news
12-04-2015, 05:04 PM
There's a house on every street that says "Happy Holidays" a little louder than the rest.
But there's a new argument against having a mess of technicolor kitsch, perhaps convincing those with even the most ornate houses to embrace a minimalist approach.
Christmas lights and other household electronics, it turns out, can interfere with and have a negative effect on wi-fi speed (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34964847), according to United Kingdom independent regulator Ofcom.
The company published its Connected Nations 2015 report (http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/news/connected-nations-report/) -- an in-depth look at the telecoms and wireless networks of the UK -- which found Wi-Fi in up to six million homes and offices is not running as fast as it could.
The problem, the company said in a statement, could be "something as simple as interference from other electronic devices, such as a microwave oven, baby monitor, a lamp -- or even Christmas fairy lights."
As NBC News reports, electronic gadgets generate electro-magnetic fields (http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/can-christmas-lights-really-slow-your-wi-fi-n472791) that can create interference with wireless communications.
Daniel Carpini, vice president of marketing at xG Technology (http://www.xgtechnology.com/), which develops interference-resistant wireless communications for clients like the U.S. military, told NBC that while Christmas lights emit a very small amount of energy, "it's possible that your Christmas lights will have some effect (http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/can-christmas-lights-really-slow-your-wi-fi-n472791) on your router and broadband performance."
Others, however, disagree.
"We have not seen any significant Wi-Fi interference from LED Christmas lights," a Cisco spokesperson told NBC. "But consumers may experience interference from Wi-Fi enabled controllers and switches that are used to turn on and off their Christmas lights."
So if a mysteriously slow Internet connection doesn't make you tone down the holiday lights, perhaps your high electricity bills will.
Also on HuffPost:
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/rc/1/rc.htm)
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/rc/2/rc.htm)
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/rc/3/rc.htm)
http://da.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/a2.img (http://da.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/a2.htm)
http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/ach.img (http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/ach.htm)http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://pi2.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/a2t2.imghttp://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677045/s/4c01c612/sc/28/mf.gif
More... (http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677045/s/4c01c612/sc/28/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C120C0A20Chow0Echristm as0Elights0Eaffect0Ewi0Efi0Espeed0In0I8720A480A0Bh tml/story01.htm)
But there's a new argument against having a mess of technicolor kitsch, perhaps convincing those with even the most ornate houses to embrace a minimalist approach.
Christmas lights and other household electronics, it turns out, can interfere with and have a negative effect on wi-fi speed (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34964847), according to United Kingdom independent regulator Ofcom.
The company published its Connected Nations 2015 report (http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/news/connected-nations-report/) -- an in-depth look at the telecoms and wireless networks of the UK -- which found Wi-Fi in up to six million homes and offices is not running as fast as it could.
The problem, the company said in a statement, could be "something as simple as interference from other electronic devices, such as a microwave oven, baby monitor, a lamp -- or even Christmas fairy lights."
As NBC News reports, electronic gadgets generate electro-magnetic fields (http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/can-christmas-lights-really-slow-your-wi-fi-n472791) that can create interference with wireless communications.
Daniel Carpini, vice president of marketing at xG Technology (http://www.xgtechnology.com/), which develops interference-resistant wireless communications for clients like the U.S. military, told NBC that while Christmas lights emit a very small amount of energy, "it's possible that your Christmas lights will have some effect (http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/can-christmas-lights-really-slow-your-wi-fi-n472791) on your router and broadband performance."
Others, however, disagree.
"We have not seen any significant Wi-Fi interference from LED Christmas lights," a Cisco spokesperson told NBC. "But consumers may experience interference from Wi-Fi enabled controllers and switches that are used to turn on and off their Christmas lights."
So if a mysteriously slow Internet connection doesn't make you tone down the holiday lights, perhaps your high electricity bills will.
Also on HuffPost:
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/rc/1/rc.htm)
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/rc/2/rc.htm)
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/rc/3/rc.htm)
http://da.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/a2.img (http://da.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/a2.htm)
http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/ach.img (http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/ach.htm)http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://pi2.feedsportal.com/r/244160576688/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4c01c612/sc/28/a2t2.imghttp://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677045/s/4c01c612/sc/28/mf.gif
More... (http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677045/s/4c01c612/sc/28/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C120C0A20Chow0Echristm as0Elights0Eaffect0Ewi0Efi0Espeed0In0I8720A480A0Bh tml/story01.htm)