Big House : Small CGM Transmitter Range

So, we finally moved into our new house about a month ago. One of the strangest diabetes-related things I’ve had to get used to is the size and shape of my new house when it comes to my CGM signal. The Dexcom G4 is supposed to be in range as long as the receiver and transmitter are within 20 feet from each other. Our old house was kind of a 50s bungalow, where I could set my receiver in a central location and still have my signal picked up all over the house. Only our master bathroom stretched the range, so showering was the only time I had to remember to pick up my receiver and take it with me. Our new house is bigger and also more spread out. When we first moved in and I was unpacking, I missed hours of data at a time (and I missed a lot of lows and highs).

Caller-ID Big House:Small CGM Transmitter RangeI’ve really had to get adjusted to carrying my receiver with me from room to room in the house. It has turned into a bit of a ball-and-chain but my thinking is if I’m not going to have the receiver collecting a signal 99.9% of the time, then what’s the point of wearing this additional, ugly (yet not inexpensive!) hunk of plastic on my belly all the time, right? I’d love to take a vacation from my CGM occasionally but for me diabetes devices are like the original Caller ID box (remember those days?!) once you have it, you really can’t ever go back to being without it.  I hope to look back at my tummy devices and signal ranges one day just like I look back at the Caller ID box now and say “Wow, can you believe I used to use one of those things all the time? And I thought it was so high-tech!”

5 thoughts on “Big House : Small CGM Transmitter Range

  1. Things rings true. I never actually had the caller ID box, but I DO have the feeling of, “I can’t believe I used to answer the phone not knowing who would be on the other end.” So the ring true part for me is: it feels like we’re close to “I can’t believe I used to have to carry all of this stuff to find out my blood sugar.” Or even, “I can’t believe I used to have to count every carb.”

    • Thanks for your comment! haha, admitting to owning a Caller ID box is definitely showing my age :) In seriousness, I totally agree and am sure we’ll be saying something to that affect. It might not be exactly what we dream of now but with all the new technological advances, not to mention #wearenotwaiting, progress has to happen.

  2. I go back to when we used to have to wipe the blood off the test strips and use a timer and it took 5 min. The meter was about 5 lbs and impossible to use. CGM changed my life.
    However when the Electric company put in a new wireless electric meter, it interfered with my signal. I could not get it to communicate with my pump at all. I sent it back twice and twice they said it was fine.
    I had o petition to get the old style electric meter back and it cost me $1200. That is the “opt out” cost of having the old style meters for those who don’t want random extra signals in their house.
    I thought they would wave that because it is interfering with a medical device, but as it turns out the electric meters have a higher priority and the medical devices are required to “not interfere with them” not the other way around.
    If you have one of these meters on your house, you might be losing range.
    PS> the wireless heart monitors that keep track of your pulse on the treadmills at the gym do the same thing. I get o signal when I am within a few feet of them.

What do you think?