I can feel pins and needles when my Wifi is on

These days Wifi is everywhere. From my house I can pick up many of my neighbours signals.

Personally I have a wireless modem router but I don't use the wireless signal on it at all. The reason is that sometimes when it used to be on, I could feel a sensation on my skin closest to where the signal was (around a meter from me under my desk) , rather like mild pins and needles (paraesthesia) but only on the surface of my skin.

I know that may sound strange, but It wasn't only from Wifi. I had a USB bluetooth dongle and would get the same sensation from that sometimes.

For a while I wondered to myself whether I was feeling this sensation because of some kind of subconscious distrust of these signals.

A few months ago a neighbour of mine asked me to fix his laptop (just install some stuff in windows). His laptop was connected to his wireless internet connection. He lives two doors away. As I was working on the laptop with it on my lap, I thought I had switched the wireless signal off, as it was still receiving instant message updates. But after feeling the same sensation, I checked and realised it was still on, so disabled it.

Now wireless routers are becoming more and more powerful, I just wonder how safe these devices are, especially for the growing brains of young children. Some organisations seem a little concerned too.

I also wonder if anyone else has felt the same thing I have felt being close to a wifi signal.

I've heard this from a lot of people. I guess some are more sensitive to it than others. I think there was a court case recently where someone was trying to stop a neighbour from using their WiFi because it was making them ill.

IRM

It seems that scientists as usual cant agree on the health effects of wifi, in theory its safe because the levels of radiation are so low, of course that wont stop people from worrying about it. I think more research is needed.
news.bbc.co.uk...
www.digitaltrends.com...
I have felt like i could "feel" wifi and bluetooth before but its more likely i imagined it and manifested it myself.

reply to post by FamiliarBoyOfGoodFortune


Did you also feel radio waves in general in the last 50 years? Do you have any clue how many times you have passed a radio transmitter without knowing it.

The only way to test this is to take your wifi, hook it up and then have a friend turn it on and off without your knowledge and see if you feel it or not. I believe this is nothing more than psychosomatic in many people and this test would easily prove it.

So yeah try it. Ask a friend to remotely turn the wireless off and on, at random intervals while you sit at your desk. It could be an interesting experiment. Of course the best way would be a double blind trial where one group is told it will be switched on and off and the other group are told the same but it's always off

I have a modified 802.11g wireless router in my bedroom which has a higher than normal transmit power configuration so that I can access the wireless on my back deck and I haven't noticed a single thing with it. To put things in perspective the conventional wireless access point (for this example I'll use data on the Linksys WRT54G) is 18 dBm or 63.095734448 mW (milliwatts) however mine transmits at 100 mW because of the afore mentioned modifications. Considering lots of RF sources push over a full Watt of power I find it unlikely that the wifi is actually causing the pins and needles, I would look to other sources first.

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984
reply to post by FamiliarBoyOfGoodFortune

 

Did you also feel radio waves in general in the last 50 years? Do you have any clue how many times you have passed a radio transmitter without knowing it.

The only way to test this is to take your wifi, hook it up and then have a friend turn it on and off without your knowledge and see if you feel it or not. I believe this is nothing more than psychosomatic in many people and this test would easily prove it.

So yeah try it. Ask a friend to remotely turn the wireless off and on, at random intervals while you sit at your desk. It could be an interesting experiment. Of course the best way would be a double blind trial where one group is told it will be switched on and off and the other group are told the same but it's always off

Radio waves...come on now. I have a DECT phone and don't have any issues with it or anything else, although I am careful about using my cell phone for long periods of time these days, though I remember spending 4 hours on an international call on my old Motorola StarTac when I was younger.

And of course it's possible it could be psychosomatic. I guess the feeling was more one of annoyance rather than just something I was aware of. I always put it down to being in close proximity to the wireless router. I guess I will get someone to test it and see what happens.

Originally posted by Helig
I have a modified 802.11g wireless router in my bedroom which has a higher than normal transmit power configuration so that I can access the wireless on my back deck and I haven't noticed a single thing with it. To put things in perspective the conventional wireless access point (for this example I'll use data on the Linksys WRT54G) is 18 dBm or 63.095734448 mW (milliwatts) however mine transmits at 100 mW because of the afore mentioned modifications. Considering lots of RF sources push over a full Watt of power I find it unlikely that the wifi is actually causing the pins and needles, I would look to other sources first.

My 3Com Office connect Is quite old now in technology terms. I would only feel the pins and needles when I turned the wifi on from the admin web page, and as soon as I turned it back off I wouldn't feel it, nor would I feel the same sensation at any other time. I will test it again and see anyhow.

Originally posted by FamiliarBoyOfGoodFortune
Radio waves...come on now. I have a DECT phone and don't have any issues with it or anything else, although I am careful about using my cell phone for long periods of time these days, though I remember spending 4 hours on an international call on my old Motorola StarTac when I was younger.

And of course it's possible it could be psychosomatic. I guess the feeling was more one of annoyance rather than just something I was aware of. I always put it down to being in close proximity to the wireless router. I guess I will get someone to test it and see what happens.

Careful with your cell phone because? Sorry but mobile phones have not been linked to anything, it's all psychosomatic and the fact you believe it may be an issue suggests this is itself the underlyin cause of your problem. Lets be clear on this, if you can prove you can feel these waves you will be able to publish that in a journal because it would be big news. That is if you can prove it in a double blind trial.

Originally posted by FamiliarBoyOfGoodFortune
My 3Com Office connect Is quite old now in technology terms. I would only feel the pins and needles when I turned the wifi on from the admin web page, and as soon as I turned it back off I wouldn't feel it, nor would I feel the same sensation at any other time. I will test it again and see anyhow.

Testing it yourself is pointless because it won't mitigate the placebo effect. You would need a friend to switch it on and off say 50 times, at random intervals and each time you feel something shout out and have your friend note it down. If you shout out when it isn't on then it pretty much proves it's all in your head.

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984
[more I can tell you 100% that the fields created by these devices cause me to have a headache; to be specific; my cell phone; there is a study conducted by a person; whom the telecommunications companies gave a large sum of money to conduct test; he found indeed the signals are not a good thing; in fact I will try to find some links; so yes ; it has been studied; just not mainstream knowedge; oh can I imagine reality like 1984? The book I mean........another thread...

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984
The only way to test this is to take your wifi, hook it up and then have a friend turn it on and off without your knowledge and see if you feel it or not. I believe this is nothing more than psychosomatic in many people and this test would easily prove it.

After I read the OP that's exactly the test I was going to suggest.

But then I see you beat me to it, so all I can do is comment that this is a sound approach!

I can't feel anything with my cell phone but in some anecdotal cases, people that use the cell phone a lot have gotten tumors in their head near where the cell phone antenna is.

www.ehso.com...

May 17, 2010 - According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (funded in part by WHO, the World Health Organization) using a cell phone for as little as 30 minutes may increase your risk of getting a brain tumor (glioma). The study is reported to have included 13,000 participants over 10 years. But we have not seen the details of this study. As soon as we find a source, we'll publish a link to it.

Anecdotes don't prove anything but it may just take more time to establish patterns, look how long it took to finally prove the link between smoking and lung cancer, that took decades. My thought is if I get a tumor anywhere, my head is the last place I want to get it since operating inside the skull is tricky and dangerous. So just to lower that possible risk (if there is one) I use a headset to keep the antenna away from my head, and attach the phone to my belt.

I had read that wifi screws up the eggs of women. I don't have a source. Instead I started looking around certain dating sites, such as cajun singles or anywhere else women were unlikely to be subjected/exposed to the weapon.

Stay away from breeding if you have one of these.

Originally posted by FamiliarBoyOfGoodFortune
although I am careful about using my cell phone for long periods of time these days, .

Although my comment is a little off-topic it still feels apropos.

I absolutely positively feel a tingle sensation in my head from my cell phone. I feel it mostly near my temple on the side where I am holding the phoneto my ear. I only noticed this a few months ago. It's quite alarming and hard to ignore.

To the skeptics:
Read up on the Inverse square law.

60 milliWatts sounds like a small amount of power, but when it's right up against your skin it's like shining a flashlight one inch from your eye.

It's all about one metric: Watts/Meter Squared exposure on the skin, so at less than an inch distance it's a hell of a lot of power.

Originally posted by ATS4dummies
To the skeptics:
Read up on the Inverse square law.

60 milliWatts sounds like a small amount of power, but when it's right up against your skin it's like shining a flashlight one inch from your eye.

It's all about one metric: Watts/Meter Squared exposure on the skin, so at less than an inch distance it's a hell of a lot of power.

edit on 3-10-2010 by ATS4dummies because: (no reason given)

The inverse square law doesn't matter here because every single day you are exposed to higher levels than 60 milliwatts. When certain electrical appliances start up the initial burst of electricity can produce electromatnetic waves. However it's all down to ionising vs non-ionising radiation. At 60 mW radio will not cause ionisation, it won't damage DNA and generally speaking there is just not much evidence for any of this scare mongering about radio and/or microwaves at the levels used in most devices.

I agree with IR1984. Do a blind test. Document your results. What better way to prove your point (if only to yourself)?

I have never noticed anything like this, but I think it's possible.

Tinnitus may be another side effect from RF pollution.

I have had the ringing-hiss in my ears since the year 2000.