Though there are a number of probable reasons from an
electrical and electronic engineers’ perspective, but can Christmas lights
actually slow down your home Wi-Fi’s speed?
By: Ringo Bones
At the time of writing, America’s right-leaning Evangelicals
has yet to call this latest study as a conspiracy by the telecommunications
industry to launch a “war against Christmas”, but a lot of people find it
disconcerting that the most de rigueur indicator of the Yuletide Season –
Christmas lights or as the Brits call them fairy lights – can actually slow
down the speed of your home Wi-Fi. Worse still, quite a number of us now use
broadband technology to stay connected with our loved ones through the internet
and the Yuletide Season is one of the peak seasons of the year for such
activities and a Wi-Fi slowdown is the last thing we need.
In a recent research study results released by watchdog
Ofcom, Christmas tree lights / fairy
lights can actually slow down your Wi-Fi’s data transfer speed and the results
were in conjunction with the new app that they recently released that can check
the “health” of your home broadband. The app samples Wi-Fi’s wireless signals to
see if the data is flowing uninterrupted from routers to smart-phones and
tablets. The app is released alongside research results, which suggests Wi-Fi
in six million homes and offices participating in the Ofcom study were not
running as fast as it should.
According to the study, what causes the slowdown is the
interference caused by the solid state power supplies used in modern
electronics that are not transformer isolated from mains which forms the power
supplies of most modern LED based Christmas lights / fairy lights that also
power the electronics that makes them blink and the “singing chip”. Radio frequency
emissions from baby monitors and microwave ovens can also significantly slow
down Wi-Fi data transfer speeds said Ofcom in a statement.
