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Thread ID: 141650 2016-01-29 01:16:00 Electrical interference with a router Tony (4941) Press F1
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1415162 2016-01-29 01:16:00 My technically-challenged neighbour has her wireless router in the same room as her mains fuse box, about 1.5m away. She has metal foil covering the fuse-box cover "to stop it interfering with the router". She asserts she found this through google.

I did a quick search and found nothing that seemed to recommend this, although I did find references to household electronics like microwaves and cordless phones being possible sources of interference.

Is my neighbour even more confused than usual, or has she found something that I've missed?
Tony (4941)
1415163 2016-01-29 02:14:00 There will be 50hz noise at the fuse box which is unlikely to interfere much at all. Also the foil would need to be earthed to work well as a screen I'd think.
I'd personally say the risks of having a conductive sheet close to a mains fuse box are greater than any imagined benefit
dugimodo (138)
1415164 2016-01-29 02:35:00 In any case, foil wont screen 50Hz magnetic fields in the slightest degree. High permeability steel like Mu-metal is used for these low frequencies.

Reminds me when I was a lad in Brum, many people still had battery powered radios, 120v HT battery, and 2v accumulator they got recharged at the local cycle shop, the days when lots of houses still had aerial wires running down the garden.

It was absolutely amazing the number of people who thought that they could make an 'earth' connection by running a wire out the back window and poking the end in a jam jar filled with earth :clap :badpc:
Terry Porritt (14)
1415165 2016-01-29 03:37:00 ...She asserts she found this through google.

Google: It must be true then. :)
So much fud, BS & bogus 'theories' out there on the google box.
I find that tin foil works much better when shaped into a hat .





...although I did find references to household electronics like microwaves and cordless phones being possible sources of interference.


These run on 2.4Ghz, so are a possible source of wifi interference , more cordless ph's than microwave ovens though . Even then, usually not.
1101 (13337)
1415166 2016-01-29 03:55:00 I find that tin foil works much better when shaped into a hat.I almost said that to her, but in the interest of good neighbourly relations I resisted the temptation. Tony (4941)
1415167 2016-01-29 22:05:00 if they are getting interference from the fuse board, then there may be a bad connection which would be rather important to get fixed. tweak'e (69)
1415168 2016-01-29 23:38:00 if they are getting interference from the fuse board, then there may be a bad connection which would be rather important to get fixed.

I'm not at all convinced there is any interference at all, but she is having an electrician in for something else so I'll suggest she gets the board checked out.
Tony (4941)
1415169 2016-02-01 00:06:00 Well if the fuse box contains a smart meter which uses the cellular network, it could operate on a close frequency to the WiFi, possibly causing interference, I'm not sure. Agent_24 (57)
1415170 2016-02-01 00:52:00 Well if the fuse box contains a smart meter which uses the cellular network, it could operate on a close frequency to the WiFi, possibly causing interference, I'm not sure.Good point. I don't know where her meter box is, but I'll check. It could be on the outside wall behind the fuses. Tony (4941)
1415171 2016-02-01 01:31:00 a smart meter shouldn't interfere all the time. at worse it will interfere when its sending. tweak'e (69)
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