Slow Wi-Fi at home? Believe it or not, your houseplants might be to blame – and yes, we’re serious

• Study claims large numbers of plants may cause measurable signal loss in small spaces
• Moving a router away from houseplants can noticeably improve Wi-Fi performance
• Wi-Fi 8 promises more reliable connectivity but will not arrive until 2028

Houseplants may not seem like a likely suspect when it comes to sluggish Wi-Fi connections, yet a new study has claimed they could be partly responsible.

Research from Broadband Genie says moving a router away from household greenery led to a broadband speed increase of more than a third.

The reasoning behind the claim is that moisture-rich soil and dense foliage can absorb or deflect signals, leading to weaker coverage.

Plants and wireless signals

Broadband Genie suggests in a small apartment filled with plants, the effect could be noticeable.

“We were shocked to discover just how much of a difference it can make simply moving your router away from your houseplant collection,” said the firm’s broadband expert Peter Ames.

“Take stock of where your plants are and where your router is currently placed, and do what you can to ensure your router has a clear path to where your internet is most used, with no houseplants blocking your Wi-Fi signal.”

However, walls, ceilings, and even interference from neighbors’ Wi-Fi networks are likely to play a far greater role in disrupting connectivity than a potted fern.

Unless someone has an unusual number of plants packed around their router, the impact is unlikely to be dramatic.

Despite the questionable framing, the broader advice is practical. Keeping Wi-Fi routers^[1] tucked behind plant pots or furniture is unlikely to improve performance.

Placing the device in an open, central location usually gives better coverage.

Of course, moving a router closer to a laptop or phone, as the experiment appears to have done, would improve speeds regardless of nearby plants.

This raises doubts about how much the observed improvement was due to reducing foliage interference versus simply optimizing placement.

For households with consistent problems, changing the router position is just one option.

Broadband Genie also recommends solutions such as Mesh Wi-Fi^[2] or Wi-Fi extenders^[3], which distribute signals more evenly throughout the home.

These approaches can be especially useful in larger houses where signals struggle to reach certain rooms.

Alternatively, powerline adapters that use existing electrical wiring or standard Ethernet cables may provide more reliable connections than wireless altogether.

Beyond quick fixes, the wireless industry is preparing for long-term improvements.

The upcoming Wi-Fi 8 standard, still under development and not expected until 2028, aims to improve reliability^[4] by steering signals more directly toward devices.

Until then, users will have to rely on current technologies and sensible setup practices.

The suggestion that houseplants could be to blame for slow speeds may sound more like a quirky publicity stunt than a scientific finding.

While it is technically true that all materials absorb some radio signals, the scale of the effect from indoor plants remains questionable.

Via The Register^[5]

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