Myth 1 – Wi-Fi stands for ‘Wireless Fidelity’
Myth 2 – Wi-Fi is Synonymous with ‘Wireless Internet’
Actually, Wi-Fi has nothing to do with the Internet –it is entirely possible to connect to the Internet without Wi-Fi and be connected to a Wi-Fi access point and not have an internet connection.Wi-Fi is a wireless networking technology. Most desktops and some laptops use Ethernet cables to connect to a switch in your Local Area Network. In large buildings, wireless access points are cabled to a switch. The switch is connected to a router, which connects two networks together –in most cases, your LAN and the Internet. Consumer-routers often combine the router, switch, and wireless access point into one unit. All Wi-Fi does is remove the need to run a cable between your device and the LAN switch. Whether that switch is connected to a router that is connected to the Internet is entirely unrelated.
Myth 3 – Wi-Fi is Fast, Secure, and Reliable
Not so fast –wired connections are much faster than wireless connections. And because your data is sent through the air rather than over cables, it’s also inherently insecure. And forget about reliability with wireless.
Myth 4 – Wi-Fi is People-Safe
While the industry would love for you to believe that, all wireless technologies (including cell phones, cordless phones, smart-meters, and Wi-Fi), emit pulsed electromagnetic radiation, a designated Class 2B carcinogen (by the World health Organization 2011). Because this radiation can cause DNA damage, behavioral problems, heart palpitations, difficulty concentrating, headaches, sleep disorders, infertility, cancer, and many other health implications, Wi-Fi (and all wireless technologies) should be especially avoided by children since their brains are still developing and the cumulative radiation from wireless devices could permanently impair or disable them
Myth 5 – WiFi Can Boost Your Internet Speed
If your internet speed is slow, WiFi cannot magically boost it. As new WiFi technology, such as WiFi 6, is released manufacturers of devices using WiFi in their marketing zeal will try to convince you to upgrade to the latest modem for increased speed. The marketing hype for WiFi 6 all rests on the “blazing fast speeds” of 5G. The truth is that no WiFi will ever enable your internet speed to be any faster than your ISP (Internet Service Provider) offers, however when you stop to think that your wired internet connection also offers you whatever the ISP’s top speed is and, what’s more, it offers it more safely biologically speaking, and more securely hacker-ly speaking.
Myth 6 – WiFi is Indispensable for Compatibility with 5G, and Connectivity with the Internet of Things
Actually wired internet connections, precisely because of their safety and security, are what is truly indispensable. 5G is about faster internet connections to handle more data, and Internet of Things (IoT) is about devices communication with each other. Neither literally depends on WiFi to function, but that is the direction that technology innovation is taking. The relentless push for more and more wireless connectivity, is being driven by consumer appetite and lack of consumer education. The bottomline is that consumers vote with their dollars, and if consumers stay with their wired devices, and only buy new devices that come with a wired option, then wired devices will firstly, not be phased out so quickly, and secondly, will require that safer alternatives be found. Here are two cases in point: devices like iPads once offered wired connection but no longer do because uninformed consumers, opting for the mobility of take-anywhere devices, did not vote with their dollars to keep the wired option. In other cases, other devices, like the baby monitors, new innovation spurred by informed parents, has ratcheted back from bay monitors that are totally WiFi wireless 24/7, to voice-activated-only wireless that only operates when voice commanded, which dramatically reduces baby’s radio frequency exposure level from this device. Furthermore, in Europe, wired baby monitors were re-introduced to the market, directly as a result of informed consumer demand, after only selling monitors with WiFi 24/7 for a period of time.
Myth 7 – Router, Modem and WiFi are all the Same Thing
These are all different. Knowing your terms and how to correctly use them can help you to make safer choices in reducing your WiFi exposure.
Myth 8 – I Pay for WiFi Service for my Home
This is a big surprise to many people who pay monthly for WiFi service through their Internet Service Provider, who can be a phone, cable, satellite or local WiFi company. Providers that offer modems included with their internet service, for example, Comcast Cable in the USA, which offers Xfinity WiFi service and provides customers with an Xfinity Modem (WiFi box) in order to deliver wireless connectivity service to customers along with Internet access, is designed so that your modem also provides a WiFi Hotspot to the neighboring area around your home. In an effort to make their WiFi connectivity seamless they use customers modems to provide wireless service to passersby. Additionally many modems signal-share with other modems in neighboring areas in order to ….
Myth 9 – If I Shut Off my Modem’s WiFi Capability then it is not Active
Your Modem can communicate without your knowledge, and it can turn back on your WiFi capability, which is its default setting. For example, if you are ‘renting’ a modem from an Internet Service Provider, in other words if it is part of your ISP package, the internet provider can, and frequently does, reboot your modem remotely, such as when the company makes system upgrades to its service.
Myth 10 – If I Disable WiFi in any Wireless Device then WiFi is not Operational
Disturbingly this is not true. WiFi enabled devices, such as WiFi enabled TVs, Gaming devices, and many other wireless devices may say that WiFi can be disabled, and even offer user option-screens that allow you to uncheck WiFi. However these devices, increasingly so as we move into the era of the Internet of Things where our devices communicate among themselves, are hard-wired to continually seek WiFi signals in their environment, even if you are not using the WiFi feature for your needs.
Myth 11 – My Cellphone Needs WiFi to Operate, so I Should not Disable It
Actually, your cellphone connectivity to the internet via celltowers is a completely different process than its connectivity to the internet using WiFi. The first generations generations of cellphones did not have WiFi, and users were connecting to the internet via cell signals to the towers. Today cellphones use both, exposing users to more radio/microwave exposure (additional radio frequencies) and more power (higher radio/microwave field strengths) and more coverage (higher levels of exposure). Disabling your wireless function (WiFi, Bluetooth etc) will reduce your risk in all these various ways. However, since cellphones are wireless themselves, to really reduce your exposure levels from radio/microwaves, you are well advised to put your cellphone in Airplane Mode when not in use.
Myth 12 – WiFi is no Worse than Radio Frequencies that Exist naturally in the Universe.
Man-made digitally pulsed radiation makes WiFi very different from the radio frequencies that humans have evolved with for eons. Studies have show that this type of digital signal is disruptive to our inherent electrical biological systems. One of the most alarming differences is its impact on the developing reproductive systems of our young people. Dr Olle Johannsen (Swedish Scientist/Professor), drawing conclusions from his studies on the effect of WiFi on mice, has been very vocal about his warnings that WiFi has the capability of making our human race sterile within five generations.
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