WiFi dangers?

[ExSp33db1rd]

WiFi Burglar Alarm query.

Unfortunately Mrs. ExS is a tree hugger, greeny, enviromentalist etc. etc. and as our old fashioned hard-wired burglar alarm activated yesterday for no apparent reason - fortunately we were at home, and not touching anything! - we are considering buying a wireless system that needs no crawling through roof spaces, in and out of walls etc. to install.

Apparently one just has a box, similar to a digital TV decoder, laying about in a suitable place and then places a few movement sensor/receivers around the premises, but Mrs. ExS is afraid of a cobweb of wireless waves constantly permeating through the house, which she fears will be hazardous to her health -like the public fear of mobile phone cell-towers and their radiation, and of course there is a fear of interaction with all our other gadgets, computer modems, cordless phones etc ?

I would expect to have the thing totally switched off when we are in residence, and only have the imagined cobweb of wireless waves thrashing about when we are absent, but does it have to be permanently transmitting in some sort of standby mode when we are at home ?

Any experience that can be passed on please?

Thanks.

P.s. Nobody bothered to come and check that we weren't being murdered anyway, so perhaps the whole concept is a waste of money, and really only a deterrent, after all I would have difficulty concentrating on my burglary activity if a 100 Db horn was blowing in my ear all the time !

[mixture]

ExSp33db1rd,

I don't use WiFi myself due to security concerns and the fact that nothing will ever beat a good CAT5e or CAT6 structured cabling installation.

However, I think certainly no harm can be done by minimising your exposure to close proximity radio signals (whether WiFi, mobile or anything else).

The problem with WiFi and its health effects, is that much like mobiles, they haven't really been widely deployed for that long in order to obtain scientifically valid statistical samples of occurrences of health issues. You'll probably see more and more scientific studies coming out in the next few years I'd guess.

On some of the better WiFi routers (and DECT phones), you can login and tweak the maximum signal strength to a lower value than 100%. So if you are going to install a unit, I'd recommend keeping an eye on specs and buying one that has that feature.

[tony draper]

I bought a wireless alarm hmmm must be over twenty years ago when they first appeared,it cost a arm and a leg,the batteries needed changing often and gradually bits fell off or failed, dont even bother putting the buggah on now, the hard wired one I installed at the same time next door is still going strong with the same contact breakers and sensors.
Sometimes crawling about in lofts and under floorboards is worth the effort,besides if you already have one installed nowt to stop you using the existing cabling runs,so might pay just to buy a new master panel and change the sensors, they all work basically the same.
:)

[mixture]

Oh dear... I speed-read ExSp33db1rd's original post a bit too quickly and assumed he was referring to WiFi for computers.

tony draper's thread forced me to re-read.

A wireless alarm ? Where the sensors talk back to the panel over wireless ? Stupidest idea in the world as far as I'm concerned. Wireless is easily subjected to tampering and interference, and so a wireless alarm system is probably about as much use as a pork chop in a kosher butcher.

[MacBoero]

I spent three hours a few nights ago in a neighbours house (The were on holiday!), on the phone to their security system provider, trying to work out how to disable a wireless sensor from the control panel. Why? Because the battery was failing, and the control unit thought the sensor was being tampered with!!

Get this... the system doesn't warn when the batteries are getting low!

[BOAC]

ExSp33 - ask your missus if she is worried about the cordless phone you no doubt have switched on 24/7 - probably more radiation there than in your 'planned' wifi system.

[Mr Optimistic]

Blimey I just changed the router firmware so I could adjust the wireless signal strength to its maximum (frowned upon) capability. Even so I wouldn't go wireless - after all its most likely a sensor fault. You already have installed wiring so all the hard work is done. Maybe a pir ?

[ExSp33db1rd]

You already have installed wiring so all the hard work is done.

'trouble is, it could be a wiring fault, last time it happened it was because a rat had gnawed through a cable and the system thought it was being tampered with to deliberately disable it -so off it went.

We no longer have a cat to deter alarm eating rodents - if that is your next suggestion ! ( the last house/cat sitter thought he heard small arms fire one night, and the cat never returned - he was a Los Ang. cop, so I guess he would have known about small arms fire ! - nice neighbours. )

Thanks for all the advice - back to computer-speak.

ExS.