Yes. My work microwave is just at the end of my Bluetooth range for my Airpods Pro.
If the microwave is off, then my signal is basically fine and won't cut out.
Once I turn the microwave on, all are bets off, and it cuts in and out.
Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
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Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#22There's about 1000 watts of RF inside the microwave, it has to be attenuated to less than a few microwatts on the outside to avoid congestion, as they use the same frequency band. I'm amazed WiFi or Bluetooth ever works at all. 8) You can thank Hedy Lamar for that. Try cleaning the mating surfaces around the door thoroughly. If that doesn't work, consider replacing the microwave or relocating the speaker.
The microwave RF emission is actually very narrowband, though the frequency drifts all the time. Bluetooth uses FHSS so it will eventually go though, unless the noise is so powerful that it saturates the receiver.
I'd post a screenshot from a HackRF-produced waterfall, but I don't have a microwave :). Some wifi controllers can measure energy in the spectrum and can be used to plot a simple waterfall.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#23Around 15 years ago my wireless Magic Mouse's pointer movements would become so choppy as to become unusable not just if my microwave was in use, but also if a neighbor's was. But upgrading to a new laptop+mouse fixed it, and I've never had a problem since. Since they're on roughly the same frequency, interference makes sense. Microwave ovens are high-energy, Bluetooth is low-energy, so minor leakage can still have a…
I've never seen this with a microwave, but this exact thing (Bluetooth mouse choppiness) happens with interference from other Bluetooth devices in the vicinity, especially when pairing. Most microwaves do produce some BT interference, so I am not surprised that the symptoms would be similar.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#24It did with anything 2.4 GHz (BT, WiFi, Logitech nRF, etc etc). I threw my microwave away. Not really missed it, it was a waste of space, but anyone who wants to do a deauth attack can also get you to disconnect from WiFi.
Right now we got two airfryers, an oven (airfryers are basically mini ovens), and a mini pizza oven. The latter is pretty bad and hard to operate but because our main oven is broken, its as good as it gets. Not much edible comes out of a microwave. The tastes are almost always bland. I'd rather not eat. For my young kids I get to cook plain stuff, they don't enjoy anything complex but like the same stuff like pasta over and over again. We used au bain-marie in past. It requires a little bit more planning but nothing dramatic.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#25I noticed a quirk in my microwave recently if you apply pressure to the door handle it'll turn on the microwave. Kinda spooky.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#26There's about 1000 watts of RF inside the microwave, it has to be attenuated to less than a few microwatts on the outside to avoid congestion, as they use the same frequency band. I'm amazed WiFi or Bluetooth ever works at all. 8) You can thank Hedy Lamar for that. Try cleaning the mating surfaces around the door thoroughly. If that doesn't work, consider replacing the microwave or relocating the speaker.
If it's an old microwave replacing the door seal would be cheaper and easier.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#27I had a microwave that interfered with my 2.4 Ghz WiFi signal. If the microwave ran for more than 30 seconds any devices connected to the 2.4 Ghz SSIDs would "stop working". I assume is was due to too much noise caused by the microwave. Devices connected to the 5 Ghz SSIDs worked fine.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#28Yes. My work microwave is just at the end of my Bluetooth range for my Airpods Pro. If the microwave is off, then my signal is basically fine and won't cut out. Once I turn the microwave on, all are bets off, and it cuts in and out.
Same. Airprods Pro are the first product i've ever used that experienced microwave interference.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#29It did with anything 2.4 GHz (BT, WiFi, Logitech nRF, etc etc). I threw my microwave away. Not really missed it, it was a waste of space, but anyone who wants to do a deauth attack can also get you to disconnect from WiFi. Right now we got two airfryers, an oven (airfryers are basically mini ovens), and a mini pizza oven. The latter is pretty bad and hard to operate but because our main oven is broken, its as good as…
I use my microwave constantly, but it's all for defrosting.
Once the food is no longer frozen but not yet piping hot, it then goes into the toaster oven or skillet or whatever to finish heating including crisping/browning.
It's great because it not only saves significant time, but loses less moisture. Heating from frozen in an oven dries things out too much, or you have to use up aluminum foil to wrap it, which is annoying and a waste.
Also obviously microwaves are great for soup.
Re: Ask HN: Does your microwave interfere with Bluetooth? Mine does
#30I think microwaves ovens are allowed to emit up to 1W of energy. As mikewarot said - it's amazing Wifi/BT works at all.