Nuance: does a Christmas tree disrupt the Wi-Fi signal?
Caiway warns its customers that a Christmas tree can interfere with the WiFi signal in homes. Should we move our WiFi routers as far away from the beautifully decorated Christmas tree as possible in case of slow network connections?
Wifi is sensitive to interference factors and if you want to optimize your WiFi connection, it is a good idea to exclude interference, Caiway reports. The internet provider lists a number of possible causes for signal disruption, mentioning the microwave, TV, an aquarium, other Wi-Fi networks and the DECT telephone, but also the Christmas tree. Tubantia, among others, wrote about it.
The provider is not the only one pointing to the Christmas tree as a possible jammer. The British telecom authority Ofcom also does this in an explanation of its Wi-Fi Checker, although the regulator refers more specifically to the lighting of Christmas trees as a source of disruption. So it seems to be a serious candidate negatively impacting wireless networks, right?
We asked Dick van Smirren of TNO’s Networks Research Group. TNO is conducting research into Wi-Fi problems, including as part of the European Horizon 2020 Wi-5 project. “It sounds interesting that a Christmas tree has an influence and it is soon true. After all, walls also have an influence. From a technical point of view, everything can influence the signal. Influence is quite a broad concept,” says Van Smirren.
According to him, it is about the degree of influence. According to him, measurements should be taken to make firm statements, but in any case it is highly dependent on specific situations and Christmas lights will be just one of many factors that influence the signal. “Everything with electromagnetic radiation participates. Perhaps the wiring of the lighting has a little influence. Perhaps modern stuff that deals with data communication has an effect, although it is not in the WiFi spectrum.”
“Maybe it will improve things,” said Van Smirren. It is likely that users who move the router because of the Christmas tree will notice an effect. But that applies in any case to moving routers at any time and in any place, according to the TNO employee: “It can result in an improvement, or a deterioration.”
Microwaves and DECT telephones are known as potentially hefty jammers. In principle, an effect can be expected from equipment with antenna-like components, but the biggest culprits are the routers of the neighbors, Van Smirren also acknowledges. By responding to this, the most profit can be made.
TNO itself is therefore testing software that coordinates and optimizes the channel selection of the access points in the area and the handovers between access points. Within a year, that software should be available through providers. Disruption of network signal due to overcrowding of the number of routers is an increasing problem.
Switching to 5GHz can be a remedy in many cases. According to research by the Telecom Agency, the use of the 5GHz band has tripled since 2014, but a switch to this frequency band almost always results in a good connection. In city centers the 2.4 GHz band is overloaded and the 5 GHz band is used equally here, but 5 GHz in centers remains a good alternative.