Common Causes Of Slow Internet Connection That Might Surprise You

Slow internet connection? Here are some of the things commonly found in a household that might be interfering with your Wi-Fi connection. Surprise, surprise!

Wireless Speakers and Console Controllers

wirelessspeakers

They seem totally harmless but these devices might actually interfere with your Wi-Fi! According to studies form the Farpoint Group, any device can operate in the unlicensed band used by Wi-Fi. Cordless phones shouldn’t interfere with your Wi-Fi, though!

Microwaves

Research from the Farpoint Group suggests that data throughput can fall by 64% within 25ft of a microwave. However, unlike video senders, microwave interference should only occur when you’re actually using them. Better wait for that movie to download before you cook the popcorn!

Analogue Video Senders

Analogue Video Senders top the list when it comes to devices that interfere with your Wi-Fi. Analogue video senders, such as baby monitors and wireless security cameras, have a different spectrum profile to Wi-Fi that it comes to the point where they eliminate your Wi-Fi connection. No wonder your SSID keeps disappearing every now and then! Since these devices’ signal is always on even when no video is being sent, they are often hard to diagnose as a source of interference.

Bluetooth

New devices have already addressed this problem by jumping to different frequencies but, according to ABI Research analyst Michael Morgan, older gadgets can still be a bit problematic.

Christmas Lights

Ever wonder why your internet connection starts acting weird during the holiday season? According to TalkTalk, Christmas lights as well as other household lights can reduce your Wi-Fi’s performance up to 25%. Worse comes to worst when your Christmas lights are blinking. Apparently, fluorescent lighting can also degrade Wi-Fi signal but they have to be very close to notice an interference.

Building Materials

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, guess what? Your house itself could be blocking Wi-Fi! The worst culprit is chicken wire which is used to help plaster stick to the walls better. These are especially common in Victorian or Edwardian era homes. Modern homes constructed with lots of plaster board also use signal-bouncing foil coating in kitchens and bathrooms. Actually, any metal in walls can cause signal to degrade.

Power Cables

We already know that anything with metal can interfere with your Wi-Fi signal. However, cables add electricity to the mix and, in theory, electromagnetic radiation create radio frequency noise that interferes even more. Good thing the effect is likely to be unnoticeable.

Mirrors

Home-Office-with-Mirrors

Unfortunately, your full-length mirrors might be hurting your Wi-Fi signal as well. Large mirrors tend to reflect the Wi-Fi signal back.

Old Televisions

old-tv

New gadgets aren’t the only culprits for your Wi-Fi’s decrease in performance. An ancient CRT television once knocked out wireless signal of a whole neighborhood. The ISP was forced to buy a new TV for the owner of the old TV.

Fish Tanks

fish-tanks

You can still keep your fish but make sure the aquarium is nowhere near the gadgets that are connected to your Wi-Fi.

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