NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio -- Corinne Branchick tried to lock her car door three weeks ago with a remote key fob. It didn’t work then, and it hasn’t worked since.

In the days that followed, she learned that she wasn’t alone.

Branchick lives on Virginia Avenue in North Olmsted’s Parkview neighborhood, a collection of working-class homes that sit north of Interstate 480 and the Cleveland Metroparks Rocky River Reservation.

Residents on Clague Road, Brendan Lane, MacBeth Avenue and Tara-Lynn Drive complained of similar problems with their fobs and garage door openers. Affected residents said the malfunction isn’t exactly consistent. Some of the residents say the devices work sometimes, while others say they don’t work at all.

“And of course I thought it was my battery so I go and buy a new battery and that didn’t help it,” Branchick said of her key fob. “But then I noticed that it’s still working when I go to work, anywhere else, except in my driveway."

North Olmsted police, city council members and experts in radio frequency are baffled. Branchick’s neighbors have their theories about what’s causing the problems.

Some believe Cleveland Hopkins International Airport’s recent technical issues are to blame. Others believe it’s the result of a cable box installed on a utility pole. Branchick noted the cable box is probably “screaming” with frequency, meaning the box is being used as a connection hub for many different things including cable, telephone and internet.

Branchick walked up and down her street to see if anyone’s key fob or garage door opener give them trouble. Ten of her neighbors on Virginia Avenue alone also reported problems.

Tina McLoughlin, who also lives in the neighborhood, said she and her husband’s issue is strictly the garage door opener.

“We went out and bought batteries like off brand, we bought a bunch from Ace Hardware,” she said. “That didn’t work so we bought more batteries, Energizer brand, at a different store. It’s totally intermittent. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

Key fobs and garage openers are radio transmitters. When someone pushes the lock or unlock or hits the garage opener, it sends a code to the receiver which is typically a car or the garage which contain receivers.

Fobs and remote starters operate in 315MHz and 433MHz radio band, according to a June 2018 article in Top Gear. High-intensity interference can muffle those signals. WiFi is also to blame for some remote interference.

Emir Abeid, owner of E&A Locksmith, said it’s possible that the interference is coming from the radars at the airport, he said in an interview with cleveland.com. He said it’s also possible that it’s coming from NASA’s Glenn Research Center which is always working on multiple projects.

The research center is about three miles away, while the airport is about four miles away.

“It could be anything whether the airport is testing computers, motors, radars,” he said. “Something large is interfering with the frequency.”

An official in the city’s safety service department confirmed that the city looked into it and is also at a loss. North Olmsted Mayor Kevin Kennedy’s office did not return a call seeking comment.

North Olmsted police Lt. Bob Dungan said his officers read about the problem in a North Olmsted Facebook group when residents began to share their stories.

“One of the guys (police officer) found on Facebook that somebody posted that maybe someone’s WiFi was interfering,” he said. “Some have said key fobs do not like LED lights interfering.”

Many who commented thought the battery was low, or the airport’s problem, according to screenshots of the group provided by North Olmsted City Councilman Chris Glassburn. Others also believe it is their home WiFi.

There have been nine posts since a thread began about garage doors not working, Glassburn said in an email.

No one contacted Glassburn about the initial problems. “I noticed the post this morning (Friday) when on Facebook," he said in an email statement. "In general, we do not have the culture of a place like Cleveland where residents go to Councilpersons first.”

Branchick said neighbors called AT&T Tuesday to check the cable box. The company told residents that its equipment checked out OK and that the problem could come from a nearby First Energy power transformer.

Residents were told that Glassburn would call First Energy to see if a transformer could be the issue.

“I have no idea what we are going to do at this point,” Branchick said. “I’m hoping someone has some ideas or answers.”