Christmas fairy lights can slow down your Wi-Fi, says Ofcom

Those fancy fairy lights you’ve lovingly draped over the Christmas tree might look pretty, but they could be causing slower Wi-Fi speeds, United Kingdom telecoms regulator Ofcom has warned.

In separate news, Ofcom said that rural areas are still badly off for broadband speed.

In fact, issues with electromagnetic interference from certain types of cheaper light bulb are nothing new, but Ofcom is trying to raise awareness of its new Wi-Fi Checker app – and highlighting potential problems with fairy lights is a good a way as any this time of year.

But it said that baby monitors microwave ovens and even fairy lights can interfere with the data.

It claims that as many as five million homes across the United Kingdom could be seeing their broadband slowed down by a number of household items.

Small businesses seemed to be the most affected by electronic interference with their wireless internet, with around half unable to access broadband over 10 Mbps.

The scorecard shows that, among major European nations, the United Kingdom has the best coverage and take-up of superfast broadband, the highest coverage of fast mobile services, and some of the cheapest prices.

“Mobile and broadband have become the fourth essential service, alongside gas, electricity and water”. There’s been a technological revolution over recent years, with 4G mobile and superfast continuing to extend across the country.

As a way of mapping Wi-Fi coverage in a home its simplicity compared to analysing more techie tools may be useful, but as always the ultimate test is what your actual device manages, be that a Chromecast plugging into the back of the TV or a games console in a teenagers attic room.

People are advised to keep their router as far away as possible from other electronic devices.

So Santa’s Grotto is presumably something of a Wi-Fi black hole, which goes some way to explaining why he still uses a sleigh rather than drones for delivery.

The SSID can be switched off by accessing the router’s online set-up page and selecting “Disabled” for SSID Broadcast. Wireless connections can be improved and sped up by using a wireless bridge to help boost the signal, or by moving the router or device to a less blocked place.