Why Does My Wi-Fi Drop When I Turn On the Microwave?

Imagine your Wi-Fi signal is like a person trying to sing a song in a quiet library. It uses a specific voice pitch that works perfectly when no one else is talking. Your microwave oven also sings at almost the exact same pitch!

When you put food in the microwave and close the door, it starts singing very loudly to heat up your meal. Because its "voice" (frequency) is so similar to yours, the Wi-Fi router gets confused. It hears the loud microwave noise and thinks someone is shouting right next to its ear. This makes the music stutter or stop for a few seconds until the microwave calms down.

If you have two different devices that sing at slightly different pitches (like 5 GHz Wi-Fi), they won't crash as much because they are singing in different parts of the room.