My LED Shop Light Killed My Wi-Fi Network

I bought a WINTEC 4ft LED shop light at Costco, I really liked it but I had to return it because it killed my Wi-Fi network. When the light was on, my 5Ghz wireless Wi-Fi AC network would slow to a crawl. Shortly after Access Point (AP) name would disappear from the choices on my Mac, iPad, or iPhone and Wi-Fi would completely stop working. My router is set up for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz wi-fi, but the 2.4 GHz network didn’t appear to have any problems. I ended up returning the light for a refund.

I bought the WINPLUS LED Utility Light with Motion Sensor from Costco on sale for $29.99 which was $10 off the normal price of $39.99. The light is 45 inches long, 3’9″, so just under 4 foot long. The light has a motion sensor to turn it on, and a 4ft, 9in power cable with a US 3 prong plug. The light is 48 watts and bright white with a color temperature of 4000k. The motion sensor can be adjusted for sensitivity and duration by some DIP switched on the light. I never got the chance to make any adjustments with the DIP switches though.

I was happy when this went on sale. I have a dark corner of my basement where I have my laser printer and paper shredder. The normal basement lights don’t cover that area. Rather than having to add a wired light in this corner. I could but hang the WINPLUS the corner and it will turn itself on and off as needed thanks to the motion sensor.

Like with any home project, I bought the light and it sat on the basement floor for a few weeks. Finally one day I couldn’t see what I was doing in that corner so, I hastily got it out of the box and installed it. Once it was installed, I figured I could adjust the sensitivity and duration later, as well as do a better job hanging the light. The light included mounting hardware and chains. I simply drove two screws into the exposed floor rafters, attached one end of the chains to the lamp and the other to the screws.

Once I had the light installed I went back to work. About 30 minutes later, I was working in the basement and noticed the my Wi-Fi network was really slow and then it eventually disappeared from the list of Access Points on my computer. At this point I figured the router needed a reset so I cycled the power on the router. It didn’t solve the problem.

It turns out my wireless router is also mounted on the wall in the corner of the basement near where I installed the LED light. At first I wondered if I had disturbed the router when I was hanging the light. I checked out the router though and didn’t see any signs that I had accidentally disturbed the router. I decided plugging in the light was the only change I made in that corner. I unplugged the light and cycled the power on my router and my Wi-Fi returned to normal.

At this point I decided I was just going to return the light to Costco. I suppose I could have tried adjusting the channel that the 5 Ghz network uses to see if I could find one that didn’t have interference. It could have also been the motion detector that was causing the interference, but I don’t think so. It’s also possible that I had a defective LED light, I decided not to exchange the light for a new one to see if mine was defective in some way. I figured the last thing I needed in my home was a light that intermittently disables my Wi-Fi network. If someone was down in the basement and the light was on everyone else would lose their internet connection and not know why. I decided I didn’t want to take a chance that I’d have the same problem with a replacement, or worse find out over time one developed.