WiFi Noise

What is WiFi noise?

WiFi noise is the sum of all the unwanted radio signals competing with your WiFi. It includes other WiFi networks, Bluetooth devices, microwaves, baby monitors, and various electronics that emit radio waves in the same frequency bands WiFi uses.

Imagine trying to have a conversation while standing next to a busy highway. The car noise doesn't block your voice directly, but it makes it harder to be heard. WiFi noise works the same way—it forces your devices to "speak louder" and repeat themselves more often.

Why it matters

High noise levels mean your devices have to work harder to communicate with your router. This leads to slower speeds, more packet loss, and connections that drop unexpectedly.

Noise problems often explain why WiFi works fine at 2 AM but struggles during dinner time—more neighbors are home using their WiFi networks, and more household devices are running.

What you can do

• Switch to a less crowded WiFi channel—use a WiFi analyzer to find one
• Move to the 5 GHz band, which typically has less interference
• Keep your router away from other electronics, especially microwaves and cordless phones
• Identify intermittent noise sources (a microwave only causes problems when it's running)
• In apartments or dense areas, coordinate with neighbors or try different channels
• Consider WiFi 6 which handles interference more gracefully

What Network Weather shows you

Network Weather measures the noise floor on your WiFi channel in dBm. More negative numbers mean less noise (which is good).