Are household Wi-fi modems dangerous for our health?

[BrokenGirl]

I've wondered about this in the past but it's going through my mind a good bit lately. Are wi-fi modems that we use in our homes causing us any harm?
I'm starting to worry about it because the modem in our house is in my son's bedroom. He started using the room the modem is in as his bedroom over a year ago because it is a bigger room than his old bedroom. And he spends a lot of time in his bedroom, between sleeping and gaming.
Could it be doing him any harm, causing cancer or something else horrible, because he's spending so much time in the same room as the modem?

[AntsyVee]

What made you wonder about this? I will say this is a new anxiety that I've seen, and I've been on the forums for awhile now.

[BrokenGirl]

It's just been a passing thought lately in my head but I'm suddenly getting worried about it. I honestly don't know where it came from. It could have been something I heard or read some time ago, but I could be getting my facts mixed up with something else too.
I'm in such a spiral lately I don't know what is real and what is anxiety filled thoughts any more.

[Fishmanpa]

Wow BGirl... you're really having a tough time as of late :( Hope you feel better soon.

Positive thoughts

[ErinKC]

I've heard of this fear and it's even crossed my mind in years past during my worst anxiety flairs. There is definitely a movement of people who feel that wifi is harmful and even claim they are physically affected by it. We found an absolutely phenomenal bed and breakfast out in West Virginia that sits within the range of the Greenbank Observatory where they operate a massive radio telescope that blacks out cell phone and other internet service in the area to prevent interference. It's so amazing there because you can really escape from technology! They actually started catering to people who believe they get sick from wifi, so we've met a lot of these people. They are lovely... but... an odd bunch.

Here's what I'll say on the topic: Wifi is EVERYWHERE and we've been living with it for many, many years now. The sample population in a study on the effects of wifi exposure is practically the global population. So, in my non-scientific mind, I feel like at this point in time if there were truly harmful effects they would be incredibly obvious - huge spikes in cancer or other disease would be see - not just anecdotes.

[BrokenGirl]

Wow BGirl... you're really having a tough time as of late :( Hope you feel better soon.

Positive thoughts

Yeah, I'm having a fairly s**t time lately. I don't know what's causing it - losing my job, lockdown, who knows!!


And I don't even know what triggered off this latest worry. The thought just hit me out of nowhere last night, and now I can't shake it off.
It's just the fact that the modem is in his bedroom is what concerns me. I would think that modems, while they are in many houses nowadays, would normally not be in a bedroom. And the bedroom isn't that big either, the modem is probably 7 or 8 feet away from him most of the time.


Am I crazy thinking this? I don't even know what kind of rays or whatever would come out of a modem. Haven't a clue to be honest!
I mean I have a clock radio on my bedside locker. Is the modem worry as crazy as saying I'm worried about sleeping so close to the clock radio every night (which I'm not btw)?

[ErinKC]

Wifi is radio waves, which are not harmful to humans in the amounts transmitted by devices like modems and routers. I just did some reading on it. The only thing that radio waves have the potential to do is heat things - which is how microwaves work. But the amount coming from your modem is infinitesimal as compared to what goes on in a microwave oven. It's not enough to hurt us. Obviously, the further away you are from the source the lower the emission becomes near you, so you could always just move it to a different room or shut it off at night. But, one thing I read said that even being like 2 feet away means the effects are basically nil. Like I said before, this is something that no one knows EVERYTHING about, but also something that we've been living with for ages without any substantive evidence of damage.

This is the same worry people had over cell phones causing brain cancer because you're holding the phone right up to your head where it's emitting these same radio waves. We've had cell phones for a long time now and there is no evidence they are causing cancer. People in offices sit surrounded by wifi emitting devices for 8+ hours every day year after year after year. I really trust that we'd have found true evidence of harm if it was there.

[Pamplemousse]

I've wondered about this in the past but it's going through my mind a good bit lately. Are wi-fi modems that we use in our homes causing us any harm?

No.

[pav1984]

I would say wifi is dangerous because it makes googling symptoms etc so much easier. 😂

I've wondered about it in the past and there are a few websites that explain why it is safe.

[Pamplemousse]

I would say wifi is dangerous because it makes googling symptoms etc so much easier. 

Joking apart, it really is perfectly safe.

And in case anyone's wondering, don't confuse '5G' (as in Fifth Generation') with 5GHz, the frequency that some wi-fi routers use as the band is less congested than the 2.4GHz band most use. Some people use the '5G' term interchangeably, which is absolutely wrong and normally gets them the sharp edge of my tongue.