Other than that I don't have any obvious sources for interference. My wireless phone is old technology (900mHz) and my microwave is not being used at the same time.
As an aside, my Sony 900 MHz (mHz is milliHertz) cordless phone is completely non-functional if I place the cradle/base station beside my 802.11b base station. My guess would be that the 802.11b base station has enough of an RF spur near 1800 MHz to cause crippling interference. (That's curious, though, since you wouldn't expect to see an 1800 MHz spur from a 2400 MHz transmitter, especially if it passes the FCC requirements).
You can also have a problem with the digital signals. Most base stations support 100BaseT which means they have a 100MHz clock. A digital clock signal puts out noise at several multiples of the operating frequencies.
But I can't deny that my cordless phone doesn't work when the phone's base station directly lined up between the handset and 802.11b base station, either.
OTOH, I haven't noticed any significant dip in signal strength for my 802.11b network in these situations.
Interference wouldn't tend to lower the signal strength, it MIGHT even cause an increase. Signal strength is a measure of the RF signal or signals at or near the operating frequency making no distinction between 802.11b and signals from any other source.
By the way, if you notice that your wireless network goes down when you use your microwave oven, it's time to buy a new microwave oven. They are supposed to be shielded well enough to not let out any significant amount of RF radiation. High-strength 2400 MHz microwaves are dangerous precisely because they cook food. Don't get near that oven when it's working, especially not if you start to feel warm! ;-)
"any significant amount" is a relative term. In comparison to cooking intensity only a damaged microwave oven would put out a "significant amount" of RF. But with regard to wireless networking, which uses a pretty low power signal, a normal microwave oven could well put out a significant signal. Microwave ovens use magnetrons which are a particularly noisy source of RF which means it doesn't have to be that close to the operating frequency to cause interference. Also with a microwave oven you can get more near field effects than with most other equipment. Near field effects generally would only have an effect within about 10 feet or so.
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