Health concerns over Clearwire, help needed please

ross2006

Am thinking of getting Clearwire but unsure over how safe the technology is

The Clearwire wireless modem uses similar technology to mobile phones, so isn't it a bit dangerous to have something like that on all day beside you? I certainly wouldn't be happy with a mobile phone on (ie during a call) beside me all day, I know the modem will be about a foot away from me when using the PC but are there any health issues here - has this been investigated on any websites

I suppose the issues here are the waves, and how powerful they are - anyone know about this?

any help is greatly appreciated

Sponge Bob

same as a mobile phone no worse .

ross2006

if its the same as a mobile phone it can't be safe to that modem on beside you all day surely?

28064212

I believe it poses a lower health risk, but because it's on all the time, it works out at a similar level. Of course there's no proof that mobiles are dangerous, so it's a somewhat pointless question

Serbian

ross2006 wrote:

if its the same as a mobile phone it can't be safe to that modem on beside you all day surely?

There are no proven health risks for using Mobile Phones. Plus, whether you use ClearWire or not, the signal is going to be passing through you anyway.

Blaster99

You may find that the closer you are to the signal source, the worse the impact is likely to be. This is why holding a mobile phone to your ear is magnitudes worse than using a handsfree setup.

I don't know what the health impact of Clearwire is. If you're worried about this stuff, use ADSL instead. Seeing as ADSL is superior in most every other way too, it's the way to go.

ross2006

I'm surprised you don't think mobile phones are a possible health risk, unproven so far but surely a strong possibility that this will be proven some day.

And haven't there been government guidelines in the UK against kids using them too much precisely for this reason?

would you be happy to have a mobile up against your ear all day?

Serbian - the waves may be everywhere but surely they will be much stronger if there is a clearwire modem right beside me

ross2006

Blaster I can't get that where I live unfortunately

Sponge Bob

clearwire units are not in your pocket or else against your ear like mobile phones .

they can be 10m away from the pc .

ross2006

Sponge Bob - that is interesting, presumably you can get an extension lead for the modem/receiver so it is 10m from the PC?

would definitley prefer to have it in another room

Sponge Bob

10m network cables are easy to find ....the lead between your pc and clearwire is a short bog standard network cable .

ross2006

that may be the way to go

Esel

Or you could shield it with a piece of roofing lead? Don't think tinfoil would be sufficient. Another option would be to make a Faraday Cage for it - use chicken wire for this. Should stop most radiation?

Ludo

Sheesh...physical health concerns should be the least of your problems if u get Clearwire...mental health should be much more of a worry for you.

And by the way, connect the modem to a wireless router and then you can put the thing in the attic or something.

antodeco

What you have to remember is that Clearwire uses burts of information, as oppose to a constant stream. Also, it is only sending/receiving one way, so if the box is facing out of the house, the signal is only going the one way.

Im sure it would be the same as standing beside a radio, or several. In fairness, if health concers do actually exist, everyones elses phone and similar technology devices are going to cause damage anyway!

DingDong

You could alway wear would of these when using the internet http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

oscarBravo

Calibos

OscarBravo, I premume you were linking to the latest radio radiation protection device such as this........



Great minds think alike.

Oh and thats not a pic of me btw

Boggle

Don't think you'll have any problems. According to my old EMC lecturer there is as much radiation holding a phone at 1cm from your ear as standing one metre away from a telecoms mast. This is due to the exponential decay of the radiation... given that your wireless modem will only emit (at most) the same radiation as your phone (most likely much less) the foot (infact a few inches) distance should see sufficient energy dissipated to alleviate any health concerns.


(Excuse the crap phrasing - been a while since the lecture and I'm about to leave work!!)

christophicus

esel wrote:

Or you could shield it with a piece of roofing lead? Don't think tinfoil would be sufficient. Another option would be to make a Faraday Cage for it - use chicken wire for this. Should stop most radiation?

If you successfully sheilded the modem then it would not recieve any signal and would be quite pointless.

Esel

christophicus wrote:

If you successfully sheilded the modem then it would not recieve any signal and would be quite pointless.

I meant for the OP to interpose a sheet of lead or chickenwire between the modem and himself, not between the modem and the outside. Maybe 'cage' was the wrong term to use. :rolleyes:

Now I am thinking that a tinfoil hat is the best way to go, as it will offer protection no matter where in the house you are. Mine is surprisingly comfortable.

antodeco

As with all electronice devies, in times of lightning strikes, it is advisable to switch them off, if not protected by power surge (in case of lightning hitting the house). Whislt the tin foil hat may be beneficial, it would be inadvisable to use outside in a thunderstorm.

Also, tinfoil hats have been given to ginger kids for years, but you know that they are still ginger underneath

bushy...

Not much point worrying about mobilephone masts etc when you have stuff with decent power outputs all over the place ..
Loop Head Loran-C transmits at average power 8kw - peak 250kw
Atlantic 252 transmits at 500kw continuous output.
RTE, Tullamore, transmits at 500kw continuous output.
BBC Radio 4 transmits at 400kw continuous output.
(from http://www.cil.ie/ )

DemonOfTheFall

I think the point is when it's that close to you the fact that the signal strength is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the transmitter is going to come into play quite a bit...

Still, I wouldn't worry about it. If you have it 10 metres away from you the signal goign thru your body will be 100 times weaker than if it was 1 metre away from you.

christophicus

I Havent actually lokked at this site but my mom is concerned about ration from different electronical devices and such and she told me that this site might be of some interest to you.

www.ratiationresearch.org

I hope this helps you.

Esel

christophicus wrote:

I Havent actually lokked at this site but my mom is concerned about ration from different electronical devices and such and she told me that this site might be of some interest to you.

www.ratiationresearch.org

I hope this helps you.

Think you mean www.radiationresearch.org ?

christophicus

Yeah i knew i would **** that up when i was typign it.I just got the thought into my head that i would **** it up and what do you know i did, and didnt even realise!!!

ross2006

thanks for the replies

interested in how clearwire send the info in bursts not continuous stream - does this mean it is sometimes slower than a constant stream, especially for uploading?