Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsThis product will adversely affect your WiFi speeds
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2018
The short version of this review, for those not wishing to read the long version, is that this power strip blocked the WiFi signals from my router causing months of headaches, money, and time trying to sort out our internet issues. This power strip has built in RFI and EMI filters which is the only thing I can think of as the culprit. Definitely do not recommend this product.
For the first time in about 3 months my internet is working again. Although I didn't make the connection until recently, my internet started to have serious issues around the same time I started using this product in the same room as my WiFi router. My connection would drop from 70Mbps to numbers like 0.16Mbps or 0.67Mbps, which effectively means your internet stalls completely since nothing can operate at such slow speeds. This would happen a few times per hour and last for 5-10 minutes at a time, sometimes more. I replaced my router, modem box, had them send out techs to inspect our equipment and lines, and nothing solved the issue, This went on for about 3 months and ended up costing a few hundred dollars in the end after replacing routers and such.
Eventually I had a weird hunch that it could be this power adapter. Initially I was thinking it could be an issue with the modem and router being connected to the same power brick, so I switched them over to an old power strip for a day. Nothing changed, but during this time I was also reading through all of the reviews here to see if anyone had a similar issue. I noticed in the item description that it has RFI and EMI filters (to block external interference, although I am not sure why this is needed in a power strip). So while keeping the modem and router connected to a separate outlet, I turned off the power to this Monoprice brick. Immediately, my internet shot up from under 1Mbps to its normal 68-70Mbps (monitoring using the Speedtest app on my phone). I turned the brick power back on, and after about 15 seconds, the internet dripped again to almost zero. I did this over and over for about 15 minutes and every single time the brick was on, no internet. When the brick was off, the internet speeds were normal.
I now have a new power brick/surge protector and have had the first few days of functional internet in months. I never suspected anything like this was possible. It only affected the actual speeds of the internet, not the WiFi signal, so it was very hard to track down. I can't fathom why this feature is even needed, but it definitely was not designed properly since it essentially created a bubble where my WiFi signal could not get through.
My room is small so I cannot place my router further than a few feet from the power strip. If you have this product in a different area of the house than your main router, I am not sure if it will have the same effects. However, it might still block the WiFi speeds for the devices plugged into this brick and close by. Since it was located near my router it slowed our internet for the entire house. Had this been used downstairs, maybe it would have only affected devices near the strip itself. Obviously I am not going to use this product any more to find out.
Either way, this product was a waste of money, and caused me hundreds of dollars over the course of a few months. I can't return it so I will just throw it in the trash. Hopefully my headaches can help someone troubleshoot their issues in the future.