Is Wi-Fi Dangerous?

Wi-Fi uses the electromagnetic spectrum - the same as Light, X-Rays, DAB Radio, Microwaves and Gamma Rays. Here is the spectrum:

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

The below diagram shows the wavelength for the Wi-Fi bands: 

Wi-Fi Spectrum and Wavelengths - thanks to @WLANPros

As you can see, Wi-Fi sits at the top end of the ‘Radio’ part of the spectrum. You’ll notice that everything harmful is well above the visible light part of the spectrum. You’ll also notice that UV light (which is much more harmful to us than visible light) is the other side of the spectrum.

With that said… Microwaves use the 2.4 GHz part of the spectrum (it notoriously interferes with Wi-Fi in the 2.4 GHz band), and that can, in fact, heat water. The only difference is the amount of energy. 

• Microwaves = 800W

• LED Lights = 5W

• Wi-Fi at -67 dBm (where we design for Wi-Fi cell edges) = 1.995262315e-10W or 0.0000000001995W

• Wi-Fi at -40 dBm (right next to the AP) = 1e-7W or 0.0000001W

So not only is Wi-Fi at the ‘safe’ end of the spectrum, but it’s also at a much much lower (safer) wattage.

It should be noted that APs use more than 0.0000001W of power (they’re basically computers running in a small box), but this is the amount of radiated power from the antenna at that RSSI.

Wi-Fi is less dangerous to us than the LED lights in the office. In fact, the LED light on the AP is the most dangerous part of the hardware.