Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Resolved Question

Electrical outlets interfering with Wifi signal?

Dec 29, 2014 4:46AM PST

A few days ago, I noticed that my wireless connection had suffered an extreme drop in speed, going from about 20 Mbps to around 20 kbps. I eventually found that the decrease in wireless speed only occurred when I plugged my laptop into a specific set of electrical outlets - staying in the same location, but using battery power, resulted in much higher speeds, and using a different AC adapter did not seem to have an effect. Strangely, the outlets still seem to work - my computer still receives power, and mobile devices like phones and tablets do not see a decrease in speed; the drop in speed only seems to affect computers. I've never heard of anyone having a problem like this before, so does anyone know what might be causing the outlets to affect the wireless signal, and how I might fix it?

Discussion is locked

Ref54 has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

- Collapse -
Could be true.
Dec 29, 2014 4:49AM PST

As you may have noticed back in your early physic classes where we would drop a pebble into the pool of water to watch the wave action, it was also noted how waves can cancel each other out. So if you move to some null spot, yes that can happen.
Bob

- Collapse -
Solved the problem.
Dec 29, 2014 5:42AM PST

Thanks for replying. Turns out that it was an electrical issue - just resetting the breaker did the trick.