My Bluetooth speaker cuts out when I walk between rooms - is it interference?

Don't assume interference is always the culprit - Bluetooth dropouts between rooms usually come down to range and obstacles like walls or metal fixtures blocking the signal. Most speakers have a realistic range of maybe 30 feet in open space, but solid walls cut that down fast. Try moving the speaker closer to where you're listening, or keep your phone and speaker in the same room when possible. If it still drops, check whether your speaker's battery is low, since a weak charge can tank the connection before anything else does.

The real issue is usually a combination of range and what's physically between you and the speaker. Most Bluetooth speakers have an effective range of maybe 30-50 feet in open space, but each wall cuts that down significantly - drywall eats into it more than you'd think, and if you've got older plaster or anything with metal studs, that's even worse. When you walk between rooms, you're stacking obstacles on top of distance, which is why the connection gets shaky.

What people sometimes miss is that your phone or device itself matters too. If you're walking away from the speaker and your body is between them, you're literally blocking the signal. Sounds weird but it happens - I've had speakers cut out the moment I turned my back to walk away. Also check if there's anything actively transmitting nearby: microwaves, WiFi routers, or cordless phones all use the 2.4 GHz band and can muscle in on Bluetooth's space. Moving your speaker and phone away from those sources, or even just repositioning where you keep your speaker in the room, can make a surprising difference before you start thinking about actual interference problems.

Moving your speaker closer to a wall or away from it can actually make a big difference, since the signal bounces differently depending on what's around it. The answers above nail it on range and obstacles, but they're underselling one thing: placement matters as much as distance. Try repositioning the speaker to the same room you're in, or move it to higher ground if you can - low placement on a shelf against a wall often gets worse reception than sitting it up on a dresser or shelf in the middle of a room. Interference from wifi or microwaves can pile on top, but you'd usually notice that only when they're actively running, whereas room-to-room dropouts that happen consistently point straight to walls and line-of-sight issues first.

Wall thickness and building materials matter way more than people think - a brick or concrete wall between you and the speaker kills the signal faster than drywall, and older homes with plaster can be brutal. Range itself tops out around 30-40 feet in real conditions, not the optimistic 50 you sometimes see advertised, so if you're cutting out between rooms it's almost always hitting that distance limit or running into structural barriers rather than wifi or microwave interference. The 2.4GHz overlap is real but you'd notice interference as static or stuttering while connected, not complete dropouts; clean cutouts point to the signal just falling below the threshold. Try moving your speaker to a central location or closer to where you spend the most time, and if it still cuts out when you leave the room, you've basically confirmed it's range-related rather than anything electronic interfering.

Range and walls are definitely the main culprits here, though one thing nobody's mentioned is checking if your speaker's antenna is positioned right - some of them have a little internal antenna that works better when the speaker sits upright or at certain angles rather than lying flat. Try rotating or repositioning the speaker before you blame interference, and if you're getting cuts specifically in one room, move it a few feet around that space to find a sweet spot where the signal stays solid. Does the dropout happen in the same location every time, or is it random throughout the house?