On Wed, Apr 16, 2025 at 8:27 AM Jan Claeys <li...@janc.be> wrote: > > On Tue, 2025-04-15 at 20:47 +0100, debian-u...@howorth.org.uk wrote: > > Jan Claeys <li...@janc.be> wrote: > > > On Sun, 2025-04-06 at 17:42 +0300, Serkan Kurt wrote: > > > > Hello. A USBA (ss) wireless mouse is connected to the laptop. > > > > When I connect a WD Element 1 TB or WD Element 4 TB external disk > > > > to the other USBA (ss) port, the working distance of the mouse > > > > drops to about 0.5 meters. Normally 10 meters. The laptop has 2 > > > > USBA (ss) ports. The two ports are side by side. Could there be a > > > > hardware problem? Do you have any suggestions for solving the > > > > problem? > > > > > > This is a well-known problem: USB 3 high-speed connections (such as > > > you would typically have with USB mass storage devices) can cause > > > electromagnetic interference to wireless devices that operate in > > > the 2.4 GHz frequency bands. > > > > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0#Radio_frequency_interference > > > > The article says that may be a problem with USB 3.0 devices. The > > disks are USB 3.2. One hopes the early problems have been overcome by > > now. > > The problem is because of the specific data rate (5 Gbit/s, and > possibly also multiples of that?) creating electromagnetic interference > in just the wrong frequency band for a lot of wireless devices (2.4-2.5 > GHz). I doubt that can be overcome without significant (and possibly > incompatible?) change to (some of) the USB protocols. It definitely > affects some USB 3.1 & 3.2 devices as well. > > The USB standards organisation even has a document about this problem: > https://www.usb.org/document-library/usb-30-radio-frequency-interference-impact-24-ghz-wireless-devices > (Link to the PDF is on the right.) > > You can try using a (better) shielded cable to connect the disk (some > USB disks already come with a shielded cable). But the interference > can also “escape” from e.g. the USB port or controller, which is harder > to replace or fix, of course. It’s generally something the hardware > manufacturers should have done better. > > What I would suggest is to move the wireless receiver away, either by > plugging it in an USB port in another location (many computers have > some in 2 or 3 locations), or by plugging it in an USB extension cable > (with a plug on one side & a socket on the other side) or in an USB > hub, so that the wireless receiver isn’t near the USB cable & ports > used by the disk anymore.
A better cable may help, like one with a ferrite choke. <https://www.amazon.com/usb-cable-ferrite-choke/s?k=usb+cable+with+ferrite+choke>. Jeff
