If your internet connection has recently slowed down or has trouble connecting in some rooms of your house, it turns out that your Christmas tree could be the culprit.
If you have a Christmas tree set up in your hall next to your router, you may have noticed that your wireless internet reception has been poor about the house. You may not have suspected that the tree could be to blame, but if it's close to your internet router then it could be at fault.
Wifi signals use the 2.4GHz or 5GHz radio bands and can reach up to 50m range if unimpeded, but the signal from your router can be blocked and interfered with by a wide range of household objects. The signal can penetrate most internal walls and floors in your house without too much loss of signal, but complex objects like trees and bushes can scatter it.
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A christmas tree can be a perfect storm for disrupting wifi due to the huge number of branches, ornaments made of different materials, and even interference from fairy lights. Price comparison site USwitch has launched a guide on how to keep your internet router happy this Christmas.
Nick Baker at Uswitch.com said: "If you notice that your broadband is struggling over the festive period, there’s a chance that the culprit could be your Christmas decorations. Any large object placed in front of your router can block your Wi-Fi signal, so be careful where you put your Christmas tree. Fairy lights can interfere with your Wi-Fi signal and potentially reduce your connection speeds, so keep them away from your router."
Source: Written based on press release
