The weirdest things that mess up wi-fi - and how to improve your signal

The world runs on wi-fi, but strange things can stand in its way – including your lunch.

Alex Hills is a pioneer: he was among the first people on Earth to ever battle their wi-fi connection.

In 1993, he led the team that built one of the first large wi-fi networks, as a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the US.

Hills tells the story in his book, wi-fi and the Bad Boys of Radio. But "Bad Boys" isn't a reference to his ragtag bunch of internet cowboys – it's the name he gave to the objects and processes that stand in the way of smooth-running wi-fi.

Your home may be filled with bad boys of its own, doing everything they can to interrupt your memes. Some such disruptions are unsurprising, like thick walls. Others are a little bizarre.

Identifying these hitches might help fix your connection – and could even change how you think about one of the most important technologies in your life.

For 17 years, mysterious radio signals baffled astronomers in Australia. Some blamed solar flares. The public suspected aliens. Eventually, they learned the culprit was closer to home: their telescope was picking up bursts of energy from the office microwave at lunchtime.

Telescopes aren't the only technology that's vulnerably to pesky microwaves. They can also mess up your wi-fi.

Wi-fi, like most wireless communications technology, transmits information over radio waves. Governments reserve most radio frequencies for specific purposes, like law enforcement, air traffic control and AM and FM radio stations. But some are free for unlicensed public use.

For example, 2.4 GHz is one of the most common frequencies used by wi-fi networks and Bluetooth devices. Coincidentally, that's also the frequency your microwave uses to heat up leftovers.

Microwave ovens are shielded to keep the ramen-warming waves inside the machine. But if you've got a beat-up old microwave, or if you open the door before it's finished cooking, Hills says it can clash with your wi-fi signal.

"It's one of the most significant sources of interference that people talk about," says Hills. You can get the same problem from frequencies leaking out of fluorescent lights or car ignition systems.

"These days, microwaves are less of a problem," says Hills. They're built better and wi-fi can operate on 5 GHz instead of 2.4 GHz. But if you've got an older wi-fi setup or an ageing microwave, defrosting TV dinners can interrupt your memes.

If you have water-dwelling pets at home, it may cause problems.

"A radio signal naturally gets weaker with........

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