Why does my treadmill short circuit my wifi?
December 7, 2023 2:50 PM Subscribe
Whenever I turn on my treadmill the wifi stops working on nearby devices.
We have recently noticed that our treadmill kills the wifi. Treadmill off, smart TV works fine, treadmill on, it stops working within a minute. We thought it was a TV issue, until a nearby laptop playing a podcast also stopped.
In the first case (with TV) the treadmill is *between* the router and the tv, but then in the case of the laptop it wouldn't be. Other devices stop working as well. Our phones which have to use wifi in the basement, for example, stop working when the treadmill is on.
This is a low-end treadmill from Amazon. It has no other real issues related to energy use. It is not a smart treadmill, it turns off and on and that is it. Currently it gets little use because being on a treadmill is BORING. Doubly so when there is zero entertainment.
Random note: My rabbits who live nearby do NOT appreciate the treadmill turning on. But I don't know if this is related or just because it beeps when it turns on.
No other energy issues are evident, the lights don't flicker or anything.
We have recently noticed that our treadmill kills the wifi. Treadmill off, smart TV works fine, treadmill on, it stops working within a minute. We thought it was a TV issue, until a nearby laptop playing a podcast also stopped.
In the first case (with TV) the treadmill is *between* the router and the tv, but then in the case of the laptop it wouldn't be. Other devices stop working as well. Our phones which have to use wifi in the basement, for example, stop working when the treadmill is on.
This is a low-end treadmill from Amazon. It has no other real issues related to energy use. It is not a smart treadmill, it turns off and on and that is it. Currently it gets little use because being on a treadmill is BORING. Doubly so when there is zero entertainment.
Random note: My rabbits who live nearby do NOT appreciate the treadmill turning on. But I don't know if this is related or just because it beeps when it turns on.
No other energy issues are evident, the lights don't flicker or anything.
Best answer: The treadmill uses a noisy, cheap variable frequency drive to run its motor. What your rabbits are hearing is the PWM whine of this drive.
You'll hear the same sound, usually much louder and more obvious from, for example, any recent "brushless" power drill, pretty much any RC quadcopter, etc. Really really cheap stuff tends to use both square wave controllers, and more importantly really cheap noisy ones that just spit garbage out around them. Is it an fcc violation? totally. Does the brand of the week on amazon that you wont even see next year care? not really.
This isn't dangerous or anything, it's just that the company made a crappy, cheapo product.
posted by emptythought at 11:59 PM on December 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
You'll hear the same sound, usually much louder and more obvious from, for example, any recent "brushless" power drill, pretty much any RC quadcopter, etc. Really really cheap stuff tends to use both square wave controllers, and more importantly really cheap noisy ones that just spit garbage out around them. Is it an fcc violation? totally. Does the brand of the week on amazon that you wont even see next year care? not really.
This isn't dangerous or anything, it's just that the company made a crappy, cheapo product.
posted by emptythought at 11:59 PM on December 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Is the treadmill on the same circuit as the router? You can test this by flipping breakers and seeing if one turns off both.
If they were on the same circuit, move one to an outlet on a different breaker.
posted by MonsieurBon at 8:45 AM on December 8, 2023
If they were on the same circuit, move one to an outlet on a different breaker.
posted by MonsieurBon at 8:45 AM on December 8, 2023
Response by poster: If anyone ever looks at this in posterity you should know that I was able to purchase a surge protector that also shielding the electricity lines from disruption for $40. I did not have to wire my own solution (as seen above).
posted by aetg at 2:12 PM on January 8 [1 favorite]
posted by aetg at 2:12 PM on January 8 [1 favorite]
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Some ham radio operators have apparently had luck using power line filters to isolate their noisy treadmills. You could also try plugging the treadmill into an outlet on a dedicated circuit, if you have one in a usable location. Or you might need to find a treadmill with better built-in filtering.
posted by mbrubeck at 3:14 PM on December 7, 2023 [6 favorites]