UK communications regulator Ofcom is warning that your Christmas lights may be slowing your WiFi. The company released a WiFi checking app to check internet speeds, noting that many routers are not setup correctly, which can lead to "interference from other electronic devices, such as a microwave oven, baby monitor, a lamp—or even Christmas fairy lights."
Sure, Christmas lights do give off a small electromagnetic field, but is it enough to interfere with the radio waves emitted from your routed? Many scientists say no—Christmas lights are unlikely to cause major interferences with your WiFi connection, though it's not impossible.
“It is possible that the wire in a string of lights could act as an antenna if not properly grounded and could, in principal, generate a radio signal if a sufficiently strong alternating current passes through the wire or if there is a strong radio signal that is retransmitted through this wire ,” Tom Coughlin, senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers told Wired. “However this signal would have to be at the right frequency to cause problems to Wi-Fi, so even this is unlikely.”
Nicole is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @sweetpotatoes.
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