With Christmas just around the corner, most of us have given our homes a festive makeover for the occasion with tinsel and twinkling lights - but your decorations could be getting in the way of your yuletide entertainment.
Whether you're heading to your favourite streaming platform to catch a festive film or video calling friends and family to wish them a Merry Christmas, having a strong internet connection is never more important than over the holidays. However, a broadband expert has advised that if you're experiencing trouble with your Wi-Fi signal at this time of year, your Christmas decorations could be to blame.
Ernest Doku from Uswitch explained that rearranging the furniture to make room for your Christmas tree can end up interfering with your broadband connection, as can placing decorations too close to your router. "When you place large objects in front of your router it can affect your Wi-Fi signal," Ernest explained.
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"When rearranging furniture to showcase your Christmas tree, make sure you don’t leave your router parked behind other furnishings or your broadband performance could struggle." The broadband expert added: "Fairy lights and tinsel can also interfere with your Wi-Fi signal and potentially reduce your connection speeds, so try to avoid placing them too close to your router."
Ernest warned that Wi-Fi enabled Christmas lights can add a particular strain on your broadband, especially if you have lots of devices connected to the internet at the same time. The expert advised keeping electronics in general such as lamps, speakers and monitors "as far away from the router as possible".
If you're still encountering problems with your broadband at home after ensuring your Christmas decorations aren't interfering with your signal and turning off any devices when you're not using them, there are some things you can try to boost your Wi-Fi. You can run a speed test to check your connection, and invest in a Wi-Fi extender if parts of your home get a weak signal.
Ernest added: "If you’re planning to stream a film in HD, or eager to try downloading a new video game, consider choosing a time when there isn’t heavy online traffic from other members of your household. Try not to do two or more jobs at the same time that require a lot of bandwidth, such as big game downloads or streaming 4K movies."
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