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back to article Wireless devices to break one-billion barrier in 2011

This year, devices with embedded wireless local area networking (WLAN) capability will top one billion for the first time. By 2015, that number will double – and some people are terrified that their ubiquity will spark an electromagnetic apocalypse. These figures come from a study published on Friday by IHS iSuppli. According …

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  1. Naughtyhorse

    cases of "electromagnetic hypersensitivity" (EHS), with symptoms ranging from

    .. lawsuits to... well more lawsuits.

    this is california after all, run round with your head up your ass crying about radiation from japan and the effects of rf, but curiously not too worried about the entire state slipping into the pacific ocean.

    dullards

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  2. Tom Maddox Silver badge
    Coat

    Hot stock tip

    Invest in tinfoil-manufacturing companies.

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    1. sisk
      Reply Icon
      Joke

      Tinfoil hats

      Quick! Everyone put a home made antenna on your head to block the radio waves!

      Wait, who's dumb idea was this?

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    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Up

      Re: Hot stock tip

      Like this one: http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

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  3. frank ly

    PLN Solution?

    Why don't the power companies use Power Line Networking for their communications to the supply side of the meter at consumer premises (then a data link to internal monitoring equipment)? It can't require much data or bandwidth to read the entire set of customer premises for a local substation on a realistic schedule, so they could use custom made low data rate PLN modules.

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    1W cell phones?

    re: It should be noted that SmartMeters emit about one watt of RF, which is less than most cell phones. And, needless to say, few PG&E customers hold their utility meters upside their heads.

    Um, my cellphone's power is rated in milliwatts. If yours is rated in watts, you're cooking your brain.

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    1. Version 1.0 Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      3W cell phones

      I had one back in the 90's - big honking beast with a phone and base station/battery that weighed about 8lbs.

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    2. ChrisC Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      It does say *most* cell phones...

      ...which is correct - most phones are GSM, and GSM allows for up to 2W of transmitter power from a handset.

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    3. Aaron Em
      Reply Icon

      My cellphone's is too

      1550 milliwatts, to be more precise.

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  5. Version 1.0 Silver badge

    EHS mapping project

    Otherwise called http://www.wigle.net

    This is a great resource for anyone with EHS who's looking for a safe place to live ... hint, Africa's looking god but probably won't last - long term Antarctica's looking pretty good.

    Stay away from Chicago!

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  6. heyrick Silver badge

    EHS

    Knew a guy who claimed to be hyper sensitive. Put my mobile in a small shoebox and a equal weight lump of rock in another. He couldn't tell which was which until, hours later, I rang the box. The one he was holding, having picked up a "bad feeling" from the... er... rock. Which was basic sandy-texture field stone, not anything nifty like granite.

    Perhaps some people are sensitive to radio transmissions. It is quite possible, just as it is quite possible that the majority of such people are attention seekers or dull enough to believe that their "digestive disturbances" are due to stray RF instead of, say, diet and hygiene and quality of food...

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  7. Annihilator
    Thumb Down

    EHS

    Or, to give it the everyday term "hypochondria". Or "shut the f*^% up and behave yourselves"

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  8. Leeroy
    Pint

    More cat5 :)

    SO.......... when a client wishes to extent their wireless netowork or just improve their current one i will be fighting even more devices and AP's.

    Plugging in an of the shelf repeater is starting to have bad results and i am having to resort to dd-wrt routers with higher output to work around the issues. It will not be long until i can start charging for running cat-5 all over the place as the customers cr&p is in the cloud and they need a reliable fast connection to watch iPlayer on their TV. I love progress :)

    Cat 5 is much more cost effective for my wallett / beer fund.

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  9. Bobsch

    Replacements?

    How many of those devices are replacements for existing units? I've replaced mine twice already.

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Shirley...

    ...1.2 billion is not 35 per cent higher than 880.4 billion??

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  11. Adrian Esdaile
    Coat

    I find it hilarious

    That people run around screaming about RF and EMF causing cancer / migraines / rashes / head explosion syndrome / ADHD / scabies / whatever else the nutters are raving about, while simultaneously:

    1: owning & driving a car in a busy city - utterly lethal on many levels, but ignored

    2: wearing make-up - have you read what is in that stuff?

    3: using most modern soaps / shampoos / toothpastes - triclosan and SLS for the win!

    4: living in a modern house - plastic, plastic, plastic, plastic, plastic

    People would much rather find a vague target that is easily taken to court rather than actually re-evaluating their entire lifestyle.

    Yep, mines the wool jacket with packets of veggie seeds in the pockets.

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  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Dangerous Radio Waves!!!!one!!eleven

    If i remember correctly, wasn't there a report published a few years ago regarding complaints of mobile phone base stations causing health issues which pointed out that over half of the reports were made before the base stations had even been turned on?

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