Does Humidity Affect WiFi Coverage

I have had excellent coverage throughout my home since installing a new Time Capsule last December. Recently, however, coverage in rooms farthest away from the Time Capsule has weakened. SpeedTest results still OK, but I regularly lose connection in these remote rooms now, and streaming Apple Music is less reliable there. Performance still excellent nearer to the TC.


We have had extraordinarily hot and humid weather here in Virginia recently. The home is well air-conditioned such that it is cool enough, but humidity levels are undoubtedly higher than other times of year.


Has anyone had experience with higher humidity affecting signal strength from the TC? Seems possible. Or am I looking at a new Time Capsule whose signal has weakened in the few months I have had it.

Posted on Aug 5, 2016 1:58 PM

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10 replies

Aug 5, 2016 2:14 PM in response to Csound1

Thanks for confirming what I thought about radio propagation being sensitive to weather. I think we have all had the experience of radio/TV reception being better in crisp, cold weather than on warm, humid days. I assumed this phenomenon would affect TC wifi propagation as well.


While additional testing certainly will be useful, meanwhile I'm wondering if there is anyone else on this forum who has also seen this kind of degradation of performance due to humid air in the home.

Aug 5, 2016 2:28 PM in response to jimpal

Although I have never done any formal testing I used to produce shows, many of which used radio for communication. Hot humid days needed more power at the transmitters for reliable results. This option is not available for 802 wifi use because maximum transmit power is legislated and controlled by the FCC.


The only answer is more antenna gain.

Aug 5, 2016 2:28 PM in response to jimpal

Not much in your case:

Temperature seems to be the best explanatory variable for signal strength variation and has a negative, linear effect on signal strength in general, while high relative humidity may have some effect, particularly when temperature is below 0 ◦C.


From:

https://fedcsis.org/proceedings/2015/pliks/241.pdf

Signal Strength in Outdoor Wireless Sensor Networks

Aug 5, 2016 2:41 PM in response to lllaass

Thanks to both. One of the rooms, which is most affected, requires a wifi path through a short distance outside, where it certainly is hot and humid this time of year here. WiFi was fine in this room until the past, unusually hot, month. Interestingly, my iMac in this "worst" room still maintains an excellent connection, but iPad and Apple TV in the room have the reported problem.


Your responses make me think I am on the right track. This is my first year in this home, and I am still learning what causes what. Looks like things might get better again as summer winds down.

Dec 9, 2016 2:13 PM in response to jimpal

Updated experience. While obviously not a burning issue to thread readers, my experience in the past four months makes me think I am on the right track with this. Wifi reception from my Time capsule to my farthest room is much better now that heat and humidity have gone down here. Not very technical, I guess, but I conclude heat and humidity do have an effect.

Dec 9, 2016 7:21 PM in response to Csound1

Thanks to both. That is my understanding, too, but I received rather tepid responses when I raised this possibility last August. Hopefully my experience since then will be a data point to help others who are trying to understand why they are experiencing unexplained Wifi degradation during hot, humid weather.

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Does Humidity Affect WiFi Coverage

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