Jaden Moneyhun:
If you power cycle the router and it works again, but it stops working a few days later, definitely give us a call, 'cause you don't want to have to bother with turning that off and on every few days. You want to at least have it last a few months before you need to look into anything like that.

Andrea Melton:
Yeah. So, power cycling is basically like a power nap for your router, but people need to know that there's no button on the router that says power cycle.

Jaden Moneyhun:
No.

Andrea Melton:
It is literally just turning the router off for a few moments and then turning it back on?

Jaden Moneyhun:
Yes.

Andrea Melton:
Welcome to Connected Conversations, the official podcast of Kosciusko Connect. Kosciusko Connect is a subsidiary of Kosciusko REMC. Since 2021, we have been providing lightning fast, reliable, fiber to the home internet service to rural portions of Northern Indiana. On Connected Conversations, we talk about fiber internet, technology, community, and how to navigate the digital world in which we live. I'm your host, Andrea Melton. Thank you for connecting with us today.
Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us for another episode of Connected Conversations. Today, we are going to be talking about Wi-Fi interference, and we're glad to have our fiber support specialist, Jaden Moneyhun, back in the studio to help us dig into and better understand this topic. Hi, Jaden. How are you doing?

Jaden Moneyhun:
Hi, how's it going?

Andrea Melton:
Did you knock something over?

Jaden Moneyhun:
Yeah, I sure did. Luckily it's empty.

Andrea Melton:
That's all right. It happens. Thank you so much for coming in to talk about Wi-Fi interference with me today. I think it'll be a great topic for our subscribers to learn more about, so let's get started. Really, let's just start with a basic definition. Can you explain what is Wi-Fi interference?

Jaden Moneyhun:
So, Wi-Fi interference, there's a whole number of definitions that you can kind of find out there. Basically, the way I want to think about it is anything that's going to disrupt your Wi-Fi signal. Either it's going to block it or make it shorter. Just any specific device or object that could shorten that Wi-Fi signal in any type of way.

Andrea Melton:
Okay. So there can be different causes for Wi-Fi interference. What are some of the common sources of Wi-Fi interference in a typical household or even a business?

Jaden Moneyhun:
So, the main ones that I usually see and I get phone calls about are TVs, microwaves are a huge one.

Andrea Melton:
Oh, really?

Jaden Moneyhun:
Yes, microwaves. Even just having a bunch of really close neighbors with Wi-Fi can cause a bunch of interference, that just since everybody's all using Wi-Fi at once, it's going to have a bunch of signals just flying around, so that can cause a lot of interference. And then things you wouldn't normally think of. Certain types of walls like concrete, brick, even water has a lot of interference that could go through it. If you have some type of water source in your house, a Wi-Fi signal's going to have a really hard time traveling through that.

Andrea Melton:
Okay. So if you have, say, a 20-year-old daughter living in your basement and she's having issues with the Wi-Fi, it may be because she's living in the concrete basement?

Jaden Moneyhun:
Yes. That's a really common problem that I see people have, is people want their router where they can't see it, they want it in the basement. Well, they're going to have issues because that concrete floor, usually on the base level of it, is going to have a really tough time getting to the main floor and higher floors from that. And then they have all sorts of Wi-Fi signal issues and things like that.

Andrea Melton:
Yeah, that makes sense. So I'm really curious about the microwave, because that is definitely not something that I would've ever considered. So, when that microwave is running, if you're heating up something in it, that can cause the interference with the Wi-Fi when it's powered on? Yeah.

Jaden Moneyhun:
Yep. I actually, here a few years ago, my family at their house had a microwave where this was, if you were watching TV, just whenever you would turn on the microwave, just the TV signal would just turn off.

Andrea Melton:
Wow.

Jaden Moneyhun:
So, it's pretty powerful. That's one of the ones that cause the most interferences, specifically the microwave.

Andrea Melton:
How interesting. And I guess I'm kind of wondering, does it make a difference what the power of the microwave is and if it's a new or old model microwave, or just in general?

Jaden Moneyhun:
Yeah, I would say the wattage and things like that do definitely make a difference. I couldn't tell you specifically what would be better or worse, either old... Probably the new ones probably have less interference, but I couldn't give you an exact exact model or?

Andrea Melton:
Something I never considered before. So, we talked about environmental factors, walls and floors, or even neighboring buildings can cause interference. Okay. So, what are some strategies or best practices that people can keep in mind if they want to minimize Wi-Fi interference in their home or office setting?

Jaden Moneyhun:
So, the best kind of strategy is, I would recommend from the very start, is the most important thing is to look where your router is placed. You don't want your router to be right under your TV, or like we were saying, right beside the microwave, that's going to cause a bunch of interference from the get-go. Just trying to find that placement of a router where there's not too many devices beside it and it's kind of in a center area and it's not going through a bunch of walls or floors or anything like that.

Andrea Melton:
Absolutely. Don't put your router in the basement.

Jaden Moneyhun:
Yep.

Andrea Melton:
Makes sense. So, how can our customers differentiate between Wi-Fi interference issues and other things that could potentially slow down their internet connection, like a device or streaming service problems?

Jaden Moneyhun:
So, a good way that they can differentiate is just by, you could either move a device closer to the router and see if that signals, if the device is acting any better. If it's not going through, let's say, four or five walls that's hitting interference each time, just testing that signal is kind of the best way to do it. And then just look at maybe other devices that you have, other TVs, other computers, just seeing if they're having any issues or if it's just that one specific device in that one spot.

Andrea Melton:
Okay. Do you sometimes get calls that people think something is wrong with their Wi-Fi, but it's not Wi-Fi interference?

Jaden Moneyhun:
All the time. All the time, yes.

Andrea Melton:
Tell me about that.

Jaden Moneyhun:
That's kind of what every call is a mystery to decide what it is. It could either be their Wi-Fi or the device, and it's kind of just a struggle to see which one it is. Sometimes I'll have a call that say, "Oh, my streaming app isn't working on my TV." And you go and you search up and you Google it and everybody's having an issue, so that would be more on the streaming services' side.

Andrea Melton:
Okay. So like all of Hulu could be having an issue?

Jaden Moneyhun:
Yes.

Andrea Melton:
It's not your Wi-Fi, it's Hulu!

Jaden Moneyhun:
Uh-huh. Exactly. And we just have to test and go through the steps, restarting your router, and like I said, placing the devices closer and going through each little step to see if it is either their device having interference or any type of issues, or if it's just the product itself. And kind of like what I was saying, testing other devices can help with that, too.

Andrea Melton:
Absolutely. Jaden, can you tell me about power cycling? What exactly is power cycling and how do our users, how frequently do they need to do that or to address Wi-Fi issues?

Jaden Moneyhun:
Yeah, so power cycling is just a fancy way of saying, "Turn it off and turn it back on." You hear it a lot in the tech world, and I know some people get sick of it, but honestly from what I've seen, it works a lot of the time, so that's why everybody always starts with it. What I kind of like to compare it to, is if just you leave any device on too long, say, you leave your car on. Because the routers, you're leaving on for maybe even months on end without giving it a break or giving it any type of rest.
So, just having it turn off and let it recalibrate itself to our systems, and a fresh restart definitely makes a change or a great difference of what you can see. How often you should do it? I could say maybe once every few months you should be fine to do it. If you power cycle the router and it works again, but it stops working a few days later, definitely give us a call, 'cause you don't want to have to bother with turning that off and on every few days. You want to at least have it last a few months before you need to look into anything like that.

Andrea Melton:
Yeah. So, power cycling is basically like a power nap for your router, but people need to know that there's no button on the router that says power cycle.

Jaden Moneyhun:
No.

Andrea Melton:
It is literally just turning the router off for a few moments and then turning it back on?

Jaden Moneyhun:
Yes.

Andrea Melton:
Very good.

Jaden Moneyhun:
So that is something that does confuse a few of our users, is there is a reset button on our router, but I just generally have our members avoid pressing that, because if you hold that button for a certain amount of time or too long, it can restart all of your settings and even reset your password and things like that.

Andrea Melton:
Oh, and that would be very frustrating if you didn't intend to do that, for sure.

Jaden Moneyhun:
Yeah. So I just have the members unplug the power cord, the black power cord on the back for about 15 seconds and plug it back in. And that's pretty much how we do it.

Andrea Melton:
Okay. Cool. Can you share any interesting or challenging cases or problems that you've encountered when you have been troubleshooting Wi-Fi interference for our customers? Does anything stand out as memorable?

Jaden Moneyhun:
There was one where we were dealing with a member's, I believe it was their TV, and we were trying to find out the issue of why the signal wasn't high and why the TV channel is buffering and things like that. Well, it ends up is that the member's router was inside their closet by a bunch of clothes, so it's basically stuffed in the middle of the closet with the door closed. And so it's running through all the clothes, the door, and then I think at that point it was four or five walls to try to get to that TV. So I think that was an interesting one, I've never seen something placed there before.

Andrea Melton:
A router in the closet.

Jaden Moneyhun:
And then I have a few usuals. One specifically was, like something that you were asking about, and one was right beside a microwave in the kitchen, and that's definitely going to cause a lot of issues.

Andrea Melton:
Yeah. Big no-no.

Jaden Moneyhun:
No.

Andrea Melton:
Okay. Don't put your router next to the microwave, folks. Very good. Awesome. Wow. So, I feel like I've learned so much in the past 10 minutes. Is there anything else we need to cover that you would like to mention when it comes to Wi-Fi interference? Or did we do a pretty thorough job of exploring the topic?

Jaden Moneyhun:
I honestly think we did do a pretty good job. If you do all the steps that was described in this podcast, like making sure there's no devices by your router and things like that and you still feel like it's kind of an interference issue, give us a call. 'Cause our tech support team can look at the specific amount of interference, whether it be 30% interference in where your router is and things like that, and we can go from there. We can even change a few settings on your router from our end that's going to alleviate some of those interference issues and hopefully help with any sorts of troubles that you're having.

Andrea Melton:
Wonderful. All right. And to give us a call, you can just call 574-269-0327, and you can talk with somebody who can help you troubleshoot that. Very good. Well, Jaden, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to come in and talk with us on the podcast about Wi-Fi interference.

Jaden Moneyhun:
Yeah, thanks for having me. It's always nice being here.

Andrea Melton:
Have a great rest of the day.
You've been listening to Connected Conversations, the official podcast of Kosciusko Connect. From all of us here at Kosciusko Connect, thank you for connecting with us today.