This question is mainly about EMC and disruptive RF emissions.
I have noticed recently that each time we use our microwave oven the WiFi network becomes unusably slow (it is still working if you get close to the WiFi router). When the microwave is turned off, the WiFi recovers and continues as normal.
I've been living with this annoyance for a few days, but now I notice that the WiFi router itself is now suffering from severely degraded WiFi output all the time. I've tried changing channels, to no avail.
Previously there was a good WiFi signal everywhere in the house, but now I can only get a reliable signal if I'm standing a few feet from the router. The router is about 8 feet away from the microwave oven and there is a wooden staircase between them.
Assuming the (900 Watt Panasonic brand) microwave is to blame for the original WiFi performance issue, could it also be possible that the leaked RF energy has physically damaged the WiFi router's transceiver circuitry?
More to the point, is my microwave dangerous to people in the house?
Best Answer
It could be, although significant power needs to be leaking for it to be dangerous: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_burn
Absolutely, although this would take significant energy. If your router has a 'site survey' feature then use that to check if the local area has suddenly sprung a number of access points on the same channels, phone apps that show the local WiFi environment are available too.
Normally operating microwave ovens do not interfere to a noticeable extent with WiFi networks, so I would suspect that your oven is leaking to a greater-than-normal extent and that replacing it would be very wise.