The two frequencies used by WiFi - 2.4GHz and 5GHz - are both unlicenced bands. Anything can transmit in those bands if it wants to, so long as the power is limited. That includes garage door openers, baby monitors, smart meters and so on. There is no requirement on any of those to carefully avoid harming your WiFi signal.
Some modern WiFi routers will automatically detect interference and switch channels by themselves.
My understanding is that the reason that smart meters can have Zigbee is so that the gas meter can talk to the electricity meter. Gas smart meters have to run on batteries, and so don't have the power to phone in meter readings. But Zigbee is designed to run at very low power. It's also possible for nearby 2nd generation meters to chat to each other if one can get a signal through, but the other can't.
The two frequencies used by WiFi - 2.4GHz and 5GHz - are both unlicenced bands. Anything can transmit in those bands if it wants to, so long as the power is limited. That includes garage door openers, baby monitors, smart meters and so on. There is no requirement on any of those to carefully avoid harming your WiFi signal.
Some modern WiFi routers will automatically detect interference and switch channels by themselves.
My understanding is that the reason that smart meters can have Zigbee is so that the gas meter can talk to the electricity meter. Gas smart meters have to run on batteries, and so don't have the power to phone in meter readings. But Zigbee is designed to run at very low power. It's also possible for nearby 2nd generation meters to chat to each other if one can get a signal through, but the other can't.
