Could Christmas Lights Interfere With Your Wi-Fi?

I know that this is the season to be jolly, but how can one be jolly when there is not a good and strong Wi-Fi signal in the vicinity? Here is the thing – it seems that all of the Christmas lights decorating your pad could very well slow down the existing Wi-Fi signal. British telecom regulator Ofcom rolled out a Wi-Fi checker app on both Android and iOS platforms this week in order to monitor the connection speeds, and cited that TV monitors, stereo speakers, and Christmas lights can be a factor in slowing down your Wi-Fi speed.

Daniel Carpini, vice president of marketing at xG Technology, which develops interference-resistant wireless communications for clients like the U.S. military, shares his take on the possibility, “Yeah, it’s possible that your Christmas lights will have some effect on your router and broadband performance.”

Apparently, electronic gadgets do generate elecro-magnetic fields, with some of them being stronger fields than others, and the top two offenders in this category would be the microwave oven and cordless phone. Christmas lights do emit some energy, but should not be too much of an issue. Just do not go around wrapping your Christmas lights around your Wi-Fi clients and you’re safe and sound. Food for thought, eh?

Edwin Kee
Categories: Computers
Tags: WiFi