WiFi Blockers

I am a web designer and in my day job, I'm also the kind of go-to all-around tech guy. So if something goes wrong with any of the computers in the office, I'm the one that has to fix it. I was the one that switched the office from miles of Ethernet cable to Wireless Networking a couple of years back. What a lot of people don't realize is that everyday object can cause interference in WiFi. Everything from cordless phones, to televisions, to refrigerators, to plumbing, to microwaves (that's a big one), to game systems (especially with wireless controllers), and more all these can affect your WiFi signal.

When I was setting up the network, I went out and bought a keychain WiFi signal detector at WalMart for around $20. It has 5 lights, 4 are green and 1 is red. You press a button and the light dance back and forth for a few seconds. When they stop bouncing, the more green you see, the stronger the signal, if it's red, the device cannot pick up a signal. It's a handy little device, but its by no means accurate. And, it doesn't tell you what is wrong or why the signal that should be there, isn't.

I ended up just buying a more expense wireless router, and eventually got it all figured out, but it would have been a lot easier (and probably more effective) if I had had some proper equipment, or even better a professional service to come out and audit our wireless network.