--- title: Christmas Lights Could Be Slowing Down Your Wi-Fi description: Microwaves and baby monitors can slow your WiFi connection, but did you know "even Christmas fairy lights" can impact your web browsing? authors: - name: Alicia Adamczyk url: https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 201 covers: - Technology - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk former_staff: true published: '2015-12-03T16:16:53.000Z' modified: '2024-05-07T10:24:52.000Z' section: Technology tags: - christmas - holiday season - holiday shopping - Internet - Wi-Fi - WiFi word_count: 238 canonical: https://money.com/christmas-lights-slow-wi-fi/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![house with lots of christmas lights](https://img.money.com/2015/12/151203_em_xmaslightswifi.jpg) It's well-known that microwaves and baby monitors can slow your Wi-Fi connection. But did you know "even Christmas fairy lights" can impact your web browsing? That's according to UK communications regulator Ofcom's new Wi-Fi Checker app (available for [iOS](https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ofcom-wi-fi-checker/id1041885941?mt=8) and [Android)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samknows.InHomeTest&hl=en_GB), which purports to diagnose the quality of a home or business's internet and provide troubleshooting tips to improve a sluggish connection. Yet holiday light lovers out there don't necessarily need to send [stockings full of coal](https://money.com/send-coal-stocking-delivery-gift/) to Ofcom for dampening holiday displays. Daniel Carpini, vice president of marketing at [xG Technology](http://www.xgtechnology.com/), told [NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/can-christmas-lights-really-slow-your-wi-fi-n472791) that Christmas lights "emit such a small amount of energy" they're hardly the worst offenders impeding your signal. "It would take a considerable volume of lights to create enough interference to seriously degrade your Wi-Fi network," Andrew Smith writes at [The Conversation](https://theconversation.com/can-christmas-tree-lights-really-play-havoc-with-your-wi-fi-51606). "In fact, you would have to be lighting up your tree like a small sun." But when combined with all of the other devices tapped into your Wi-Fi — like your phones, tablets, and other electric holiday decorations — a lull in connectivity could occur. Some things you can do to ensure your streaming of *A Charlie Brown Christmas* proceeds without interruption? Place your router on high ground and as centrally located as possible, limit the amount of other electronic devices operating, and keep Christmas lights away from your router and computer. **Read Next: How to Get a Stronger WiFi Signal** ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/christmas-lights-slow-wi-fi/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Technology", "item": "https://money.com/technology/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Wi-Fi", "item": "https://money.com/wi-fi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Christmas Lights Could Be Slowing Down Your Wi-Fi" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/christmas-lights-slow-wi-fi/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/christmas-lights-slow-wi-fi/", "name": "Christmas Lights Could Be Slowing Down Your Wi-Fi", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2015-12-03T16:16:53.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/christmas-lights-slow-wi-fi/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/christmas-lights-slow-wi-fi/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-07T10:24:52.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Christmas Lights Could Be Slowing Down Your Wi-Fi", "articleSection": "Technology", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2015/12/151203_em_xmaslightswifi.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1398, "caption": "151203_EM_XmasLightsWifi" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alicia Adamczyk", "url": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2016/01/alicia-headshot-2.jpg?quality=85&w=640&h=640&crop=1", "email": "alicia.adamczyk@moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2015-12-03T16:16:53.000Z", "description": "Microwaves and baby monitors can slow your WiFi connection, but did you know \"even Christmas fairy lights\" can impact your web browsing?", "abstract": "Microwaves and baby monitors can slow your WiFi connection, but did you know \"even Christmas fairy lights\" can impact your web browsing?", "@id": "https://money.com/christmas-lights-slow-wi-fi/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-07T10:24:52.000Z", "wordCount": 238, "keywords": [ "christmas", "holiday season", "holiday shopping", "Internet", "Wi-Fi", "WiFi" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Technology", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Wi-Fi", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi" ] } ] } ] } ```