Timeline for answer to Why does my microwave kill the Wi-Fi? by Bob
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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30 events
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| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:46 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
replaced http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/ with https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/
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| Jan 13, 2016 at 18:42 | comment | added | qasdfdsaq | Just FYI, @JamieHanrahan is completely wrong, and should read the earlier comments. Water's absorption peak is in the millions of gigahertz. WiFi works just fine for long distances, people have set up 2.4Ghz networks spanning over 100km+ over rainforests, and it has nothing to do with water. Real problems start at about 60Ghz. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_absorption_by_water | |
| Jan 13, 2016 at 18:35 | history | edited | qasdfdsaq | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Moar bettah.
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| Jul 24, 2015 at 6:00 | comment | added | Jamie Hanrahan | Just FYI, the fact that water absorbs RF around 2.4 GHz is exactly why that band is open for unlicensed use, and is ideal for short-range things like WiFi and BlueTooth. The people who put microwave dishes on towers don't want to use 2.4 GHz, because absorption by water vapor in the air makes it fairly useless for long-distance comms. For WiFi, the fact that it doesn't go long distances conveniently allows the same few channels to be reused over and over. The long-distance WiFi contests that are done around DefCon? They're done out in the Nevada desert in August, so the air is very dry. | |
| Sep 17, 2013 at 9:34 | audit | First posts | |||
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| Sep 17, 2013 at 5:42 | history | edited | Bob | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
since a link to a FCC page was edited in, may as well make it fit a little better
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| S Sep 17, 2013 at 1:15 | history | suggested | CommunityBot | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
link add to FCC site about why radiation (ionising or non-) can be harmful
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| Sep 17, 2013 at 0:51 | review | Suggested edits | |||
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| Sep 4, 2013 at 14:33 | audit | First posts | |||
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| Sep 3, 2013 at 22:24 | review | Suggested edits | |||
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| Sep 3, 2013 at 21:03 | comment | added | Isaac Rabinovitch | Great answer, except that I'm skeptical that wifi interference is a sign of damage. If that's true, then most ovens are damaged. | |
| Sep 1, 2013 at 1:31 | comment | added | user539484 | It cannot not cause a cancer but can easily make you bald. A typical antennae array sign | |
| Aug 30, 2013 at 14:38 | history | edited | Bob | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
due to comments, made point about 5ghz support a bit clearer
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| Aug 30, 2013 at 14:10 | comment | added | David Murdoch | Heads up: many devices aren't compatible with 5GHz (my laptop, phone, and Wii are not). You will still need a router that also transmits in the 2.4GHz range (which, unfortunately, requires two SSIDs). | |
| Aug 29, 2013 at 21:28 | history | edited | BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 28, 2013 at 21:50 | comment | added | user249404 | Related post on Apple: Why does the wireless disconnect when cooking | |
| Aug 28, 2013 at 18:52 | comment | added | crasic | The radiaton interference is unlikely from the coherent standing wave microwaves in the oven getting out but the imperfect magnetron making the whole case act as a microwave antenna with low coherence (will cause noise but can't heat anything) | |
| Aug 28, 2013 at 16:59 | comment | added | KeithS | Actually Bob, you can be forgiven. In fact, the Mythbusters themselves perpetuated that myth in their episode about C4 in the microwave; they described the frequencies produced by a microwave as being more likely to be absorbed by what you're cooking (typically containing water, fats etc) than what you're cooking it in (glass, ceramics, plastics, etc). The problem with that statement is that a lot of these materials are chemically similar (e.g. fats are long-chain hydrocarbon esters; so are many polymers). It's more about how deeply they penetrate as @PhilCalvin said. | |
| Aug 28, 2013 at 15:21 | history | edited | Bob | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 28, 2013 at 14:42 | comment | added | Daniel Koverman | Beside the point, but the frequency of microwave ovens isn't tuned to be good at "vibrating water". It is tuned so the penetration depth of the microwaves through food (mostly water) is a couple of centimeters. This way most of energy of the microwave doesn't pass through the food, but isn't all absorbed by the outer layer either. A higher frequency would mean warmer edges but a cooler center. A lower frequency would create a more even heat, but much of the microwave energy would pass through the food so it would take a long time to heat up. | |
| Aug 28, 2013 at 14:37 | comment | added | Phil Calvin | This is tangential to the question, but the resonant frequency of water molecules is not in or near the ISM band where microwaves operate. (See physics.stackexchange.com/questions/71834/…). This is a common myth we've got to snuff out! | |
| Aug 28, 2013 at 9:51 | comment | added | Josh | One thing to point out about upgrading the wireless AP to 5GHz model.... This obviously won't work if any of your wifi equipment does not have a dual band (2.4/5GHz) radio. They won't be able to communicate. If you get a dual band AP (2.4/5), and some of your devices are not 5GHz, then obviously this won't help, either. | |
| Aug 28, 2013 at 9:16 | comment | added | Ohlin | Thanks for the illustration with the channels. When I set channel to auto and it works it's probably because the router finds a channel without the interference from the micro. | |
| Aug 28, 2013 at 8:35 | history | edited | Bob | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 28, 2013 at 8:33 | vote | accept | Ohlin | ||
| Aug 28, 2013 at 8:23 | history | edited | Bob | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 28, 2013 at 8:16 | history | edited | Bob | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 28, 2013 at 8:09 | history | answered | Bob | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
