Are your goldfish sabotaging your wifi? Or is it your Christmas-tree lights? Follow these top tips to keep your internet up to speed.

你的金魚破壞了你的無線網?或者是你的圣誕樹小彩燈的原因?看看下邊這些高招，讓你的網絡暢通無阻。

For many of us， untangling strings of Christmas-tree lights is an annual bore. But now it seems that’s not the only problem they pose.

對于很多人來說，每年解下圣誕樹上的小彩燈是個很讓人煩惱的事。但是小彩燈帶來的煩惱不止這些。

According to the regulator Ofcom， too many fairy lights can interfere with your wireless internet connection — making it hard to shop online， download music or watch films on the internet.

據通信管理局的管理員說，很多圣誕節小彩燈都會干涉無線網絡的連接—讓你無法網上購物，無法下載音樂和看電影。

An estimated six million Britons are routinely frustrated with the unreliability and sluggish speed of wifi in their homes — and interference from electrical appliances， including festive lights， is a major cause of slow internet.

大約有600萬英國人被家里無線網緩慢網速和不穩定性折磨，然而網速的干擾因素很多歸咎于電子設備，包括圣誕節彩燈。

So is Ofcom right? Can fairy lights really ruin your wifi? And what else can wreak havoc with your connection? Here’s all you need to know.

那這么說通信管理局是正確的嘍?圣誕樹小彩燈真的會干擾你的網速嗎?那別的東西還會破壞你的網速嗎?下面這些是你需要了解的。

WHAT EXACTLTY IS WIFI?

WIFI 到底是什么?

Wifi is the wireless system that allows computers， smartphones， games consoles and other gadgets to connect to the internet.

Wifi 是一種無線系統，它可以讓你的電腦，智能手機，游戲機操作器和其他一些設備連接上網絡。

It stands for ‘wireless fidelity’ and the connections are made using radiowaves.

它代表著“無線準確”，連接是通過無線電波生成的。

HOW DOES IT WORK?

它是怎么工作的?

The heart of every home wifi network is a box called a wifi router (sometimes called a hub or wireless access point).

每個家庭無線網絡的中心是一個被叫做無線路由器的盒子(有時候稱無線鏈接點或者無線連接中心)。

The box is a mini radio transmitter and receiver which typically connects to the internet through an ordinary phone socket. It converts information from the internet into radiowaves， which it broadcasts to any nearby gadgets equipped with wifi。 At the same time， it receives radio signals from those gadgets and feeds them back to the internet.

該盒子是一個迷你無線電發射器和接收器，通常通過一個普通的電話插座連接到互聯網。它將信息從互聯網傳輸到無線電波，向附近的任何配備WiFi的小設備發送電波。同時，它接收來自這些小設備的無線電信號，并將它們送回互聯網。

All new computers， smartphones and games machines have built-in wifi。 It is increasingly being fitted to TV sets to allow them to play programmes directly from the internet. Older devices can use wifi if they are fitted with a plug-in adaptor.

所有的新買的電腦，智能手機和游戲機都有內嵌的wifi。無線網絡已經逐漸配置到電視機里，讓它們可以直接播放來自互聯網的節目。舊的設備如果安裝上可插入的適配器也可以使用無線網。

WHEN IT GOES SLOW

什么時候網速變慢

As anyone with wifi in their home will testify， wireless internet can be unreliable.

因為任何人可以連接同一個無線網，所以說無線網是不安全的。

Some days， connections are fast： website pages appear instantly and video clips play without interruption. Other days， it slows right down， making online shopping， browsing and downloading a frustrating experience. One day the signal reaches every room in the house; the next it’s feeble.

有時候，網速特別快，網頁一點即開，視頻播放暢通無阻。而有些時候，網速卻沒那么順暢，網上購物、瀏覽網頁和下載東西都很不順暢。有時候，無線網覆蓋幾個房間，而有時候網絡信號卻很弱。

BEWARE FAIRY LIGHTS

小心圣誕樹小彩燈

Ofcom says fairy lights are a major cause of erratic wifi at this time of year. Anything that uses electricity generates an electromagnetic field — an invisible cloud of electrically charged particles. If the field is big enough， it can interfere with radiowaves used in wifi networks.

通信管理局說道，接近圣誕節，最近一段時間，圣誕節小彩燈成為影響網速的主要因素。任何使用電的東西都會生成一個電磁場——這是一種看不見的電子顆粒云。如果這個磁場足夠強大，它就會干擾使用無線網的電波。

Any electrical wiring or lights can disrupt wifi. But Christmas lights are especially bad because they contain so much wire， whether strung up in hallways or wrapped round trees， which makes the magnetic field larger.

任何電線或者電燈都會破壞無線網。但是圣誕節彩燈破壞性會很大，因為它們包括著很多電線，不管是將它們串在走廊里還是環繞在圣誕樹上，它形成的磁場都會比較大。

Experts say the interference is even worse when the lights are programmed to flash on

喬布斯創造了世界上最為成功的公司之一，同樣為人熟知的是他喜歡咒罵員工。然而， 最新一項研究稱高傲自大、堅決主張的性格幫他走向了成功。

Researchers from Pen State’s College of Liberal Arts and Stony Brook University conducted a two part experimental study to understand why those with headstrong personalities are more successful。

來自賓夕法尼亞州立大學人文學院和紐約州立大學石溪分校的研究人員分兩步做了一項實驗，以了解緣何性格固執倔強的人更成功。

In the first part of the study， 200 students took a series of personality tests that measured how disagreeable they were and their ability to come up with original ideas。 Then each participant spent 10 minutes creating a unique marketing campaign for the online campus of their university。 And for another 20 minutes， they broke off into groups of three to work on a joint campaign。

第一部分的研究里，200名學生參加了一些列性格測試，衡量其性格有多不討人喜歡及其想出原創點子的能力。然后，每個參與者花10分鐘時間為網上校區創設一個市場活動。另外一段20分鐘的時間里，分成三人一組做合作項目。

As predicted， being a jerk isn‘t advantageous for coming up with useful， original ideas， but it does seem to be advantageous for getting your ideas heard， especially in an environment consisting of pushy character.The ideas that were used in the group were from individuals who were pushy about their campaigns。

和預期的一樣，表現得“混蛋”些對想出有用、富有創意的點子并無裨益，但確實有助讓別人聽到自己的想法，尤其是在逼迫人心的大環境里。團隊中所采納的想法都來自于對項目比較心急的個體成員。

The second part of the study observed how students would do in certain group contexts。 About 300 students worked alone to create a gift that would impress others visiting their campus。 Next， they were told they would be video chatting with two other members of their group to share their ideas。

研究的第二部分觀察到學生在特定的小組活動中的表現。約有300名學生單獨作業創制一份可以打動校園來訪人員的禮物。接下來，告知這些學生他們將會和小組其他兩名成員視頻對話來交流分享想法。

and off， and when they are close to the wifi router. And， unlike many other electrical appliances， they are often left on all the time.

老師稱，當接近路由器的電燈忽隱忽現時，它對網絡的破壞性是很大的。小彩燈不像其他的電子設備，它們基本總是處于開啟狀態。

Internet company TalkTalk claims fairy lights can reduce wifi performance by 25 per cent.

Talk Talk 網絡公司聲稱小彩燈會將無線網的性能降低25%。

What the students didn’t know is that their online group members were actually assistants working for the researchers， who were told to give either supportive or negative feedback。 This time， students were likely to only share their ideas if their ‘partners’ had smart ideas and gave negative feedback。 In other words， the disagreeable individuals don‘t worry about the possibility that someone won’t like their ideas。

學生們有所不知的是網上的小組成員實際是研究的助手，事先被告知要給出正面或是負面的反饋。這一次，只有“小伙伴”有好點子和給予負面反饋的情況，學生們才愿意把想法分享給對他們。換句話說，性格不討喜者并不擔心別人會不喜歡他們的想法。

The study suggests that individuals who are disagreeable or ‘jerks’ are more successful because they are better at getting their ideas heard in a group and that in supportive environments， may be useful because agreeable people will be more receptive to positive feedback。

研究顯示，性格不討喜的或者比較“混蛋”的更容易取得成功，因為他們善于在團隊中讓別人聽取他們的想法。