If you're looking at the calendar today and thinking it might be a good time to put up the Christmas decorations in the office, you may want to leave the fairy lights off the tree this year. Communications regulator Ofcom has warned that fairy lights could in fact slow your WiFi speeds.
The warning comes as Ofcom launches an app allowing users to check the speed of their broadband. It tests to see if data is running freely between router and devices. It comes after Ofcom studied six millions homes and offices, finding that WiFi was not working as well as it could.
In addition to fairy lights, the survey found that other electronic devices like baby monitors and microwaves can interrupt WiFi signal.
'Still more to do'
Ofcom's Connected Nations report found that "good progress" had been made in broadband supply over the past 12 months. More than a quarter (27%) now have superfast broadband (30Mbps), up from 21% last year, and it is available in 83% of homes across the UK, up from 75% in 2014.
But despite improvements in the provision of superfast broadband in the UK, Ofcom said there is "still more to do", with around 2.4 million homes still not able to access speeds of 10Mbps. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of these were in rural areas.
Ofcom also said that broadband speeds need to improve for those on the move and small businesses, which are particularly struggling to access 10Mbps broadband speeds.
