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The physics of where to put a WI-FI ROUTER: Scientist proves
that the centre of your home is best for signal strength
Jason Cole at Imperial College London simulated Wi-Fi router
locations
Through complex equations he proved the centre of a home was the
best place for optimum connection
He had been frustrated by blackspots in his flat when accessing the
internet
Walls, doors and corners were found to greatly decrease signal
strength
His simulation found there was no substitute for line-of-sight to
the router
While he has not tried the simulation in the real world yet, he
tells MailOnline some people have suggested ‘taping an antenna to a
robot vacuum cleaner’
Deciding where to place a Wi-Fi router at home to minimise
signal blackspots is a fine art.
But a physicist has attempted to tackle the problem by
mathematically working out the optimum position for a router.
He studied how walls and reflections affected signal strength
and concluded that, as common sense might suggest, there’s just no
beating the centre of a house for router location.
Jason Cole at Imperial College London simulated Wi-Fi router
locations (shown above in the diagram of Mr Cole’s flat). He found
that the best location, as common sense might suggest, was in the
centre of a home. He had grown frustrated after finding blackspots
in his flat
The ‘complex’ research was carried out by Jason Cole, a PhD
physics student at the John Adams Institute at Imperial College
London.
ARE WI-FI SIGNALS DANGEROUS?
Wi-Fi signals use very low intensity radio waves. Whilst similar in
wavelength to domestic microwave radiation, the intensity of Wi-Fi
radiation is 100,000 times less than that of a domestic microwave
oven.
The type of radiation emitted by radio waves (Wi-Fi), visible
light, microwaves and mobile phones has been shown to raise the
temperature of tissue at very high levels of exposure – but that’s
much higher than what people are subjected to on a regular
basis.
This is called a thermal interaction, but researchers are
divided as to whether the radiation we receive daily can cause
damage.
The UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) has been monitoring the
safety of Wi-Fi. It says people using Wi-Fi, or those in the
proximity, are exposed to the radio signals it emits – and some of
the transmitted energy in the signals is absorbed in their
bodies.
However, the signals are very low power. Sitting in a Wi-Fi
hotspot for a year results in receiving the same dose of radio
waves as making a 20 minute mobile phone call.
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