Jump to content
Science Forums

The safety or danger of wifi.


Phebe

Recommended Posts

Hi all, I need some help persuading someone that wifi is not the devil. I work for a company that provides fixed wireless internet and I was asked to organize some articles to be sent to a prospective site owner to dissuade his wifi worries, however, when I perused the documents I realized they were doing the opposite.

 

If there are any good articles that can help me, please say so. As well, I would like to hear what you smart people have to say about the matter itself.

 

Thank you, and keep the threads going!:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all, I need some help persuading someone that wifi is not the devil. I work for a company that provides fixed wireless internet and I was asked to organize some articles to be sent to a prospective site owner to dissuade his wifi worries, however, when I perused the documents I realized they were doing the opposite.

 

If there are any good articles that can help me, please say so. As well, I would like to hear what you smart people have to say about the matter itself.

 

Thank you, and keep the threads going!:)

 

I think that at first I would have to hear the logic behind why wifi is the devil. Hard to argue against a point when you don't know what it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, from what I gather, he is convinced that the microwaves are extremely dangerous and that there are cancer risks and such. Even though it's been pointed out that the levels of radiation are far less than those of a microwave oven, and standing in the sun is probably just as dangerous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, from what I gather, he is convinced that the microwaves are extremely dangerous and that there are cancer risks and such. Even though it's been pointed out that the levels of radiation are far less than those of a microwave oven, and standing in the sun is probably just as dangerous.

 

Well unless your client lives inside a Faraday cage he is always exposed to radio waves from TV, Radio, cell phones, the electrical wires in his house, appliances, etc. His idea of danger is relative and almost certainly not valid. I would try to figure just how much wifi adds to the general maelstrom of long wave radiation that surrounds us all the time. If wifi doesn't add to this by a large amount then it's not going to add any real danger. Sitting in front of your TV or computer almost certainly adds much more than a wifi signal. Is there any data that suggests wifi is dangerous?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all, I need some help persuading someone that wifi is not the devil. I work for a company that provides fixed wireless internet and I was asked to organize some articles to be sent to a prospective site owner to dissuade his wifi worries, however, when I perused the documents I realized they were doing the opposite.

 

If there are any good articles that can help me, please say so. As well, I would like to hear what you smart people have to say about the matter itself.

 

Thank you, and keep the threads going!:)

 

3 words...tin foil hat :eek: :hyper:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys for replying.

Turtle, tin-foil hat is so funny because I could see him wearing one if the idea ever took root.

And Michael, I don't think there's any data ( that would indicate scientific study and no one has yet done such work as far as I know) I just really think it was him, because he works at a hospital, being overly prodigious about the health risks.

 

What I did was to find, through the BBC, two news articles that pretty much say there are no indicative dangers to the use of Wi-Fi and that to restrict usage on such grounds is foolish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just really think it was him, because he works at a hospital, being overly prodigious about the health risks.

One would think, if a person was very concerned about their health, a hospital would be one of the last places they would work. Dont a lot of sick people hang around hospitals?

 

Maybe you need to re-direct his health concerns towards his place of employment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is just like that cell phone radiation thing. Its hilarious. people hear the term "radiation" and they freak out. When these people think radiation they think Atomic and nuclear bombs. Lets look at it this way, Hiroshima received 220 rads, roughly two and a half times the lethal dose. A microwave emits just enough radiation to cook food. I think you will receive 1/2 a rad of radiation if you have stood near microwave ovens for most of your life. Just by living in his house he has been exposed to much radiation and other "harmful" things. Potassium in a banana cant kill you yet the way they kill people who have the death penalty is with a lethal does of potassium. Thats the same thing with cell phones and wifi cards. If he works in a hospital he is exposed to relatively more radiation but still enough so its harmless.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all, I need some help persuading someone that wifi is not the devil.
Adding to the arguments already offered in this thread, you might find it helpful to note that the transmitter power of a wifi (802.11) transmitter is limited by law in the US to less than 0.9 W, the same power limitation as handheld mobile and cordless phones. So, in the worst case scenario that a wifi router is pressed against your ear, transmitting constantly (rather than its more common “idle” state of 1 “beacon” packet every 0.1 s), it could irradiate you with no more RF energy than talking on a mobile or cordless phone. The actual power decreases as the square of distance ([math]P = \frac{P_1}{d^2}[/math]), so even if you’re in a room with 10 routers 50 cm from you, you’re getting only about [math]\frac{10}{50^2} = 0.004[/math] times the radiation dose of a cell phone, or about the equivalent of a 2 minute cell phone call every 8 hours.

 

Of course, this might just make the person you’re trying to convince fearful of phones, but that’s a separate subject.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...