Can harsh weather conditions knock out your WiFi connection?

Does your WiFi connection slow down, or stops working, during rains or bad weather? This might be the reason behind it.

WiFi uses radio waves which can get affected during heavy rains. Here’s why. (AFP)

Have you ever been binge watching Netflix, when suddenly it starts to rain and the stream stops and starts buffering? It is a quite common phenomenon which happens to most of us. But is there an actual connection between poor WiFi network and rain? Do weather conditions like rain, storms and heat waves really affect your WiFi network? Let's find out.

According to The Conversation, weather can affect your WiFi connection in a number of ways. Storms, rains and heat waves all cause some sort of effect which makes your WiFi connection slow down and stops you from watching your favourite content online.

How does WiFi work?

Just like mobile phones, WiFi uses radio waves to communicate with devices. According to howstuffworks.com, the computer or mobile phone's wireless adapter translates data into a radio signal and transmits it using an antenna. Then, a wireless router receives the signal and decodes it. The router sends the information to the internet using a physical, wired ethernet connection.

Do weather conditions affect WiFi?

Harsh weather conditions can affect your WiFi network. Although WiFi may seem wireless to you, older wireless infrastructure is still connected to the internet through a series of cables which run outside your home. Heavy rains and thunderstorms can physically damage these cables or even the whole WiFi infrastructure, causing your WiFi signal to get scrambled. Freezing temperatures can also cause these cables to get cracked, stopping your binge-watch session.

If you have a satellite box, bad weather conditions can make it difficult for satellite signals to reach your home. Raindrops being dense in nature, interfere with the radio waves which WiFi uses to communicate and affect your WiFi connection.

Although weather conditions affect WiFi to some extent, the primary reason for your WiFi going down even during the rains is mainly equipment failure or human error. If any equipment or WiFi box fails, it hampers your internet connection, making you think the harsh weather is behind it.