![\"\"](\"https:\/\/62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com\/files\/103872\/width668\/image-20151201-18818-1fj7q5z.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nhttp:\/\/son.nasa.gov\/tass\/content\/electrospectrum.htm<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Wireless networks typically work on the 2.4 Gigahertz microwave radio spectrum.<\/a>. The term Hertz means the number of waves per second, so 1 Hertz is one wavelength per second. Your FM radio station may use 100 Megahertz, or 100,000,000 waves per second, while 2.4 Gigahertz, used by wireless, is 2,400,000,000 waves per second, making the radio waves used by wi-fi considerably shorter<\/a>. Essentially, this means that they are \u201cweaker\u201d than FM radio waves \u2013 as they require greater power to cover the same distance.<\/p>\n Your wireless router also uses considerably less power than a public FM transmitter. We expect the maximum reach of a domestic wi-fi signal to be 100 metres, while FM in the right conditions can easily be obtained at up to 10km and beyond. (There are also public forms of wi-fi called WiMAX<\/a>, which can work in larger areas, but it is important to note that this is unrelated to the Ofcom press release.)<\/p>\n Because your wireless network is much less powerful than a big FM transmitter and its waves are \u201cweaker\u201d, where you place the router and what you have in your house will have an impact. Home electrics, microwaves, steel girders, concrete cladding and foil insulation all can have an effect. Older properties with their thicker walls<\/a> make a difference, too, as the lower-powered, high frequency wi-fi radio waves struggle to get penetrate them.<\/p>\n But while many different factors can dull your wi-fi signal, I can\u2019t recall anyone yet getting miffed about their festive laptop watching of Dr Who being affected as soon as the fairy lights go on.<\/p>\n But it is possible. Most fairy lights do have \u201cunshielded\u201d wires. This means that there is no radio frequency (RF) insulation to protect radio-based devices from the electromagnetic effect of the power cables trailing around your tree.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, it would take a considerable volume of lights to create enough interference to seriously degrade your wi-fi network. In fact, you would have to be lighting up your tree like a small sun \u2013 which perhaps some of you are planning.<\/p>\n Do consider downloading the wi-fi checker app offered by Ofcom, however \u2013 it may help you discover that it\u2019s the service provided by your phone company, rather than the fairy lights, that\u2019s to blame for all that endless buffering.<\/p>\n You should also think about where you place your wireless router in your home. Hiding it under a tin can inside a cupboard insulated with tin foil will ruin your Facebook fun. As will decorating your wireless device with holly and fairy lights.<\/p>\n There are domestic devices that will degrade the wireless signal \u2013 although it\u2019s not often you\u2019ll be running your microwave 24 hours a day \u2013 but don\u2019t rush to throw away your fairy lights just yet. The Festive Season is coming, after all.<\/p>\n This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a>. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before we all declare that this is a bit of \u201cBah Humbug!\u201d, it’s correct that your Christmas fairy lights really could be a Wi-Fi downer. But then so could many other devices. Ultimately, it is a matter of how much of a problem they actually cause. The science behind the warning Casting your minds back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":11074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[122,449,450,496,864,1514,1568,2413],"class_list":["post-1625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computing-communications","tag-andrew-smith","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-tree","tag-computing","tag-fairy-lights","tag-networking","tag-ofcom","tag-wi-fi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What should you do?<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.edu.au\/content\/51606\/count.gif\")
Andrew Smith<\/a>, Senior Lecturer in Networking, The Open University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n