Radiation? - Wi-Fi Planet Forums

mkabrisky · #1 10-17-2002, 10:58 AM

I don't know if the issue of radiation has been brought up, but what about it? Any concerns or testing done on this for wi-fi networks? Thanks.

JimGeier · #2 10-18-2002, 09:04 AM

I'm assuming that you're refering to health issues. I did some top level research on this a month ago and didn't find any reports specifically wirtten for the 2.4 or 5 GHz bands. I only searched the Internet, however. There were a few articles mentioning that WLANs are safe for humans, but I didn't see any reference to testing.

MShnier · #3 10-18-2002, 01:03 PM

Gemtek makes (at least some) of the 802.11b cards for Linksys' wireless routers, and I noted that Gemtek's manuals for these 802.11b cards say (as required by the FCC) that people must be at least 20 cm away from the antennas.

However, Linksys makes no such mention of this in their manuals (consumers only see the Linksys manual, not the Gemtek manual). I understand one reason is that Linksys puts a thick tube around the antenna to keep people 1 cm away from the antenna, but that's no where near the 20 cm required by the FCC.

I don't see how the FCC lets Linksys not pass on the 20 cm warning.

Mike · #4 10-18-2002, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MShnier
However, Linksys makes no such mention of this in their manuals (consumers only see the Linksys manual, not the Gemtek manual). I understand one reason is that Linksys puts a thick tube around the antenna to keep people 1 cm away from the antenna, but that's no where near the 20 cm required by the FCC.

I don't see how the FCC lets Linksys not pass on the 20 cm warning.

Is it really required by the FCC? Maybe it's voluntary. How much power are these boxes putting out. *Probably* not much more than a cell or cordless phone. You'd have a lot of trouble staying 20cm from yer phone.

Much of my experience is with outdoor units. The enginers would tell us that as long as we were not putting our heads between the reflector and antenna we were OK. I don't remember what kind of power they were putting out, but it's gotta be maxed out for the type of shots (15 miles) we were doing.

Anyway, to answer the original question. I wouldn't worry about radiation.