While it would take long-term studies with thousands of participants to fully understand any potential risks, the fact is that if low-power Radio Frequency (RF) devices do pose a health risk, Wireless LANs (WLANs) would be one of the lesser concerns. The list of wireless devices that emit microwave-level RF (defined as anything that operates above 1 GHz) is far too long to list here, but the following table identifies some common devices and potential power output:
|
Device |
Potential Power Output |
|
Microwave oven |
Up to 1,000 Watts (W) (although shielded, most leak some RF power) |
|
Mobile carrier infrastructure |
Up to 100 W from the base station, peak of 2 W on handset (average 200 milliwatts on handset (mW)) |
|
Wireless point-to-point |
Up to 4 W in unlicensed frequencies, more in some licensed frequencies |
|
Satellite infrastructure |
Typical satellite dish output 1-2 W, satellite phone maximum 2 W |
|
Wireless LAN infrastructure |
Maximum 1 W point-to-multipoint, most WLAN Access Points (APs) and client devices emit 25-30 mW and some go as high as 100-200 mW |
|
Cordless phones |
Peak of 250 mW, 10 mW average |
|
Bluetooth devices |
Class 2 (typical devices) emit 2.5 mW |
