This Common Kitchen Item Could Be Blocking Your Wifi Signal
Have you ever been watching a great video on your phone while cooking dinner and suddenly the video just stops buffering? It is incredibly frustrating to lose your internet connection right in the middle of a recipe or a good song. I used to think my internet provider was just terrible. But recently I learned that the dead zone in my kitchen was actually my own fault. The problem was an appliance sitting on my countertop the whole time.
The Unexpected Kitchen Problem
It turns out that your microwave is actually a massive Wi-Fi jammer. I know it sounds a little bit like science fiction but it is completely true. Whenever you press start to heat up your leftover pizza, that metal box sends out invisible waves that completely scramble your internet signal. If your router is sitting close to the kitchen or if your phone is nearby, the microwave basically blocks your Wi-Fi connection until it drops completely.
Sharing The Same Channel
The reason this happens is actually pretty simple once you look at the science. Most standard Wi-Fi routers operate on a frequency of 2.4 gigahertz. By pure coincidence, microwaves also use that exact same frequency to heat up your food. So when your microwave is running it is basically flooding the airwaves on the exact same channel your router is trying to use. The internet signal just gets completely lost.
A Radiation Leak
You might be wondering how the waves get out of the microwave in the first place. They are designed to be sealed metal boxes. But no microwave is perfectly sealed. A tiny amount of radiation always leaks out around the door seal. It is completely safe for us humans, but it is more than enough to confuse your internet router. Older microwaves tend to have looser hinges and seals which makes the internet problem even worse.
Creating Some Physical Distance
The easiest way to fix this annoying problem is to just move your router. If your internet box is sitting in the kitchen or right on the other side of the wall, you need to put it in a different spot. Moving the router into the living room or a central hallway gives the signal more room. Physical distance is the best defense against appliance interference. Just giving it a few extra rooms of space usually gets rid of the dropouts entirely.
Switching To A New Lane
If you cannot move your router, you can actually change the channel it uses. Most modern internet routers are dual band. That means they can broadcast on both the crowded 2.4 gigahertz frequency and a faster 5 gigahertz frequency. If you go into your phone or computer settings and connect to the 5 gigahertz Wi-Fi network, the microwave cannot bother you anymore. It is like driving in an empty express lane while the microwave is stuck in traffic.
Time For An Appliance Upgrade
Sometimes the interference is just too strong to ignore. If your Wi-Fi drops out across the entire house every single time you heat up a cup of coffee, your microwave might be getting too old. A badly leaking seal is annoying for your internet and means the appliance is not heating your food efficiently anyway. Treating yourself to a new microwave with a tight door might just be the ultimate fix for your kitchen internet woes.
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It is so funny how our modern technology ends up fighting with each other. Figuring out this little microwave mystery made my evenings so much less stressful. Now I can happily stream my favorite podcasts while I cook without the audio cutting out every two minutes. I hope checking your router settings or just moving things around helps you get your connection back on track.
Bliss Donahue-Power
