch to USB risers they are shielded