5G conspiracy theorists are putting their Wi-Fi routers in Faraday cages to protect themselves
5G conspiracy theorists are putting their Wi-Fi routers in Faraday cages to protect themselves
It would seem that 5G conspiracy theorists now have another axe to grind. And it’s Wi-Fi routers.
Apparently, placing Wi-Fi routers in Faraday cages is now a thing. These cages have some wonderful claims that include shielding users from 95% of harmful EMF RF waves and providing a way to balance the function of routers but keeping EMF signal power down to a safe level.
Now, I have no doubts that these Faraday cages, if designed properly, will competently block Wi-Fi signals. After all, that’s what a Faraday cage is supposed to do, but Wi-Fi signals are not known to be harmful at all.
To be clear, Wi-Fi routers work in the same way all as all other forms of wireless technology including FM radio, cellular (4G and 5G), Bluetooth, and heck, even your good old TV and air-conditioner remote controls.
It is based on transmitting and receiving signals using some part of the electromagnetic spectrum. And the part of the spectrum that is used for this is harmless. It’s a form of non-ionising radiation which means it doesn’t have enough energy to move any electrons or degrade cells.
When you are thinking about harmful radiation, you are probably thinking about stuff like UV rays and X-rays, and yes, these are harmful but they are also on a completely different spectrum.
Wi-Fi typically operates in the 2.4GHz to 5GHz range while X-rays are in the region of 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz. If that sounds like a lot that’s because it is, 30 petahertz is 30,000,000 GHz. In other words, you are more likely to get zapped from standing in the sun than from sitting next to a router.
What’s amusing, however, are some of the reviews that complain about their Internet not working after placing their routers in the cage. Why they would complain is beyond me because it seems to me that the product is working exactly as it was intended – that’s exactly what happens when you put your router in a Faraday cage, people.
Also hilarious are the Faraday cages that I come across which appear to be nothing more than shoddily made mesh containers. Just take a look at the one above. And they are charging US$68.89 for it! Now, compared to the Faraday cages that actually work, this is an outright scam.
At any rate, the important takeaway is this: please don’t put your router in any sort of a cage if you expect it to work.
If for whatever reason you are still sceptical about the harmfulness of Wi-Fi, then please resort to good old wired Ethernet. Whatever you do, don’t put your router in any sort of box and expect it to still work. These boxes cannot filter out the “harmful” effects of radiation and still carry data to your devices. Wi-Fi doesn’t work that way.
Source: The Verge