Xbox 360 screws up Walmart's wireless devices

[valioso]

I went to my local wal mart, but they had no x360 present. back to the weather danny

 

[Carl B]

Ok, I called this Wal-Mart (as it was indicated in the original post):

Wal-Mart Supercenter
730 Tenney St
Kewanee, IL 61443-3702
Phone: (309) 853-3307

...and spoke to an individual in electronics.

They confirmed that indeed they have a 360 kiosk and indeed they have shut it down due to supposed serious interference with their '940s' (or whatever). So, it's real. (I swear they need me in FEMA ASAP)

Anyway @Blakjedi - wireless controller signals man, not Wi-Fi!

 

[blakjedi]

Ok, I called this Wal-Mart (as it was indicated in the original post):

Wal-Mart Supercenter
730 Tenney St
Kewanee, IL 61443-3702
Phone: (309) 853-3307

...and spoke to an individual in electronics.

They confirmed that indeed they have a 360 kiosk and indeed they have shut it down due to supposed serious interference with their '940s' (or whatever). So, it's real. (I swear they need me in FEMA ASAP)

Anyway @Blakjedi - wireless controller signals man, not Wi-Fi!

Oh wire them suckers up then!

BTW in nearly every best buy they have wireless xboxs and ps2s hooked up to widescreen Hdtvs for people to play madden.... no known interference there so its all walmart

 

[Carl B]

Oh wire them suckers up then!

BTW in nearly every best buy they have wireless xboxs and ps2s hooked up to widescreen Hdtvs for people to play madden.... no known interference there so its all walmart

No no my man - it's not the fact that they're using wireless controllers - because indeed the theory is that they are not. It's simply that the 360 is constantly sending it's signal out, searching for wireless controllers in it's vicinity. Granted that's just a theory, but I accept it far more readily than I accept the Wi-Fi thing, since those 360's shouldn't even have the wireless module onboard.

 

[blakjedi]

No no my man - it's not the fact that they're using wireless controllers - because indeed the theory is that they are not. It's simply that the 360 is constantly sending it's signal out, searching for wireless controllers in it's vicinity. Granted that's just a theory, but I accept it far more readily than I accept the Wi-Fi thing, since those 360's shouldn't even have the wireless module onboard.

OK so its some proprietary wireless signal for controllers thats hosing up wm scanners? proprietary usually will mean that nothing else could get hosed up by its signal... curious...

 

[Carl B]

OK so its some proprietary wireless signal for controllers thats hosing up wm scanners? proprietary usually will mean that nothing else could get hosed up by its signal... curious...

I'll refer you to post #31 of this thread.

 

[Joe DeFuria]

...and I expect the controller transciever in the base unit to be ALWAYS active, because how else would the console know you were trying to play with it if all you had was a wireless controller?

Isn't there a button on front of the console to "re-establish" connections with controllers?

I don't know if the 360 has to always have the transciever active. It might, but it might also power itself off after a certain amount of time with no peripherals detected. Then if you have a wireless controller, you just press the button on the front of the console...

 

[aldo]

I think it's the Ghostbusters Trap causing interference. Those are powerful things...

Good news is WalMart hasn't had to schedule any exorcisms for ghosts since the kiosks arrived. Unfortunately many employees have disappeared as well since the 'Trap' can't distinguish between the two as they both mysteriously disappear whenever you’re looking for them.

-aldo

 

[pipo]

Isn't there a button on front of the console to "re-establish" connections with controllers?

I don't know if the 360 has to always have the transciever active. It might, but it might also power itself off after a certain amount of time with no peripherals detected. Then if you have a wireless controller, you just press the button on the front of the console...

The button is there to bind (new) controllers.

At the very least the X360 has to look for the wireless controllers when the console is in standby mode. I'd also expect the tranciever to go into sleep mode if it doesn't find any / doesn't have any previously binded ones...

Wouldn't that make sense?

 

[NavNucST3]

nvm, see above.

 

[Carl B]

The button is there to bind (new) controllers.

At the very least the X360 has to look for the wireless controllers when the console is in standby mode. I'd also expect the tranciever to go into sleep mode if it doesn't find any / doesn't have any previously binded ones...

Wouldn't that make sense?

It would certainly make sense, but it would also make sense that there is no Wi-Fi signal emanating from the 360's as well, since the modules likely aren't attached. So, the wireless controller signal would then be the next logical culprit. I mean, unless it's just the massive EM radiation coming off of the power brick though. (j/k!)

 

[pipo]

It would certainly make sense, but it would also make sense that there is no Wi-Fi signal emanating from the 360's as well, since the modules likely aren't attached.

Sure.

I mean, unless it's just the massive EM radiation coming off of the power brick though.

That's the most likely thing IMHO.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

So really what we need are specs for the wireless controllers to see if they're operating in a frequency that might cause trouble. From what I know all we have on the controllers is 'they're wireless' without any explanation what they use, either coms protocols (type of data packets) or transmission type (IR, Gamma, Ultraviolet, cosmic radiation band or whatever). Plus we don't know for sure if the controllers are wired or not until someone takes a nose round back. At least the console is conveniently placed in a plastic bubble for total viewability which'll make that an obvious yes/no observation for our field agents, whoever they turn out to be.

 

[pipo]

So really what we need are specs for the wireless controllers to see if they're operating in a frequency that might cause trouble.

2.4 GHz.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Can I ask where that info's from?

 

[valioso]

Can I ask where that info's from?

MS has mentioned that before on interviews and the E3 conference I believe.

 

[pipo]

Yup. Look on the official specs or search for any interview with Todd Holmdahl.

 

[expletive]

What protocol is XB360's wireless? If not WiFi or BlueTooth I'm guessing a proprietary format? How much overlap with home electronics?

This is kinda embarrasing though, launching new kiosks only for them not to work. And shows some of the troubles with wireless. I've a couple of friends who bought wireless PS2 controllers but they're so troublesome and glitchy I prefer the wired controllers. Though I hear good things of Wavebird, is wireless really robust enough to be so widely used? And how can the WalMart staff mess up the setup to cause conflicts with their wireless systems? Can the frequency be selected or something?

On Major Nelson's podcast this morning he talked (at the very end) about how the 360 wireless controllers were designed sepcifically to NOT interfere with home 2.4ghz electronics. Apparently symbol scanners were designed the same way. I got the idea this shouldnt be a problem once you get the thing in your house.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Yup. Look on the official specs or search for any interview with Todd Holmdahl.

Found it. Thanks...
http://interviews.teamxbox.com/xbox/1190/Xbox-360-Interview-Todd-Holmdahl/p2/

Speaking of wireless technology, Sony has revealed they are using Bluetooth wireless technology for the PlayStation 3. What technology is Microsoft using for the Xbox 360? Is it a standard wireless technology like Bluetooth or WUSB or are you using a custom made technology?

Todd Holmdahl: Custom 2.4GHz technology.

This suggests as Expletive says, if MS's 2.4 GHz tech is slightly off from normal 2.4 GHz tech, and so is Walmart's portable PDA solution, that's what's causing the trouble and won't be any trouble to people at home. The FCC will surely have tested this thing rigorously for compatibility with the airwaves too. Sounds like a one-off unfortunate hardware conflict. Poetic justice for MS IMO for all the times my PC's have had a particular untraceable incompatibility.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Just to confirm this problem is official now...
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1403&Itemid=2

Wal-Mart has confirmed to Next Generation that it has shut down "a handful" of its Xbox 360 demonstration pods due to interference with the company's electronic retail systems.

A spokesperson for the retailer told Next Generation, "As we began setting the Xbox 360 up in sample kiosks in our stores we've found that, in a handful of some of our older stores, the devices are interfering with our Telzon printouts. We're working with Microsoft to correct this and should have Xbox sample kiosks available and working in all of our locations in the next few weeks."

I've bolded key points, which might be PR fluff or legitimate observations as to how widespread this is.