Odd Wireless Dead Zone

moltendorf · June 18, 2014

So I'm normally regarded as the tech expert at my place, and almost never ask for help, but this problem has me dumbfounded as I've never had anything like it nor have any idea on how to solve it. Searching around has resulted in absolutely no information that could possibly help me diagnose it.

Wireless stops working in the area (approximately the size of my house) when my desktop is turned off for extended periods of time. This includes WiFi, Bluetooth, DECT, etc. On both 2GHz and 5GHz bands. However, it doesn't kill all wireless; it reduces the performance of things like 3G and 4G connectivity from Verizon and AT&T (e.g. signal quality drops to 1-2 bars and has extremely limited throughput), and some 900MHz cordless phones still work. It has only recently started occurring within the last year or two (it wasn't very noticeable as I had never actually turned my desktop off for more than a few minutes at a time until recently, and as I began to turn it off more often it was noticed that the two were linked in some way).

I've tried unplugging everything in this room where the desktop is located to see if that would fix the problem, but nothing has improved the issue. The issue seems to slowly increase to its peak about 5-8 hours after the desktop has been turned off but is instantly fixed within seconds of turning the desktop on. If I unplug everything from the back of the computer, the issue is only fixed as soon as the power cord is connected and the power is turned on.

qwertywarrior · June 18, 2014

what .... what the hell

ur PC boosts all types of wireless activity !?!??!

moltendorf · June 18, 2014

I don't think it boosts it, but something is clearly disrupting radio waves en masse while it's off. In a medium radio activity area such as mine (suburbs, and I can only see three wireless access points besides my own from my best WiFi capable laptops) I should be able to get excellent WiFi performance and clear phone calls on my 5GHz phones from 2-3 feet away (let alone they sound perfectly fine from as much as 20-30 feet and 5GHz works extremely well up to a little shorter distance than that), but I can't even connect to WiFi, my PS3 remote (bluetooth) stops working, my DECT phones make robot noise if any noise from even point blank, and my Sonos bridge can't even communicate one room over when the desktop has been left off overnight. I've basically put on my tinfoil hat and started to think that maybe the line to this room starts to heat up and cause the interference, maybe the power company installed a new meter that stops creating interference at more than a certain number of watts drawn?

Any way to search for the source of the interference? I'm pretty sure it's even causing issues with the neighbor's WiFi, but I've yet to go ask them the awkward question of, "does your WiFi work right now?"

It's obviously unacceptable to have to leave a 400+ watt (idle) desktop setup on 24/7 to ensure WiFi works.