Do I need lead underpants.....

[Raistlin]

.....or just a new microwave?

Every time I turn the microwave on in the kitchen, my wireless connection upstairs (wireless router upstairs, bridges to wireless router downstairs) dies.

The room with the router in is directly above the kitchen.

Is it likely to be boiling my little swimmers, or is this just one of those things that happens with microwaves?

[Ramrod]

Found this blurb:

DOUBLE 108 MBPS WIRELESS FIREWALL ROUTER
WGU624

Take the fast lane and avoid interference with 16 channels free from neighboring G networks, 2.4GHz cordless phones, and microwave ovens

link

More techy stuff here

.....the wireless signals in the home are radio waves. Radio waves from a wireless router are pumped out at between 2.4 and 2.5 Gigahertz (GHz). This means 2.4 to 2.5 billion waves per second. The width of the wavelength, though, will be about the same.

Waves of the same length can interfere with each other. If you have a Microwave oven, for example, the distance between the crests will be the same as the signals from your wireless router. Your wireless signals will be disrupted if they meet those of your Microwave oven

[Raistlin]

Hmmmm, thanks for that.

Just seems odd that it should be creating so much of a problem, hope it's shielded ok

[greencreeper]

Did you have the microwave before you got the wireless setup? If so, it's a bit late to be worried

[bw41101]

The device within your Microwave that does the business is called a magnetron. This is a small but powerful radio frequency (RF) transmitter which can best be described as a narrow funnel wrapped up in a strong magnet.

It works by (literally) squirting out a narrow stream of micro wave energy (in the form of radio waves at a frequency of around 2.45Ghz) into the oven - whereupon any (non metallic) object (caught in the RF stream) is cooked. In fact, it works not unlike a RADAR transmitter - same technology really.

The cooking chamber (a metal box with an opening to allow the RF into the chamber) is designed to provide a shield against RF leakage. I can only surmise that the problem can be either a breach with this shielding and RF is escaping or (maybe) the RF is being induced (via the oven's power cable) into the mains wiring or your house, which is acting as an antenna.

Firstly check for obvious signs of a breach within the cooking chamber - especially the door. Believe it or not this is a weak spot as people (like car doors) tend to slam them shut. If the oven's an old one, then (it's possible) that corrosion may be evident within the wave guide (the funnel that connects the Magnetron to the oven chamber) causing a breach, allowing RF to escape - note the breach doesn't have to be large either for RF to escape.

To check whether it's the latter (induced RF), move the router to another room as far away from the kitchen as possible and see if the problem persists. If this is the case, then (like I said) RF is escaping into the oven itself and radiating out through the cooling vents or being induced into the power cord.

You haven't said how old the oven is, though if it was new, I'd take it back immediately. Also lead trousers would (perhaps) give some modicum of protection against nuclear radiation but not for RF - so don't go exposing one's dangly bits for too long in front of the unit during cooking.

I you do decide to venture inside, make sure that the oven's unplugged as (apart from the obvious exposure to RF) there are also high voltages (1000v plus) around the Magnetron.

Hope I haven't frightened you too much if in doubt, don't take the risk - microwave ovens are (now) relatively cheap to buy.

Good luck and Si thee.

[lostandconfused]

you could always cover the outside of the microwave in bacon, switch it on for 10 minutes, if it cooks, time to get a new one (after you've eaten the bacon)

you should try clean ones sometimes though

[Raistlin]

Ok, I have two routers. One in the living room (away from kitchen) one in the bedroom (above kitchen).

When the microwave is on it only affects the one directly above it, the one in the living room is ok and I can connect to it. If I take the laptop upstairs (above the kitchen) my connection drops.....I take it I should be worried?

[bw41101]

Originally Posted by Raistlin

When the microwave is on it only affects the one directly above it, the one in the living room is ok and I can connect to it. If I take the laptop upstairs (above the kitchen) my connection drops.....I take it I should be worried?

It may well be that the mains supply (upstairs) is on its own ring main. Try moving the router to an adjacent bedroom as see if the problem persiste. If it does, then (it's very likely) a mains induced problem. It's funny stuff is RF because it can also be induced into water pipes and other metalic structures, depends what you've got burried within your walls.

Whether you are at risk or not is debatable. Considering the very worst case scenario, if you were to be zapped by high energy RF (because it cooks from the inside out) it's probable that you wouldn't feel any immediate discomfort. However the internal damage would be permanent.

Apologies for the morbidity, but I've seen experience of this kind of issue and the problems that can arise - better to be prudent than sorry.

Si thee

[r1ch]

It's actually quite a common problem - it doesn't take much microwave leakage at all to interfere with WIFI etc. Try each channel in turn - often there will be one that works ok. Each of our last three microwaves have had this problem, but everything works fine if I stick to channel 1 or 2.

[altis]

What Jack Sparrow says really...

But note that the frequency used by microwave ovens is around 2.45GHz which is roughly the same as channel 8 or 9 of the WiFi band. So avoid them!

Some background here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven

[r1ch]

A quick Google search for the phrase 'microwave wifi interference' shows that lots of people have run into this. Common solutions include:

Repositioning the router - if the router is within about 10-12 feet of the microwave then this often causes problems.
Re-orientating the router aerials.
Changing to use a different WIFI channel.

[Ramrod]

Glad I don't have a microwave

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Originally Posted by Raistlin

Is it likely to be boiling my little swimmers, or is this just one of those things that happens with microwaves?

Have you noticed any glowing in the dark

[Hugh]

Originally Posted by Wicked_and_Crazy

Have you noticed any glowing in the dark

They're swimmers, not flyers............

erm, better stop now