In Maine, about 250 households found their Internet stopped working correctly after Maine Central Power installed smart meters. Smart meters, widely in use all over the country, automatically send word to the power company when there’s an outage, and upload metered usage numbers to headquarters, avoiding the need for someone to actually visit the meter and read it.
The drawback is that Smart Meters use the 2.4GHz frequency band, as do many wireless routers and garage door openers, and in some cases can interfere with their function. In a handy illustration of why monopolies are bad, the utility offers customers this advice for dealing with the problem: Move your device away from our smart meter.
Read more at CNET.
