An ever more popular technology used to wirelessly connect computers to networks is now the in-thing in homes, offices and public places around the world. This liberating new technology is Wi-fi (wireless fidelity), or “wireless”, as it is sometimes called.
The Good
Most people are familiar with wired networks where physical wires are run under the street or across street poles, through building structures, and from the wall to your PC. But with Wi-fi, you can connect computers anywhere in your home or office without the need for wires.
Wi-fi allows you to connect to the net at broadband speeds without cables, as long as you have the right equipment and, in most cases, a regular Internet service provider and a Wi-fi account.
The computers connect to the network using radio signals, and computers can be from 100 feet to 10 miles depending on the equipment configuration.
Besides simplicity, Wi-fi also allows you to use your computer, PDA (personal digital assistants – handheld computers), or other device to connect to the Internet from just about anywhere: while you lie in bed at home, sit at a restaurant, in a hotel room while you are on a business trip or on vacation, or any other Wi-fi “hotspots” throughout the world.
This is accomplished by using a technology very similar to the technology used in cordless phones. The Wi-fi products (such as your laptop or PDA) connect to the Wi-fi networks by sending and receiving data anywhere within range of the Wi-fi networks.
Devices, called Wi-fi access points, act as the centre of a particular Wi-fi network and depending on what type of Wi-fi antennae is being used to transmit the signal, the Wi-fi range in a typical indoor environment is about 100 feet although that can extend to 500 feet or more if there is little interference in the way of walls and other 2.4Ghz interference.
With Wi-fi, you can work on your laptop or check e-mail from anywhere in your home; you can connect to your office network from an airport or coffee shop; you can retrieve files or presentations from the corporate network and cruise the Internet or send instant messages to co-workers- all from a conference room or the company cafeteria.
How convenient! Yes, indeed, Wi-fi networking is said to be one of the most liberating technologies to have come out of the hi-tech revolution. But that’s just the good part.
The Bad
In recent years, much anxiety has surfaced over Wi-fi. In Britain, where millions of subscribers and entire cities have gone Wi-fi, the groundswell of concern is mounting – and for good reason. Wi-fi systems essentially take small versions of mobile phone masts into buildings, emitting the same kind of electromagnetic radiation.
Mobile phone masts or stations are associated with a number of health symptoms: headaches, fatigue, sleep disorders, memory impairments – collectively known as microwave sickness syndrome, or electro-hypersensitivity.
Microwaves at current exposure levels are linked to brain damage, brain tumors, cancers, microwave sickness, impairment of cognitive functions, impairment of reproduction and fertility, affecting not only humans, but also rodents, birds and bees.
Some symptoms reported by sensitive individuals include loss of concentration, headaches, fatigue, and memory and behavioral problems.
Some experts believe children are more vulnerable to the radiation because of their thinner skulls and the fact that their brains and nervous systems are still developing.
It is feared that Wi-fi, like mobile phone technology, may also be storing disease catastrophe for the future.
What is alarming is that not enough research has been done over long enough periods on the effects of various levels of exposure on different populations to draw any firm conclusions about the dangers of wireless networks.
There has been very little research on the effects of Wi-fi because it hasn’t been around long enough, so health experts look at technology that is similar – namely mobile phone and mobile phone base stations, which studies have proven emit radiation and cause adverse health effects – to give us the answers as to how concerned we should be about the effects of this technology.
As with mobile phones, we first embrace the liberating new technology and only later ask the awkward questions.
According to world renowned geneticist and biophysicist Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, evidence is emerging that the health hazards associated with wireless microwave are at least comparable to, if not worse than, those associated with cigarette smoking. Unlike cigarette smoking, passive involuntary exposure to microwaves, which produce electromagnetic radiation, is hard to avoid if Wi-fi becomes common everywhere.
The Ugly
Up to 2003, an estimated 30 million Wi-fi networks had been installed worldwide, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance, which certifies wireless products. Today, there are more than 250,000 public hotspots for Wi-fi worldwide (Science in Society, Issue 34, Summer 2007).
Wi-fi is now in millions of homes, corporations and university campuses worldwide. It’s in hotels, schools, airport departure lounges, and entire cities. “According to one estimate, Wi-fi use has increased 74% in the UK between the first and second half of 2006. Birmingham is to have Britain’s first city-wide wireless communication by early 2007, and Manchester is planning the largest European Wi-fi zone covering 400 square miles.” (Science in Society)
What will the current scenario bring? An American report has a disturbing hypothesis: “The wireless age is shortening our lives and endangering the planet.” (Idaho Observer, April 2006)
We shall all be submerged in a sea of microwaves and be exposed to its health risks, whether we choose to go wireless or not, the London Times recently warned. Utusan Konsumer
