WiFi

[JAC]

By now most of us have heard about the "dangers" of long term mobile phone usage - i.e. thermal and non-thermal effects of non-ionising radiation...

I for one dont hang out on my mobile phone, mainly because
1) I am not 12 years old
2) I actually think its kind dumb to chat for long periods of time on a mobile.


but having recently purchased a nice samsung nc10 netbook(awesome) I found myself using wifi a great deal. I have put in CAT5 to the usual surfing points, like the couch for example, and I now only use wifi when I have to as a last resort.

Are you concerned about wifi?

[iguana]

I think wifi is absolutely safe.
Smoking, exhaust gas, CRT, hypodynamia... are more real dangers.

I live 95km from Chernobyl.
wifi ? what are you talking about?

[kosmokrator]

[Windmiller]

[iguana]

Please don't worry guys. I'm ok (as well as chips I sent you ).
Here in Kiev background radiation is about 15 microroentgen.
I have a friend. Hi is Norwegian but 8 last years he lives in Ukraine.
He was very disappointed after arrival to Kiev.
He bought dosimeter been at home. It shown 17 microroentgen in Norway and 12 microroentgen here in Kiev .
Now Chernobyl's allusion is "good" reason for our gov to bag some money from world community.

[iguana]

Sorry, JAC for offtoping here.

[thomsonicus]

wifi? never even considered it a real threat. IMO it's like saying radio causes death. Life causes death! Were I so concerned about stuff like this I'd sell my nissan 100nx and use trains or planes, watch my diet (forget the monthly McDonalds), grow some vegetables and a beard to protect me from the UV light from the Sun.
Wifi? Nah

[debs3759]

The only danger in WiFi is if the guy down the road realises I am hacking into his connection...

[D.8080]

When I'll turn into a Borg I won't bother at all...

[hugo929]

well, everyone might need to buy such an appliance then give the answer.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330288670472&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123

[JAC]

I am surprised really most of you lot dont think there is *any* risk - and really I hope that is the case.

I just like to err on the side of caution here. It seems kinda pointless to expose yourself to high frequency RF for LONG periods of time, especially when its easy to wire in a network point. We know above certain power thresholds just how much is lethal, and wifi is well below that, but we dont really know how safe long term exposure to various power levels are.
WifiMAX anyone??

[debs3759]

My reason for not using WiFi is nothing to do with radiation. I hinted at it in my reply above - it si just far too easy to hack even the most "secure" of WiFi systems. I ahve a friend who started at Uni this autumn (doing computing, of course) who showed me in the summer how easy he found it to hack about 30 different wireless systems from his front room, using just a basic wireless card and a TIN CAN!!! He had to find various software of course to help with the process, but there were not many that took him more than 5 minutes to get into.

That is why I don't use WiFi (or bluetooth, for similar reasons)

[tlccomp]

[debs3759]

I like the comforting hum that some high frequency RF appliances give off. I used to keep a radio with 400W amp under my bed (volume right down, it was the "mains hum" that helped me sleep...). Not sure what the radiation from that would have done, but I'm sure if those aliens hadn't come down and abducted me I would have been a perfectly well balanced person

[Neon]

The transformers sing to Debs.

I think that at the low power level of WiFi, it is not a health concern.

Also, I predict that the hair thinning is the first step on the evolutionary pathway to adapt humans to have antennae.