Is it safe to have a strong Wifi router next to you? AX86U RF 1000mw/m2

[jpthsd]

I just recently moved my AX86U outside my office just because I just recently discovered the RF as shown as picture.. this won't be a debate and more likely a personal choice ...you feel free to sit next to the router but I feel uneasy as I just found out and just shared with everyone!

sometimes it got to 1200 mw/m2 or even 1500mw/m2 - I ain't around to capture that ,,LoL!

Good luck guys!

 

[ColinTaylor]

An RF meter pressed against a 1W wireless router measures nearly 1W of output. Err, OK.

I'd be more interested in seeing what it measured at distances of say, 1 meter and 3 meters.

P.S. https://www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/a...emf-390-emf-multi-field-multi-function-meter/

 

[L&LD]

As safe as anything in life is. You're subjected to much worse at doctors' offices, airports, and government locations.

You know that 'meter' is unsafe too, right?

And 1.2W or 1.5W peaks at zero inches from the router doesn't really mean anything anyway unless you're using the router as a pillow while you work.

 

[jpthsd]

The router was right above my computer office desk, me IT all remote work, about above my head 4ft and I got the meter read 2xx-6xx mw/m2 , so I bought faraday screen but it didn't help ...thus I moved it out of my office. I actually felt little inflammation throughout the years while having the router was close too me ...Maybe it's just me but I feel much better not having the router 4ft above my head!

Not only me ,,,the AC86U was 3 feet away from my daughter's bed heading and she felt uneasy to go to sleep until I moved it to my office and I was the one felt uneasy as well LoL ...Now it is outside the hallway and settled final location ...

Both rotuer and AiMesh node do have almost the same readings (of course depend the Wifi loads and the readings will be different)...

I just wanted to share if someone shares the same concern about these RF ...I know that many said researches done and/or not proving..etc.....but at least you are the one in the scenario and do what best for your own health

 

[Tech9]

Don't stare at the sun - it may burn your eyes. Don't smell the gas cap when refueling your car - benzine may cause cancer. Don't look through the window of working microwave - they all leak RF in operation. Use some common sense and you'll be fine. Move the router away from your daughter's bed. We don't know yet if it's harmful or not. You don't want to find after 20 years that it was harmful.

 

[SwampKracker]

Ionizing radiation (short wavelengths) like X-ray and Gamma, are what you need to worry about. Radio and microwave are long wavelength. What makes microwave radiation unique is that it is absorbed by water molecules, so you will literally "cook" from the inside out since you are 50+% water.

Edit: Forgot about UV...also short wavelength, ionizing radiation.

 

[sfx2000]

I'd be more interested in seeing what it measured at distances of say, 1 meter and 3 meters.

I will say is that from an engineering perspective - we measure Radiated Power at 1 meter, and we don't do it just on one axis/location... we have calibrated anechoic chambers with test equipment that is, in my last experience over in Cellular land was a $2,000,000 investment...

Most router/AP's are going be to around 23 dBm (which is 200 milliwatts), and some might be 30 dBm (1 watt) when at their lowest modulation level...

The Access Point is the least of one's potential worries - consider the mobile phone in a call, better yet, the bluetooth earbud that is directly in your ear - I've heard the excuse many times over...

Going down this EMF ratehole, and it is indeed a rathole, is a no-win for technical folks - lay people are going to have meters like this, and there's nothing we can suggest that would discourage them...

When/How was that EMF meter thingy calibrated - that's right, it's not...

Prior to this post - I didn't really want to get into that tool or the motivations around it. At the same time, I have to say something...

Going back to OP - @jpthsd - provide some objective results, not subjective observations...

 

[tgl]

If you're worried about the radiated power -- and I do not say you are wrong to worry -- then turn down the power!

In just about every case, if you have your AP set to blast away at the legal limit of 1000mW (30 dBm), you are doing the wrong thing in the first place, and getting worse not better performance from it. The reason is that WiFi is a bidirectional medium. It does not help a far-away client to be able to hear the AP's signal, if the AP cannot hear the client's signal --- and just about all WiFi clients have Tx power no more than 12-15 dBm. The end result of that is a lot of retransmits, a lot of wasted airtime, and generally awful overall performance. (The AP does have better antennas than the clients, so it can pick up a weaker signal than they can, but its antennas aren't 10X better.) In short you are doing yourself no favor by running the AP at more than around 20 dBm Tx power, one-tenth of what you are doing now. If that doesn't seem like it affords adequate coverage for your living space, buy some more APs and run them at similarly low power.

 

[Tech9]

buy some more APs and run them at similarly low power.

I have a setup with 4x APs at around 20mW each.

 

[tgl]

I have a setup with 4x APs at around 20mW each.

Yeah, that's pretty close to what I'm doing in my new condo: 3 Ubiquiti APs running at 12 dBm Tx power. Works pretty well --- the condo is a very long narrow space, with the APs spread out front/middle/back, and I find that my portable gear roams from one to the next very nicely when I walk back and forth.

 

[Justinh]

Might be a dumb question, but ... Is the EMF emitted from the router at a constant level or does it emit EMF only when a client is receiving data from the router?

 

[tgl]

EMF is emitted when transmitting -- either from the router when it's sending, or from a client when it's sending.

 

[jpthsd]

Ionizing radiation (short wavelengths) like X-ray and Gamma, are what you need to worry about. Radio and microwave are long wavelength. What makes microwave radiation unique is that it is absorbed by water molecules, so you will literally "cook" from the inside out since you are 50+% water.

Edit: Forgot about UV...also short wavelength, ionizing radiation.

YES and YES - since I moved it off where it was previously located, I feel less inflammation totally! If everyone tries , please setup a router like AX86U within 3 feet next or over the head of you - about 2-4 weeks you would feel it...it took me 24 months until I said enough to move it elsewhere ...mannn much much more relief!

 

[ColinTaylor]

YES and YES - since I moved it off where it was previously located, I feel less inflammation totally! If everyone tries , please setup a router like AX86U within 3 feet next or over the head of you - about 2-4 weeks you would feel it...it took me 24 months until I said enough to move it elsewhere ...mannn much much more relief!

He was disagreeing with your logic and explaining why it's flawed. Wi-Fi "radiation" is non-ionizing.

Going down this EMF ratehole, and it is indeed a rathole, is a no-win for technical folks - lay people are going to have meters like this, and there's nothing we can suggest that would discourage them...

 

[bbunge]

YES and YES - since I moved it off where it was previously located, I feel less inflammation totally! If everyone tries , please setup a router like AX86U within 3 feet next or over the head of you - about 2-4 weeks you would feel it...it took me 24 months until I said enough to move it elsewhere ...mannn much much more relief!

Hmm.. I've had an AX86U or AX86U Pro about a meter at a 60 degree angle over my head for four years. No problems with my head from that.

Maybe what you need is a tin foil hat....

 

[jpthsd]

He was disagreeing with your logic and explaining why it's flawed. Wi-Fi "radiation" is non-ionizing.

It's more likely personal reference and/or "for your own health matters" so later on "...what if.." hehehe!

 

[coxhaus]

You can't be close to my Cisco wireless APs as they are mounted on 12-foot ceilings. If you go stand under them the closest you can be is 6 to 7 feet. I sit in a chair 28 linear feet away plus the up distance.

 

[sfx2000]

Wi-Fi "radiation" is non-ionizing.

Exactly...

It's interesting that nobody has done a study on folks that work in the cellular business - field techs that work on the cell sites, lab techs and engineers in the device labs, etc...

I suppose the reason being that nothing exciting would be found there