Lamps And Other Electronic Equipment Could Be Slowing Your Internet

Megalith

Megalith

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UK communication regulator Ofcom suggests that common household electronics could be degrading your Wi-Fi performance.

Wi-Fi signal is weakened if the box is too near other devices that emit radio waves. The list of offending devices includes cordless telephones and electric lamps, which are frequently kept next to routers on coffee tables and sideboards.
 
Routers on coffee tables? Is this a British thing? I don't think I've ever seen that in the US.
 
Easy solution, wire it up :p
Or get an LED non PWM lamp.
Or drink tea.
 
Gotta say I don't have a single lamp in my house, all my lights are ceiling lights.

But I was wondering what the story was really about, was it about wifi signals getting interference? or about a law to get everyone 10Mbps connections? Seemed to jump back and forth a bit on that.
 
I just have everything (except for phones and tablets) wired into a GB switch. Much better speeds and no interference.
 
nutzo said:
I just have everything (except for phones and tablets) wired into a GB switch. Much better speeds and no interference.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more.

If a machine is stationary, don't be lazy. Run true gigabit ethernet to it.

While great, you don't HAVE To put it in your walls. You can use those neat little racetracks to run it along the sides, and it still looks nice and neat.

Neither WiFi nor Powerline Ethernet can substitute real Ethernet in performance or reliability.

The only things that should be using WiFi are phones and laptops.

Annoys me to no end when stationary machines come with WiFi adapters included. It's just encouraging laziness and makes those of us interested in doing it right, pay more for stuff we don't need.
 
Zarathustra[H];1041957750 said:
Couldn't agree more.

If a machine is stationary, don't be lazy. Run true gigabit ethernet to it.

While great, you don't HAVE To put it in your walls. You can use those neat little racetracks to run it along the sides, and it still looks nice and neat.

Neither WiFi nor Powerline Ethernet can substitute real Ethernet in performance or reliability.

The only things that should be using WiFi are phones and laptops.

Annoys me to no end when stationary machines come with WiFi adapters included. It's just encouraging laziness and makes those of us interested in doing it right, pay more for stuff we don't need.
Click to expand...


I work with a lot of small offices that don't have internal IT staff and the first thing everyone asks me is "why do we have someone come in and run a cable?" I have to bite my tongue when I feel like firing back with, "Because I don't want you calling me every other day when 'x' device stops working on the network (printer, workstation, NAS, etc)." I usually paint a colorful analogy using a single pipe / singular flow of water as an example and they get it.
 
potency said:
I work with a lot of small offices that don't have internal IT staff and the first thing everyone asks me is "why do we have someone come in and run a cable?" I have to bite my tongue when I feel like firing back with, "Because I don't want you calling me every other day when 'x' device stops working on the network (printer, workstation, NAS, etc)." I usually paint a colorful analogy using a single pipe / singular flow of water as an example and they get it.
Click to expand...

How does the pipe analogy go? Sounds like a good way to handle the situation.
 
I used to be adamant about cabling all the things. However, I've been using wireless exclusively at my desk for half a year with no issues. A good user experience depends on a lot of factors, but the need and demand for wireless is only getting bigger.
 
Zarathustra[H];1041957750 said:
Couldn't agree more.

If a machine is stationary, don't be lazy. Run true gigabit ethernet to it.

While great, you don't HAVE To put it in your walls. You can use those neat little racetracks to run it along the sides, and it still looks nice and neat.
Click to expand...

If you want a more permanent solution that does require a little more work, you can tuck it under the moulding on the floor. Usually on carpet, there is enough gap below the carpet line to just push the cable under the moulding. If you have hardwood or tile you will probably have to remove the moulding.
 
well radio signals can interfere with the adsl transmission through the telephone cable its same with fibre to cabinet that's popular in the uk, heavy interference can slow it down.
 
hmm that seems to be about wifi, can also be degraded by were you site the router if you have an old house with thick walls, its the reason I use network cable to all my pc's.
 
westrock2000 said:
If you want a more permanent solution that does require a little more work, you can tuck it under the moulding on the floor. Usually on carpet, there is enough gap below the carpet line to just push the cable under the moulding. If you have hardwood or tile you will probably have to remove the moulding.
Click to expand...

Yeah having hardwood floors through my whole house that isn't an option,, and race tracks as nice as they can look, also not an option due to where doors happen to lie, there literally is a physical barrier between the computer room (where the modem is) and the living room although I just picked up a Roku 3 and may have to run some cable to it because yeah I'm not a fan of wireless unless it's infinitely more convenient (laptops, etc)
 
Wine said:
How does the pipe analogy go? Sounds like a good way to handle the situation.
Click to expand...

A hard-wire is like a dedicated faucet and a Wi-Fi AP is like a community drinking fountain. The drinking fountain only provides a small amount of water and can only quench so much thirst at one time. When it reaches its limit, people have to wait. When everyone has their own faucet, it never becomes an issue.


No doubt there are a million different ways of explaining it, but this is usually good enough.
 
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