dslreports logo
 story category
T-Mobile Interference Caused by Man's Bitcoin Mining Rig
T-Mobile customers in northern Brooklyn had been complaining for much of last year about mysterious service issues that consistently plagued certain areas of the New York City borough. After a lengthy investigation, the FCC and T-Mobile discovered the culprit was a that one man's bitcoing mining rig (more specifically a Bitmain Antminer S5) was somehow causing the interference in the 700Mhz band. "The device was generating spurious emissions on frequencies assigned to T-Mobile’s broadband network and causing harmful interference," the FCC's enforcement bureau told the man in the letter.
view:
topics flat nest 

mt999999
join:2016-06-16
East Liverpool, OH

mt999999

Member

Nice.

Wonder what the fine was for causing "harmful interference"?

Anonb0023
@charter.com

29 recommendations

Anonb0023

Anon

Re: Nice.

he was forced to switch to Sprint.

C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium Member
join:2001-10-03
Tempe, AZ

1 recommendation

C0deZer0

Premium Member

Re: Nice.

The guy's looking at that punishment and probably chomped into a new issue comic book he was reading, and probably whined about how he'd rather be banished to the phantom zone like General Zod! or something. :P

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT

6 recommendations

SimbaSeven to Anonb0023

Member

to Anonb0023
Wouldn't that be cruel and unusual punishment?

C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium Member
join:2001-10-03
Tempe, AZ

4 recommendations

C0deZer0

Premium Member

Re: Nice.

If it is true that the guy is working to find a way to resolve the interference caused by his mining hardware, I doubt it was intentional. Considering the otherwise lunatic focus on profit that miners have (second only to CEO's), if mining was all he cared about, he'd have probably told the FCC to buzz off, and thus it'd have only been a matter of time before his stuff was seized anyway. For all we know, it's probably improper EMI shielding on the unit. That would be more a fault of the maker of the Antminer(s), not the person who bought it.
SArcanine
join:2009-11-09
New York

1 recommendation

SArcanine to SimbaSeven

Member

to SimbaSeven
said by SimbaSeven:

Wouldn't that be cruel and unusual punishment?

Not in Brooklyn.

spewak
R.I.P Dadkins
Premium Member
join:2001-08-07
Elk Grove, CA

spewak to Anonb0023

Premium Member

to Anonb0023
said by Anonb0023 :

he was forced to switch to Sprint.

That will teach him a lesson he won't soon forget!
Nuggits
join:2008-10-03
Allston, MA

8 recommendations

Nuggits to mt999999

Member

to mt999999
Generally speaking, a fine isn't issued unless someone is willfully nefarious and doesn't respond to the requests to turn the offending device off. From the sources I have read, the owner of the mining system is fully cooperating with investigators.
wiredrunner
join:2017-06-19
Bristol, RI

wiredrunner

Member

Re: Nice.

If T-Mobile pushes it he could be charged criminally, intent or not they must have expanded resources to find out what was going on. Restitution could be involved and the Feds will collect that forever whereas a fine would be waived based on ability to pay.

Not saying it would go that way but it's really up to T-Mobile whether or not to pursue it. They would look at the possibly of it being bad for their good guy rep I suppose based on that it's pretty unlikely.
hen25
join:2001-03-02
Erie, PA

1 recommendation

hen25

Member

Re: Nice.

They'll likely pursue, there must be impact to customers in the area if they were out looking for it.

I'm curious what T-Mobile is going to encounter with their upcoming rollout of 600Mhz. 700Mhz was up and running for years and most of the major interferers have been located and resolved, not so much for 600Mhz.
hen25

7 recommendations

hen25 to mt999999

Member

to mt999999
The thing to keep in mind is that interference is usually not intentional and most sources of interference can be common household items that are still working normally - tv antenna, baby monitor, fluorescent ballast, etc.. The wireless companies will usually pinpoint the source and work with whoever the cause of it is, fixing the issue without FCC involvement.

There likely isn't a fine at this point, he will given some time to comply first. If he fails to do so, it will likely be 10's of thousands.

Anonb0023
@charter.com

2 recommendations

Anonb0023

Anon

Re: Nice.

Well I hate cryptominers anyway so I hope the FCC tales all his profits away. Bitcoin and it's ilk needs to die.

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

5 recommendations

cb14

Member

Re: Nice.

said by Anonb0023 :

Well I hate cryptominers anyway so I hope the FCC tales all his profits away. Bitcoin and it's ilk needs to die.

Its the biggest Ponzi scheme of all times and it will die and many suckers with it, I just hope regulators wake up before it causes a real crisis.
techguru308
join:2016-05-19
Cincinnati, OH

1 recommendation

techguru308

Member

Re: Nice.

said by cb14:

said by Anonb0023 :

Well I hate cryptominers anyway so I hope the FCC tales all his profits away. Bitcoin and it's ilk needs to die.

Its the biggest Ponzi scheme of all times and it will die and many suckers with it, I just hope regulators wake up before it causes a real crisis.

I doubt cryptocurrency mining is going to die it looks like it will replace ads on websites for revenue. It is important to install cryptocurrency mining blocking software extension on your web browser in addition to ad blocking extension.
dutenhnj
join:2002-01-29
Monroe, WI

4 recommendations

dutenhnj

Member

Re: Nice.

NoScript can be a pain at times, but it seems every other week the internet finds a new way to justify its existence.

Anon18d1d
@frontiernet.net

1 recommendation

Anon18d1d to techguru308

Anon

to techguru308
AdBlock has a filter list for mining protection. You can manually add it pretty easily.
Eth_Rem
Premium Member
join:2009-06-17
Littleton, CO
ARRIS TG3482
Asus RT-AC68

1 recommendation

Eth_Rem to techguru308

Premium Member

to techguru308
Or use a decent antivirus. Avast has been blocking Coinhive since before it became a big issue - I went to actually mine for more links on Alluc and it took me 2 browsers and about 15 minutes of troubleshooting before I realized Avast was blocking it.

P Ness
You'Ve Forgotten 9-11 Already
Premium Member
join:2001-08-29
way way out

P Ness to cb14

Premium Member

to cb14
said by cb14:

said by Anonb0023 :

Well I hate cryptominers anyway so I hope the FCC tales all his profits away. Bitcoin and it's ilk needs to die.

Its the biggest Ponzi scheme of all times and it will die and many suckers with it, I just hope regulators wake up before it causes a real crisis.

So was penny stocks, the silver rush, tech stocks 1.0 and 2.0.....only difference is wall street has some legitimate companies on it.
biochemistry
Premium Member
join:2003-05-09
92361

biochemistry

Premium Member

Re: Nice.

Many cryptocurrencies are in fact working with real Wall Streer companies.

Anon77547
@sbcglobal.net

Anon77547 to cb14

Anon

to cb14
Jeez what’s up with lol this hate. Do some of you actually understand the tech? First educate yourself on what block chain is. I was similar to you a while back but I wish I understood it sooner. To say you hope crypto dies clearly states you haven’t taken the time to learn more about it. Some of the tech is groundbreaking. Multi billion dollar companies around adopting block chain just because they are stupid. As far as mining yes it’s a waste of energy which I agree with but Better companies are adopting what call staking. Etheruem won’t be minable in about a year or so. So let the tech develop and grow. It’s here to stay and won’t die as people hope it would.

Anon438b9
@quadranet.com

3 recommendations

Anon438b9 to Anonb0023

Anon

to Anonb0023
said by Anonb0023 :

Well I hate cryptominers anyway so I hope the FCC tales all his profits away. Bitcoin and it's ilk needs to die.

Whats with the hate? Encryption technology principle to create a unit measure in order to transfer value across the world without need of intermediately. Unable to be manipulated by outside forces based on mathematical principles. It's wonderful technology.

Anonb0023
@charter.com

-8 recommendations

Anonb0023

Anon

Re: Nice.

said by Anon438b9 :

said by Anonb0023 :

Well I hate cryptominers anyway so I hope the FCC tales all his profits away. Bitcoin and it's ilk needs to die.

Whats with the hate? Encryption technology principle to create a unit measure in order to transfer value across the world without need of intermediately. Unable to be manipulated by outside forces based on mathematical principles. It's wonderful technology.

crytocurreny mining is ponzi scheme and wastes resources. This "money" is not real and has no value. Now if you want to have a debate on BLOCKCHAIN that is different. These losers need to get real jobs. Go price a graphics card. IF you can even find them in stock. They are 2-3X more than MSRP because they are all being bought up by cryptominers. Even cards not used for mining like the 1050ti are overpriced by 1.5X because people who can't get the better cards for gaming are buying them up. Were have you been for the last year?

Anon32a5d
@quadranet.com

4 recommendations

Anon32a5d

Anon

Re: Nice.

said by Anonb0023 :

said by Anon438b9 :

said by Anonb0023 :

Well I hate cryptominers anyway so I hope the FCC tales all his profits away. Bitcoin and it's ilk needs to die.

Whats with the hate? Encryption technology principle to create a unit measure in order to transfer value across the world without need of intermediately. Unable to be manipulated by outside forces based on mathematical principles. It's wonderful technology.

crytocurreny mining is ponzi scheme and wastes resources. This "money" is not real and has no value. Now if you want to have a debate on BLOCKCHAIN that is different. These losers need to get real jobs. Go price a graphics card. IF you can even find them in stock. They are 2-3X more than MSRP because they are all being bought up by cryptominers. Even cards not used for mining like the 1050ti are overpriced by 1.5X because people who can't get the better cards for gaming are buying them up. Were have you been for the last year?

You talking about mining. Not sure what resources it waste other than your own electricity but if you don't mind paying for it that's on the person. You don't use cards to mine Bitcoin you use asics. But there pretty expensive. That S5 is obsolete years ago. You can use it to mine some alt coins but asic coins worth less when it comes to mining compare to other algorithms. Graphic and CPU mining are good for some alt coins if they rise in the future. Regardless either way I made a good 30k profit from trading in the last 6 months from it so there is only love for it in my heart. Yesterday i made $280. Last week I made 1500 in the week. The week before that I had a bad day and loss a good 1k. But as long as I average out in the positive it's all good. I sold a good 100 btc many years ago still kicking myself for it but oh well needed the money at the time. It has value as long someone believes it has value. Why does a baseball card, comic, painting etc have value? Because there is someone that is willing to buy it at the price. The graphics cards have always being overpriced even before bitcoin they are the single handed the largest expense when building a gaming pc. Don't you remember buying a voodoo card for $300 to $500 dollars.

kevinds
Premium Member
join:2003-05-01
Calgary, AB

1 recommendation

kevinds to Anonb0023

Premium Member

to Anonb0023
said by Anonb0023 :

This "money" is not real and has no value.

One could say the same about a US dollar bill, or a Euro. It is a piece of paper with ink on it. It is valued more or less depending on your current location and situation.
said by Anonb0023 :

crytocurreny mining is ponzi scheme

How does it fit the definition of a ponzi scheme?
said by Anonb0023 :

These losers need to get real jobs.

How YOU define a real job, is going to be different from others..

I'm going to give up though, I think this would be wasted space... If Anon#### wanted to have a discussion, they wouldn't be Anon..

mt999999
join:2016-06-16
East Liverpool, OH

1 recommendation

mt999999

Member

Re: Nice.

said by kevinds:

said by Anonb0023 :

This "money" is not real and has no value.

One could say the same about a US dollar bill, or a Euro. It is a piece of paper with ink on it. It is valued more or less depending on your current location and situation.
said by Anonb0023 :

crytocurreny mining is ponzi scheme

How does it fit the definition of a ponzi scheme?
said by Anonb0023 :

These losers need to get real jobs.

How YOU define a real job, is going to be different from others..

I'm going to give up though, I think this would be wasted space... If Anon#### wanted to have a discussion, they wouldn't be Anon..

Thank you! That's what I've been saying... drop the anonymous mask if you want to have a real discussion. I should try the feature that blocks anonymous posters.
Eth_Rem
Premium Member
join:2009-06-17
Littleton, CO
ARRIS TG3482
Asus RT-AC68

Eth_Rem to kevinds

Premium Member

to kevinds
said by kevinds:

said by Anonb0023 :

This "money" is not real and has no value.

One could say the same about a US dollar bill, or a Euro. It is a piece of paper with ink on it. It is valued more or less depending on your current location and situation.

At least when it comes to government currency, it’s actually backed up by the government in some way. Cryptocurrencies aren’t backed by anything. Honestly the exchanges could close their doors and you would have no way of getting your money out of the system.

While governments can (and do) collapse, when crypto collapses, it’s going to be a global financial disaster.

What goes up must come down. The crypto bubble is so overvalued right now that when the correction hits, millions are going to get wiped out in a split second.

kevinds
Premium Member
join:2003-05-01
Calgary, AB

kevinds

Premium Member

Re: Nice.

said by Eth_Rem:

Cryptocurrencies aren’t backed by anything. Honestly the exchanges could close their doors and you would have no way of getting your money out of the system.

While governments can (and do) collapse, when crypto collapses, it’s going to be a global financial disaster.

What goes up must come down. The crypto bubble is so overvalued right now that when the correction hits, millions are going to get wiped out in a split second.

Much like stocks...

When certain governments have collapsed, has had global economic disasters too.

Otherwise, yes, I agree, very much overvalued and a bubble.. 1 BTC was $18k a couple months ago, now what? $10k.. Still high, but at least it is coming down. Realistically I am expecting it to settle somewhere between 1k USD and 1k EUR for now.. I could be way off of course.

Much like stocks, and anything to do with money, there are scams out there for sure.

I will also say, it is really cool that every BTC is public record.. Can't hide transactions like one can with other currencies.
Eth_Rem
Premium Member
join:2009-06-17
Littleton, CO
ARRIS TG3482
Asus RT-AC68

1 edit

Eth_Rem

Premium Member

Re: Nice.

said by kevinds:

said by Eth_Rem:

Cryptocurrencies aren’t backed by anything. Honestly the exchanges could close their doors and you would have no way of getting your money out of the system.

While governments can (and do) collapse, when crypto collapses, it’s going to be a global financial disaster.

What goes up must come down. The crypto bubble is so overvalued right now that when the correction hits, millions are going to get wiped out in a split second.

Much like stocks...

When certain governments have collapsed, has had global economic disasters too.

Otherwise, yes, I agree, very much overvalued and a bubble.. 1 BTC was $18k a couple months ago, now what? $10k.. Still high, but at least it is coming down. Realistically I am expecting it to settle somewhere between 1k USD and 1k EUR for now.. I could be way off of course.

Much like stocks, and anything to do with money, there are scams out there for sure.

I will also say, it is really cool that every BTC is public record.. Can't hide transactions like one can with other currencies.

The thing that scares me about crypto is the total lack of regulation. I mean just twice in the last few months I’ve gotten emails about Coinbase investigating it’s employees for insider trading.

When you think about it, it’s not that hard to inflate the value of cryptocurrency at all - that is the problem. The value can be manipulated very easily.

The stock exchanges are heavily regulated so the losses in the stock market tend to be at least somewhat predictable. When you’re investing in a cryptocurrency, it’s that currency itself that you’re betting your money on. It’s unregulated gambling and as governments start finding ways to regulate crypto (while they can’t do anything about the sites and exchanges, they sure as hell can make a law that all banks are barred from doing business with exchanges and all transactions must be blocked and reported), it’s going to tumble down.

Honestly bitcoin has had unprecedented growth in value, the global impact of a collapse is unfathomable to me.
SArcanine
join:2009-11-09
New York

SArcanine to Eth_Rem

Member

to Eth_Rem
said by Eth_Rem:

said by kevinds:

said by Anonb0023 :

This "money" is not real and has no value.

One could say the same about a US dollar bill, or a Euro. It is a piece of paper with ink on it. It is valued more or less depending on your current location and situation.

At least when it comes to government currency, it’s actually backed up by the government in some way. Cryptocurrencies aren’t backed by anything. Honestly the exchanges could close their doors and you would have no way of getting your money out of the system.

While governments can (and do) collapse, when crypto collapses, it’s going to be a global financial disaster.

What goes up must come down. The crypto bubble is so overvalued right now that when the correction hits, millions are going to get wiped out in a split second.

Simple. Exchange with others directly. I have exchanged dollars for other currencies in the past. It worked out well because I got the precise exchange rate.
Eth_Rem
Premium Member
join:2009-06-17
Littleton, CO

Eth_Rem

Premium Member

Re: Nice.

Well this is the internet and where there’s a will there’s always a way, it would still decimate the value though.
kinda pissed
join:2012-06-06
Newsoms, VA

3 recommendations

kinda pissed to Anonb0023

Member

to Anonb0023
I don't mess with it but what do you have against bitcoin?

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

1 recommendation

cb14

Member

Re: Nice.

said by kinda pissed:

I don't mess with it but what do you have against bitcoin?

said by kinda pissed:

I don't mess with it but what do you have against bitcoin?

Electronic tulip mania. The very original tulip mania caused a moderate economic chill( partially due to smart decisions of the courts and of the government), pseudo coin mania can cause, if unchecked, an economic collapse.
And yes, the unbelievable waste of electric power.
SArcanine
join:2009-11-09
New York

SArcanine

Member

Re: Nice.

said by cb14:

said by kinda pissed:

I don't mess with it but what do you have against bitcoin?

said by kinda pissed:

I don't mess with it but what do you have against bitcoin?

Electronic tulip mania. The very original tulip mania caused a moderate economic chill( partially due to smart decisions of the courts and of the government), pseudo coin mania can cause, if unchecked, an economic collapse.
And yes, the unbelievable waste of electric power.

How else do you propose that people waste electric power, money and effort? ;P

cralt
join:2011-01-07
CT

2 recommendations

cralt to mt999999

Member

to mt999999
If it's not intentional and if he stops/fixes the issue there will be no fine. FCC doesn't fine people for accidental on 1st warning. Fines come if he continues.

amasa
Word
join:2001-09-28
Colorado Springs, CO

1 recommendation

amasa to mt999999

Member

to mt999999
I bet this amounted to bad ground.
VirtualLarry
Premium Member
join:2003-08-01

VirtualLarry

Premium Member

Re: Nice.

said by amasa:

I bet this amounted to bad ground.

Could that then be the fault of the apt. maintenance / facilities people? Should they perhaps get the fine instead?
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 recommendation

Kearnstd to mt999999

Premium Member

to mt999999
There is absolutely zero that can be done to him, It was not proven to be intentional and as long as he fixes the equipment or ceases operation then he has complied and that is the end of this.

Could TMO try and sue? Maybe but any judge with functional brain cells would toss the case because the FCC proved it was non-intentional.

Anon8aff4
@frantech.ca

Anon8aff4

Anon

Re: Nice.

quote:
Could TMO try and sue? Maybe but any judge with functional brain cells would toss the case because the FCC proved it was non-intentional.
So Yes they will sue and win based on your criteria. As this, "ny judge with functional brain cells." pretty much excludes 100% of the judiciary.
Anon8aff4

Anon8aff4 to mt999999

Anon

to mt999999
quote:
Wonder what the fine was for causing "harmful interference"?
WILLFUL interference starts at $10k, along with some modifiers for interference etc. See 47 CFR 1.80, 47 CFR 503, 47 CFR 15 et seq.

Doing it intentionally will rack up fines quickly. Unintentional could still rack up some fines if you are using uncertified parts, which may not be legal for importation to the US. Also if you hold Part 97, 95, or 90 licenses these could be placed in jeopardy, and if so will make any WILLFUL interference that much more painful in FINES, loss/revocation of licenses. In other words FCC license holders should know better, and thus the hammer will really come down!

NAL is not the type of letter you want to get as a license holder, ever!

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

The FCC doing it's actual job....

..... up one thousand points

•••••••

Squishy Tia
join:2016-05-16

Squishy Tia

Member

It's time for a Cage Match!

So the moral of the story is...build a Faraday cage around your cryptomining rig? o_O

Anon189cb
@frantech.ca

Anon189cb

Anon

Re: It's time for a Cage Match!

quote:
So the moral of the story is...build a Faraday cage around your cryptomining rig
In the past PC's would have had to been FCC Part 15B certified for EACH model. This caused many a PC builders in the early days to be in violation. As they were taking parts and putting together and selling.

Later the rules were modified to allow that PARTS that were CERTIFIED for FCC Part15B could be assembled into a final unit, and sold WITHOUT need for a certificate from a certified FCC lab.

Doesn't mean you still cant cause problems when you use parts. Especially if you get parts from outside the US which were not sent for testing.