Can I stop my microwave affecting Bluetooth speaker?
Q We’ve got an Anker Soundcore Q Boost Bluetooth speaker (pictured), which sounds absolutely great. It lives in our kitchen, but usually keeps playing reliably even if one of us takes the phone that it’s paired with into another room. It all goes horribly wrong when we use the microwave oven, though.
I understand that microwaves leak waves in the same radio band that’s used by Bluetooth. When the oven goes on, the music lasts for a few seconds then begins to break up. I’ve tried moving the speakers across the room into the lounge, but if the playback device stays in the kitchen we still get the problem.
Is there a way to keep the music going while we cook?
A You’re right that microwaves and Bluetooth use the same frequency range, but you may not also realise that it’s the 2.4GHZ range shared with most Wi-fi networks. Your problem could thus be Bluetooth or Wi-fi interference, but it’s quite likely to be both. One of the most effective ways to improve Bluetooth communication is by bringing the devices close together, so try putting the phone on top of the speakers
If that doesn’t help, move the phone and speakers away from the kitchen as far as is practical and see if playback becomes reliable. Alternatively, you could place the router closer to the kitchen, or try to reposition its antennae to improve the signal strength there.
If your router supports the 5GHZ band, try configuring your phone(s) so they only connect to a 5GHZ network, which should be unaffected by microwaves.
Some routers let you configure separate 5GHZ and 2.4GHZ networks with separate SSIDS. Most phones will ‘prefer’ more recent networks, so either don’t connect to the 2.4GHZ network, or connect to the 5GHZ network last.