Recently upgraded my home WiFi from 50 mps download speed to 600 mps. Does this mean it is now sending out a stronger “signal wave” (or whatever it’s termed) than before?
Should one sit further away from it? (Due to what it might do to the brain or body)
Probably not- I’m guessing you probably went from 802.11g to 802.11n, which AFAIK, the speed difference is achieved through using multiple antennas simultaneously as opposed to the one of 802.11g.
And no, the radio frequency radiation given off by a wi-fi router is not ionizing radiation- it’s not energetic enough.
My WAGs are:
A non-standard 802.11 method of modulation (unlikely).
Compression (possible)
QoS (possible)
That 600 figure is lab based and requires a specific type of application, probably something like media streaming where a protocol like UDP or some other one with low-overhead one (likely).
First, it’s unlikely you actually got 600 Mbps wifi unless you also upgraded your ISP’s internet plan. Just upgrading your router gives you a higher maximum possible speed, but unless you’re doing something that actually uses that much speed (such as transferring large files between computers), you’re not going to hit that speed.
Second, 5 GHz is actually worse at penetrating many things, such as walls and floors, so you may be exposed to less radiation than before even though the speed is faster, depending on where and how you sit, what kind of clothes you’re wearing, what your desk is made of, etc. And less of it is likely to penetrate your skin.
Third, it’s not ionizing radiation, as bump said. https://www.relativelyinteresting.com/just-facts-radiation-cell-phones-wi-fi-cancer/ To be sure, non-ionizing radiation can still be dangerous, but fortunately, your body has a way of detecting it: it’s called “feeling hot”. If your wifi router is putting out a dangerous amount of non-ionizing radiation, you’ll feel it and go “ow”. Or maybe sit closer to it on a cold winter day. FYI, just living normally exposes you to plenty of ionizing radiation (the dangerous kind that’s far worse than the unmeasurable impacts of wifi). Some amount of DNA damage from a lifetime of radiation exposure is unavoidable, but we just call it “getting old”.
Fourth, even though it can’t be definitely ruled out as a possible carcinogen, that just means it falls into the same risk category as, say, sewing (textiles work), driving (gasoline exhaust), herbal teas (caffeic acid), wooden houses (carpentry and joinery), soymilk (carrageenan), etc. It’s the category that means “well, I guess we can’t rule it out because it’s hard to prove a negative, but there’s no evidence suggesting it’s actually dangerous.”
Do you smoke? Drink? Go out in the sun? Live near a city? Have unprotected sex with people who’ve had sex with others (and may be HPV carriers)? Live in houses built with glues, paints, basements, coatings, etc.? Eat processed meats? Barbecue? Use a fireplace? Those are all stronger, proven carcinogens. Modern life is cancerous.
What does WiFi do to the body? Nothing detectable.
What about to the brain? Well, it does seem like all this RF energy floating around the air is causing quite a few casualties. People are texting and driving into each other, shooting each other based on some angry rant they read online, waging wars against innocent countries, selling illegal drugs and guns, ordering junk food… it’s a terrible epidemic, to be sure, but not because of the radiation.