Are your Christmas-tree lights sabotaging your wifi?

最近网速差?圣诞树惹的祸!

导读:你的金鱼破坏了你的无线网?或者是你的圣诞树小彩灯的原因?看看下边这些高招，让你的网络畅通无阻。

Are your goldfish sabotaging your wifi? Or is it your Christmas-tree lights? Follow these top tips to keep your internet up to speed

你的金鱼破坏了你的无线网?或者是你的圣诞树小彩灯的原因?看看下边这些高招，让你的网络畅通无阻。

For many of us, untangling strings of Christmas-tree lights is an annual bore. But now it seems that’s not the only problem they pose.

对于很多人来说，每年解下圣诞树上的小彩灯是个很让人烦恼的事。但是小彩灯带来的烦恼不止这些。

According to the regulator Ofcom, too many fairy lights can interfere with your wireless internet connection — making it hard to shop online, download music or watch films on the internet.

据通信管理局的管理员说，很多圣诞节小彩灯都会干涉无线网络的连接—让你无法网上购物，无法下载音乐和看电影。

An estimated six million Britons are routinely frustrated with the unreliability and sluggish speed of wifi in their homes — and interference from electrical appliances, including festive lights, is a major cause of slow internet.

大约有600万英国人被家里无线网缓慢网速和不稳定性折磨，然而网速的干扰因素很多归咎于电子设备，包括圣诞节彩灯。

So is Ofcom right? Can fairy lights really ruin your wifi? And what else can wreak havoc with your connection? Here’s all you need to know.

那这么说通信管理局是正确的喽?圣诞树小彩灯真的会干扰你的网速吗?那别的东西还会破坏你的网速吗?下面这些是你需要了解的。

WHAT EXACTLTY IS WIFI?

WIFI 到底是什么?

Wifi is the wireless system that allows computers, smartphones, games consoles and other gadgets to connect to the internet.

Wifi 是一种无线系统，它可以让你的电脑，智能手机，游戏机操作器和其他一些设备连接上网络。

It stands for ‘wireless fidelity’ and the connections are made using radiowaves.

它代表着“无线准确”，连接是通过无线电波生成的。

HOW DOES IT WORK?

它是怎么工作的?

The heart of every home wifi network is a box called a wifi router (sometimes called a hub or wireless access point).

每个家庭无线网络的中心是一个被叫做无线路由器的盒子(有时候称无线链接点或者无线连接中心)。

The box is a mini radio transmitter and receiver which typically connects to the internet through an ordinary phone socket. It converts information from the internet into radiowaves, which it broadcasts to any nearby gadgets equipped with wifi. At the same time, it receives radio signals from those gadgets and feeds them back to the internet.

该盒子是一个迷你无线电发射器和接收器，通常通过一个普通的电话插座连接到互联网。它将信息从互联网传输到无线电波，向附近的任何配备WiFi的小设备发送电波。同时，它接收来自这些小设备的无线电信号，并将它们送回互联网。

All new computers, smartphones and games machines have built-in wifi. It is increasingly being fitted to TV sets to allow them to play programmes directly from the internet. Older devices can use wifi if they are fitted with a plug-in adaptor.

所有的新买的电脑，智能手机和游戏机都有内嵌的wifi。无线网络已经逐渐配置到电视机里，让它们可以直接播放来自互联网的节目。旧的设备如果安装上可插入的适配器也可以使用无线网。

WHEN IT GOES SLOW

什么时候网速变慢

As anyone with wifi in their home will testify, wireless internet can be unreliable.

因为任何人可以连接同一个无线网，所以说无线网是不安全的。

Some days, connections are fast: website pages appear instantly and video clips play without interruption. Other days, it slows right down, making online shopping, browsing and downloading a frustrating experience. One day the signal reaches every room in the house; the next it’s feeble.

有时候，网速特别快，网页一点即开，视频播放畅通无阻。而有些时候，网速却没那么顺畅，网上购物、浏览网页和下载东西都很不顺畅。有时候，无线网覆盖几个房间，而有时候网络信号却很弱。

BEWARE FAIRY LIGHTS

小心圣诞树小彩灯

Ofcom says fairy lights are a major cause of erratic wifi at this time of year. Anything that uses electricity generates an electromagnetic field — an invisible cloud of electrically charged particles. If the field is big enough, it can interfere with radiowaves used in wifi networks.

通信管理局说道，接近圣诞节，最近一段时间，圣诞节小彩灯成为影响网速的主要因素。任何使用电的东西都会生成一个电磁场——这是一种看不见的电子颗粒云。如果这个磁场足够强大，它就会干扰使用无线网的电波。

Any electrical wiring or lights can disrupt wifi. But Christmas lights are especially bad because they contain so much wire, whether strung up in hallways or wrapped round trees, which makes the magnetic field larger.

任何电线或者电灯都会破坏无线网。但是圣诞节彩灯破坏性会很大，因为它们包括着很多电线，不管是将它们串在走廊里还是环绕在圣诞树上，它形成的磁场都会比较大。

Experts say the interference is even worse when the lights are programmed to flash on and off, and when they are close to the wifi router. And, unlike many other electrical appliances, they are often left on all the time.

专家称，当接近路由器的电灯忽隐忽现时，它对网络的破坏性是很大的。小彩灯不像其他的电子设备，它们基本总是处于开启状态。

Internet company TalkTalk claims fairy lights can reduce wifi performance by 25 per cent.

Talk Talk 网络公司声称小彩灯会将无线网的性能降低25%。