Wi-Fi interference can slow down your phone’s internet speed. It can also randomly disconnect your Wi-Fi calls and VoIP calls.
There are many different RF sources that can interfere with your Wi-Fi connections. In this article, we discuss whether cellular signals can interfere with Wi-Fi.
Here’s Whether Cellular Signals Can Interfere With Wi-Fi:
Most cellular technologies including GSM, 3G, 4G LTE, and 5G don’t interfere with Wi-Fi signals. The radio frequencies used by these cellular technologies don’t overlap with Wi-Fi frequency bands. However, unlicensed frequency bands proposed for 5G may interfere with Wi-Fi.
Do GSM Signals Interfere With Wi-Fi?
GSM signals don’t interfere with Wi-Fi signals. GSM operates below 1900 MHz frequency, while Wi-Fi operates at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. So there’s no frequency overlap between GSM and Wi-Fi.
You can find the frequencies used by GSM here and the frequencies used by Wi-Fi here.
Do 3G Cellular Signals Interfere With Wi-Fi?
3G signals don’t interfere with Wi-Fi signals. The frequencies used by 3G and Wi-Fi don’t overlap.
Common 3G frequency bands include 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1700 MHz, 1900 MHz, and 2100 MHz. You can find the complete list of frequencies used by 3G here.
As you can see, non of the 3G frequency bands overlap with either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz Wi-Fi bands. So 3G cell signals won’t interfere with Wi-Fi.
Do LTE Cellular Signals Interfere With Wi-Fi?
LTE signals also don’t interfere with your Wi-Fi connections.
Common LTE frequencies include 850 MHz, 1700 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 1900 MHz. You can find the full LTE frequency list here.
As you can see, non of the frequency bands used by LTE overlap with 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz Wi-Fi bands. So LTE signals won’t interfere with Wi-Fi.
Do 5G Cellular Signals Interfere With Wi-Fi?
The licensed 5G bands don’t interfere with Wi-Fi signals, but unlicensed bands proposed to use by 5G can interfere With Wi-Fi.
You can find the radio bands used by 5G here. Most of these bands don’t overlap with 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz Wi-Fi bands. So licensed 5G bands won’t cause any interference to your Wi-Fi devices.
However, LTE-Unlicensed/Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA) bands proposed for 5G may use 5 GHz channels close to the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band. In that case, 5G cell signals might cause interference with your Wi-Fi devices.
Do Cordless Phones Interfere With Wi-Fi?
Some cordless phones can interfere with your Wi-Fi connections. They may use the 2.4 GHz frequency band which overlaps with the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band.
However, interference from cordless phones and other 2.4 GHz RF sources won’t completely stop your Wi-Fi from working. Wi-Fi uses high-speed frequency hopping to overcome this form of interference.
Conclusion
Most cellular signals, including GSM, 3G, LTE, and licensed 5G, don’t interfere with Wi-Fi signals. They use radio frequencies that don’t overlap with 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz Wi-Fi bands.
However, some unlicensed frequency bands proposed for 5G are close enough to some 5 GHz Wi-Fi channels. So those unlicensed bands may interfere with your Wi-Fi connections.
