topic Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight in Broadband

Turning off wi-fi overnight

pcade — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 10:57:11 GMT

I was hoping you could advise on how we can turn the internet from our PlusNet router off at night, or block it from transmitting, without it causing issues needing to be reset in the morning (when we have done this we have had the dreaded 'connected with no-internet' requiring rests)? The reason being that we understand in countries such as France they advise doing this with small children in the house due to electro magnetic waves.

thanks!

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

jab1 — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 11:47:48 GMT

If you must do this: log in to the hub Advanced settings/Advanced Wireless page and change the 'Disable all wireless' field to Yes and save.

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

Townman — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 11:51:28 GMT

The Hub Two does not have timed controls for Wi-Fi operation - either it is on or it is off.

If you really are concerned about France's conclusively inconclusive directives, you really should be switching Wi-Fi off entirely, along with your cell phone and stop using your microwave in the presence of under 11s.

I would argue if there is a risk, then the risk is less at night when minors are safely tucked up in bed further away from YOUR Wi-Fi though they'd probably be nearer some else's Wi-Fi ... which is not going to get switched off.

Have a read of this ... Is Wi-Fi Dangerous for My Kids | SafeHome.org

"Considering how ubiquitous Wi-Fi is and how many Wi-Fi-enabled products there are on the shelves, Wi-Fi can’t really be dangerous, can it? I mean, they must have tested it.

Actually, there are studies on the effects of Wi-Fi on humans, but the results are conclusively inconclusive."

If one really wants to stop waves of various types entering the head, tin foil hats are thought to be beneficial by some.

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

jab1 — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 12:00:23 GMT

@Townman A brilliant response,en if it won't suit the 'tin-foil hat' brigade.🤣

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

jab1 — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 12:21:28 GMT

@pcade Considering the information in Townman's link, unless the router is in bed with your youngster, I fail to see any discernable risk.

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

corringham — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 15:58:41 GMT

Absolutely! Unless they are using the router as a pillow, there is no plausible way that the EM energy from wifi could have any effect, let alone a detrimental one.

Electromagnetism is very well understood by physicists - the only effect the frequencies used could have is heating (like a microwave oven). However, the power transmitted by wifi is too low to have any measurable effect - and decreases rapidly with distance. (At very very high frequencies (many orders of magnitude above wifi frequencies) - i.e. gamma rays - there can be enough energy to ionise molecules, which can be damaging, but that's not relevant here).

Unfortunately, electromagnetism isn't as well understood by journalists - who tend to think all "radiation" is harmful, and enjoy a sensational headline.

The "gaps in knowledge about biological effects" mentioned in the referenced article don't relate to humans, and mainly relate to the possibility(!) of a EM field affecting the rotation of charged molecules, and whether or not that might be good or bad. It isn't a problem in a living animal.

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Full quote of preceding post removed as per Forum rules.

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

Bertie1000 — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 15:23:51 GMT

Interested to know your thoughts about this scientific journal article - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7642138/ which does put forward the scientific plausibility of harm

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

jab1 — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 15:34:21 GMT

which does put forward the scientific ~~plausibility~~ possibility of harm.

As many, many of the devices mentioned in that 'study' have been around for generations, and no-one has produced any conclusive proof...

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

corringham — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 15:57:11 GMT

@Bertie1000 wrote:
Interested to know your thoughts about this scientific journal article - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7642138/ which does put forward the scientific plausibility of harm

Like a lot of articles on the subject, this doesn't report on any original research, it just takes excerpts from other selected papers.

A big problem with current academic papers (in most subjects) is that academics and researchers are expected to publish a lot of papers - quantity counts more than quality - so that you do tend to get a lot of regurgitated opinions rather than actual evidence.

There is also a tendency for cultural biases to colour views when there is no hard evidence - e.g. a lot of asian cultures embrace the feng shui concept of mystic energy forces. This general idea can creep into academic conclusions. In other cultures other biases may come in to play.

The paper https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9287836/ chooses a different set of source papers and has slightly different conclusions - and has what I think is a good statement "a person who spends hours a day glued to a smartphone or tablet may well experience all sorts of neurocognitive effects – from the use of the technology, not from RF exposure."

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

Townman — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 16:04:15 GMT

@corringham wrote:

... has slightly different conclusions - and has what I think is a good statement "a person who spends hours a day glued to a smartphone or tablet may well experience all sorts of neurocognitive effects – from the use of the technology, not from RF exposure."

And that in a nutshell is the really challenging worry - being glued to technology, connecting to others only over the internet (Wi-Fi) rather than engaging in immediate person-to-person interaction - is not going to develop good physiological wellbeing.

That would be a very positive reason to switch off Wi-Fi during the daytime and only switch it on when the kids are asleep.

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

mwwagain — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 18:42:13 GMT

@corringham wrote:

Absolutely! Unless they are using the router as a pillow, there is no plausible way that the EM energy from wifi could have any effect, let alone a detrimental one.

More likely to be harmful is their devices (quite likely under their pillows) desperately trying to connect to the wifi router or mobile phone tower all night.

A very small probability across a very large number of people will manifest itself in a few. You might just be unlucky.

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

spile — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 06:29:01 GMT

@Townman wrote:

@corringham wrote:

... has slightly different conclusions - and has what I think is a good statement "a person who spends hours a day glued to a smartphone or tablet may well experience all sorts of neurocognitive effects – from the use of the technology, not from RF exposure."

And that in a nutshell is the really challenging worry - being glued to technology, connecting to others only over the internet (Wi-Fi) rather than engaging in immediate person-to-person interaction - is not going to develop good physiological wellbeing.

That would be a very positive reason to switch off Wi-Fi during the daytime and only switch it on when the kids are asleep.

I disagree. A far better strategy would be education and dialogue with the young people. Attempting to control access is a fools errand that is bound to end up in frustration for parents and children.

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

Bertie1000 — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 08:18:08 GMT

Thanks for your thoughts - useful. Have a lovely day

Re: Turning off wi-fi overnight

Baldrick1 — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 09:53:08 GMT

Moderator's note:
Duplicate post removed.