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One Phonak Lumity aid going dead for a few seconds - problem?

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I should know the answer to this, but I thought it was the LEFT aid on the older pair, and the RIGHT aid on the newer one. I could probably shoot an email to my audi and she could tell me.

I renamed both pairs to match their color, so they’d easily be recognizeable in the app on my phone. Older pair is Silver Lumity, newer pair Champagne Lumity. Previously they had names like L-Phonak and R-Phonak. Go figure.

Bluetooth enabled hearing aids. It’s not saying it works on Bluetooth, it’s just basically saying that pre-Bluetooth Aids, it won’t work, but in a quicker/easier way, then saying it won’t work on pre-Bluetooth Aids but will work on all Bluetooth enabled Aids.

Read up on AirStream Technology. That’s how it works.

@Zebras said:

AirStream Technology

OK thanks - GOT IT! Here’s a link to how that proprietary system works1 with the Phonak TV Connector. It’s been around since 2017, and that’s probably when I bought my TV Connector.

From the link: “Phonak introduced TV Connector with AirStream™ Technology in 2017 specifically to simplify the process of using a TV streaming solution. AirStream Technology is a proprietary 2.4 GHz wireless streaming protocol that offers high-quality sound with lower power consumption than Bluetooth Classic.”

Ok … so even weirder, a brand new ADT home alarm wall panel installed here in the same computer closet as my TV Connector 2 weeks ago runs on the same AirStream 2.4 GHz band. That’s about when I started having problems with my RIGHT aid going dead. It would stay dead (no volume, no streaming) until I left the area where the TV Connector is. I keep wondering if some kind of electronics isn’t interfering with the TV Connector streaming to my aids.

Wouldn’t it be weird if the two are related? :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

I live in a very urban neighbourhood north of Toronto (Richmond Hill) and there is a ton of radio frequency interference from all the wireless and bluetooth devices that my neighbours are running. Apple doesn’t allow wifi scanning apps in their store but there are many that you can download for Android that let you see the number of 2.4GHz and 5.0 GHz signals in each of the wifi bands.

As an example, whenever I watch TV using my Lumity Hearing aids and Phonak’s TV Connector, my wireless Google Nest outdoor security camera almost always goes offline. I’m 99% sure the TV Connector is messing it up because it only happens when I watch TV using the TV Connector.

There must be other devices that do the same thing so interference might be the main cause.

Jordan

@JordanK said:

’m 99% sure the TV Connector is messing it up because it only happens when I watch TV using the TV Connector.

OK. THAT is interesting! Granted, you are using Phonak Lumity aids + Phonak TV Connector + have Google Nest outdoor security setup. I have Phonak Lumity aids + Phonak TV Connector + ADT Alarm home security system. The fact that the NEW wall unit was hung up about 2’ from my TV Connector sure sounds like some kind of interference could be going on.

I’ll shoot something in an email to my audi and see if she could find time to hash this out with Tech Support at Phonak. My guess is that Tech will be clueless as a pipe-smoking nun, but maybe we are on to something here.

I had the RIGHT aid going dead for several days when streaming TV. But I wonder (and fervently hope I haven’t jinxed things) how come it no longer happens? Could the Phonak TV Connector be overriding the ADT Alarm system while I’m streaming? I would SO love to get to the bottom of this.

In reply to @1Bluejay

It says bluetooth compatible, but if you search the user guide the only “blue” in the doc is the color of a light. They aren’t bluetooth. Ruth (Zebras) is correct, as usual.

WH

In reply to @WhiteHat

@WhiteHat said:

you really wouldn’t believe how many things plop down in 2.4 and expect no interference. 2.4 GHz radio use wiki page

You nailed it! I found this paragraph may relate to what’s going on with my DEAD right aids:

" Bluetooth devices intended for use in short-range personal area networks operate from 2.4 to 2.4835 GHz. To reduce interference with other protocols that use the 2.45 GHz band, the Bluetooth protocol divides the band into 80 channels (numbered from 0 to 79, each 1 MHz wide) and changes channels up to 1600 times per second. Newer Bluetooth versions also feature Adaptive Frequency Hopping which attempts to detect existing signals in the ISM band, such as Wi-Fi channels, and avoid them by negotiating a channel map between the communicating Bluetooth devices."

Wow. I’m humbled by all this technology. Even the page on LightBlue gave me an aneurism reading it. I’m about ready to buy a great big ear trumpet, gold plate it, and stick it in my RIGHT ear. :postal_horn:

There’s a limit to how much you can move out of the way. As an example, there are really only three channels useful (non-overlapping) for wifi, and in many cases they are all used. And those three channels use most of it. When I lived in the city it was always a juggling process to find which channel would work best. Just because your neighbor is using a channel, using that same channel doesn’t hurt unless they are copying dvds worth of data all the time. If it is like my mom, with a single ipad she uses so infrequently it sometimes runs out of power and is offline for days, using that channel is fine. But the channels were all in use to some extent. I’d see 20 or 30 APs advertising on my phone when I looked at wifi. But if something smart can be done to move to unused spectrum, that would be great!

WH

In reply to @1Bluejay

Adding to my own reply here. I am BEYOND BUMMED that the past couple days ALL right hearing aids that I own (Phonak Marvel battery, Phonak Lumity Life rechargeable) are completely DEAD whenever I’m streaming with the TV Connector. So now, for 2-4 hours every night, I sit there watching TV or a movie and only hear streamed audio in the left aid.

It’s incredibly stressful to have these odd, inexplicable issues with the aids. I’ll likely make an app’t again with my audi (cancelled a couple weeks ago when the issue magically resolved on its own!) and see if she can find anyone at Phonak Tech support to offer insight.

In early July, I had this issue for several days; then it disappeared for a good two weeks, and now it’s right back again. NO audio at all in the RIGHT aid, no matter what model I’m wearing. All these aids are paired with the TV Connector. I don’t know if the problem is with something operating on the same 2.4 GHz frequency range as my aids - night after night? Or if something like the TV Connector is dying. If so, why would everything work perfectly for 2 weeks?

Well, I’ll have to get back here when/if I find anything out.

And now halfway thru a movie, even odder, the right aid will stream fine for maybe 10 min max; sometimes only 30-seconds? So it’s like something is interfering with the signal that the LEFT aid sends to the RIGHT aid. Could it be the house ADT alarm panel nearby? It’s a new one (intalled a month ago - when the issues first started). Mounted on the wall - so that panel ain’t goin’ anywhere. I’ve tried sitting in any other place in that same room with the same result no matter where I sit. But if I leave the room, I stream (only briefly cuz of the cinderblock walls in our house). And I have no prob streaming phone calls on the cell phone or streaming audio from my laptop.

It’s as if the old 2017 TV Connector can’t supercede the newer electronic devices that are jamming on the same frequency. I know I can’t send a rocket to the moon, and similarly, I can’t seem to figure out what could cause the streaming issues I’ve been having for a month.

My thought is a wonky connection on the audio feed to the connector. Maybe you have a broken wire or janky connection at a jack either on the TV or the connector. Seems less likely but could be something broken inside the connector. (Or TV!) This sounds just like how a lousy electrical connection manifests.

This is less likely if you are using a toslink cable. But I’d start with disconnecting and reconnecting the cables at each end. If the problem persists, replace the cable.

WH

We just swapped out TV Connector and cables plugged in to it. It’s a bit more complicated cuz the cable plugs in to a Marantz hi-fi unit, and that is working. I’m thinking it may be the new ADT Home Security unit that was mounted on the wall close to the TV. There’s no disconnecting that or it triggers an alarm to ADT.

I’m going to continue trying things, but it seems there’s some kind of interference on the same frequency range as my TV Connector. I think that unit is the issue cuz my aids stream audio A-OK with my laptop and cell phone.

The good news is that I get about 90% of audio with just my LEFT ear streaming. But the bummer is that I used to get about 98% of the dialogue when BOTH aids streamed. I guess this is the new reality for us who wear aids. We will be victims of the OTHER technology nearby competing for bandwidth. :slightly_frowning_face:

And another update! I went all day yesterday with perfect audio streaming in that media room. As a test, I listened to a streamed show at 11am, 5pm and then from 7-11pm. Yes, a LOT of listening for one day. But I really wanted to see if the odd streaming issues were maybe happening just in the evening?

Since I had a full day of seamless streaming, I’m back to Square One. NO IDEA what-all is causing the interference with how my aids work. I will continue to try things out, but my best guess is:

  • It could be some other appliance in that computer closet that runs on the same or 2.4GHz frequency band
  • It could be some kind of jamming signal from an external source
  • The Phonak TV Connector is somehow dying? Both of my TV Connectors date from 2017, and as far as I know, Phonak has released NO NEW version of this.

I think that’s about all it could be! My aids stream A-OK with my cell phone and laptop in any room of the house at any hour of the day.

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