60GHz V-Band Technology is one of the safest wireless technologies. In an era where the public want reassurance that wireless technologies are safe to humans, we provide a factual summary. Here’s why our 60GHz V-band radios are safe:
VERY low transmit power: 10mW (milliwatts). Compare with WiFi (200 milliwatts) and your cellphone (1000 to 2000 milliwatts). This tiny transmit power is the lowest of any commonly used wireless technology today, and is 1/100 the power of your cellphone.
Only deployed outdoors, above head-height. The radios are not installed near humans, and you’re not going to be walking through these low power beams. The radios are deployed on roof top locations typically.
Unlike your cellphone, which you press directly to your head, these units are never in direct proximity or contact with humans.
Directional beams: rather than emitting signals in all directions, 60GHz Wireless links direct this low energy level ONLY in the direction which it is needed – towards the precise location of the other end of the link.
Beam steering technology is used to keep the signal “locked on” only to the other end of the link, not pointing elsewhere.
Beam spreading: the beams spread out as they propagate, becoming weaker in signal strength for every metre travelled. Also specific to 60GHz, the beam is further absorbed by Oxygen in the atmosphere, decreasing the power level even further. Thus the further from the wireless device a person is situated, the lower this power level becomes.
The frequencies used (60GHz) are in the millimeter wave section of the electromagnetic spectrum. This is NON-IONISING radiation, just like any other radio signal. There are no “good” or “bad” frequencies in the radio, microwave or millimeter bands.
RF power levels
Our 60GHz V-band radios transmit at 1/20 the power of your wifi and 1/100 the power of your cellphone, and are never installed indoors near humans.
Compare V-band radios with a TV mast: Crystal Palace in London currently transmits digital terrestrial Television at over 1200kW (1.2 MEGAWATT, or 1,200,000 watts), and has been transmitting TV since 1956. That is 120 MILLION TIMES more power than a V-band 60GHz radio, and transmitting for over 60 years. Did you hear “5G protesters” complaining about TV transmitters? No, because it’s not new, and no widespread history of health effects over 60 years …
Historic use of 60GHz frequencies: it’s not new !
60GHz has already been used for decades: 60GHz radios have been used commercially since 2001, and for other applications since the 1990’s, in many cities worldwide. Long before 5G was even dreamed up, Point-to-Point radios all over the world have used 60GHz band now for decades. There have been NO reported health issues from 60GHz during ALL of this time, no protests, and no studies suggesting that they could, or would cause any harm.
If you’ve read recent scare-mongering about 5G, stop and think rationally. These 60GHz frequencies have been used for decades already with no known adverse effects or health reports. Considerable safety research has been done.
Why is our 60GHz Technology considered safe?
Modern V-band 60GHz radios meet all global standards for health and safety of wireless devices. Furthermore, our radios are the lowest power of any outdoor wireless device used today, anywhere in the world. These radios are located in areas away from direct proximity to humans and therefore represent the least exposure of any wireless device.
Is this 5G technology?
The radios described on this site do not use 5G standards or technology. They use an extension of WiFi technology, extended to the 60GHz band. This standard is called 802.11ad or 802.11ay, and is an international standard for wireless transmission, specifically intended for devices like these operating at these low power levels.
What forms of wireless are less safe?
Cellphones: The highest RF exposure you will get in your life is from your OWN cellphone, because when you use it, you hold it to your head whilst making a call. The transmitter in your cellphone emits at 1W (1 Watt) and is just 5 millimeters from your brain. The radio signals (typically in the range 800MHz up to 2.6GHz)enter your body, and actually do heat your brain. Yet Billions of people have regularly used cellphones for decades, with no widespread health effects measured. Meanwhile, thousands of lives are saved every year by emergency calls made using these phones. Logic tells us that we should weigh up the clear BENEFIT of mobile phones – which regularly save lives of our loved ones – versus irrational fear of 5G conspiracists, who have no supporting evidence.
TV masts:Crystal Palace in London currently transmits digital terrestrial Television at over 1200kW (1.2 MEGAWATT, or 1,200,000 watts), and has been transmitting TV since 1956. That is 120 MILLION TIMES more power than a V-band 60GHz radio, and has been transmitting for over 60 years. Are “5G protesters” complaining about TV transmitters? No, because there’s no widespread history of health effects even over 60 years.
Airport Radars: To keep planes flying safely, airport radars transmit pulses up to 25kW (25 kilowatts, or 25,000 Watts) into the air, with average power 2.1kW (2100 Watts). Interestingly, these signals are at similar frequencies to 3G, 4G and 5G. In the USA, 2.7 – 2.9 GHz is used. Yet nobody complains about these high power levels of radar, which has been in constant use since the 1930s: 90 years.
X-rays: Another high level of radiation you likely will receive in your life is a medical X-ray. This is significant because X-rays are ionizing radiation, (compared to radio waves which are non-ionising – and hence don’t have the health risk). You’ll notice Radiographer operators are carefully shielded from the radiation because they use it every day. Did you refuse an X-ray at the hospital/dentist? No, because the alternative is to live suffering with pain, or worse. Scientists carefully measure and manage the risk and lifetime dose levels to ensure you are kept safe. We accept their word, because they are reputable healthcare professionals and scientists, backed by decades of data, unlike the 5G conspiracists.
What if I’m still concerned?
Please contact your local Health and Safety officer.
Please read latest World Health Organisation (WHO) advice for wireless networks. A link to their site is here:
The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) dictates standards of compliance to be provided with planning applications and for operators to continue to ensure all sites remain compliant
Check regional or national government advice: a link to Public Health England is below:
UK telecom regulator OFCOM have a useful page of links here:
Please ask for a safety audit of your site if you have wireless equipment installed.
Quotation from the World Health Organisation (WHO):
“From all evidence accumulated so far, no adverse short- or long-term health effects have been shown to occur from the RF signals produced by base stations. Since wireless networks produce generally lower RF signals than base stations, no adverse health effects are expected from exposure to them”
“Conclusions
Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects. “
Advice from Public Health England (PHE):
Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for advising the UK Government on EMF exposure. It monitors the health-related evidence applicable to radio-wave exposures and is committed to providing any advice that might be necessary. PHE’s advice is that no negative effects on public health are anticipated with 5G.
A summary of PHE advice on radio waves, including relevant research, can be accessed in the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/electromagnetic-fields#radio-waves
What if I disbelieve the current advice/guidelines?
All humans have irrational fear: the fear of the unknown. We can calm our fears by reading up the latest advice and research on wireless standards and safety guidelines, or by listening to impartial experts who don’t work in the wireless industrying.
As of today, ALL the advice is that low power wireless is completely safe, with no known side effects. There are no known adverse effects to humans.
If we persist in disbelieving the current advice – or doubting it – we have to accept that our fear is irrational, and not based on science.
Should we revert to NO wireless technology to remove ALL risk?
Wireless transmission is not new: Marconi pioneered wireless transmission in 1895 – 125 years ago. Ever since then our global population (now over 7 billion of us) have been surrounded by wireless transmitting devices, of all frequency bands and power levels.
If we wanted to remove ALL wireless transmitters, that means removing:
TV transmitters
Civilian Airport radars & aircraft radars
Weather radars
Military radars
Police Radios
Ambulance Radios
Fire Service Radios
DAB/ Radio transmitters
Cellphone Base Stations (2G, 3G, 4G, 5G) transmitters
Satellite transmission dishes (TV news, etc)
Point to point microwave links
WiFi
Bluetooth
Are we prepared to remove ALL of the above services from our civilisation?
Think hard about what this question means:
Because TV transmitters, Radars and Emergency service radios are at the TOP of the power levels for wireless transmission. TV, radio and emergency radios operate at much higher power levels than 4G and 5G masts, for example. If we want to clear the airwaves, logically we would remove them first. And we have to stop using our mobile phones.
That means no first responders for fire, police and ambulance crews to come and save you and your loved ones in times of emergency, and no air flights anywhere either.
In context, the WHO and all credible science says there’s no credible evidence of health risk. Yet turning off ALL of these radios will certainly result in human deaths as people fail to reach medical services on time, or fires burn homes down. A study of ethics means that even if we disbelieve the science and data, and don’t want wireless technology, logically one would still have to retain at least SOME of the wireless services to prevent those people dying. And that means at least some of these wireless transmissions will be all around us.
Conclusion:
We can’t remove ALL of the wireless around us, because if we do, large numbers of people suffer and die. The technology presented on this site – 60GHz V-band – is the lowest power wireless technology – and the safest.
Modern V-band 60GHz radios from CableFree are easy-to-deploy, cost-effective, wireless Gigabit Ethernet point-to-point bridges operating in the 60 GHz millimeter wave V-band, delivering full-duplex capacity of up to 1 Gbit/s over distances of up to 1km or more. Utilising Time Division Duplexing (TDD), the full 2.3Gbps capacity of the radio is available divided into both directions for transmit and receive under user control.
Combining carrier-class performance with advanced features such as adaptive modulation, multi-channel operation, low latency, high link throughput and security, the CableFree V-Band Radio supports a variety of shorthaul connectivity, network extension and backhaul applications.
Modern Chipsets for V-band wireless include 802.11ad wireless chipsets which offer high performance with compact, efficient & low-power solutions.
Is this product 5G?
Please note that the 60GHz V-band radio products described on this website do NOT use 5G chipsets or standards. They use 802.11ad type chipsets, with beamforming. There are currently no 5G radios with 60GHz on the market.
Safety of 60GHz V-band
Is 60GHz Safe to use? There is currently significant disinformation posted by “5G protesters” about 5G & 60GHz on the internet: Some posts even link directly to this very page, claiming “proof” of their unscientific and zero-evidence claims. This page clearly demonstrates the opposite:
60GHz IS PERFECTLY SAFE – and here’s why:
Low Power: these 60GHz radios transmit at only 10mW (10 milliwatts, or 1/100 of a Watt) RF power, which is just 1/20 the power of a standard cellphone. Unlike your cellphone which you place right next to your head – V-band radios are mounted outdoor areas away from people, and use very low power directional beams.
Compare this with a TV mast: Crystal Palace in London currently transmits digital terrestrial Television at over 1200kW (1.2 MEGAWATT, or 1,200,000 watts), and has been transmitting TV since 1956. That is 120 MILLION TIMES more power than a V-band 60GHz radio, and transmitting for over 60 years. Did you hear “5G protesters” complaining about TV transmitters? No, because there’s no widespread history of health effects over 60 years .
Oxygen. Some “5G conspiracy” posts state: “This causes Oxygen to not bind well to blood hemoglobin causing the body to become Oxygen starved (hypoxia)” This statement is unscientific. The ultra low power 60GHz signals do not even penetrate human skin. The signals are partly reflected and partly absorbed by the skin, preventing them entering the body and cannot cause the claimed effect. There is NO scientific study which will back up this claimed hypoxia effect on the human body. The “5G protesters” NEVER provide any, because there is no publication or science that would agree with their unscientific claims – it’s simply not impossible.
Water. The human body is around 60% water. 60GHz – like all microwave signals – is highly absorbed by water. After your skin, water in your own body blocks any remaining signals even further. The power levels are so low that the effect is unmeasurable: your own body generates over 100 Watts of heat all on it’s own even when resting. Note that “5G conspiracists” never mention this.
60GHz has already been used for decades: 60GHz radios have been used commercially since 2001, and for other applications since the 1990’s, in many cities worldwide. Long before 5G was even dreamed up, Point-to-Point radios all over the world have used 60GHz band now for decades. There have been NO reported health issues from 60GHz during ALL of this time, no protests, and no studies suggesting that they could, or would cause any harm.
Safety of 5G
Please note for those interested: this specific website isn’t about 5G. Here is a link to a website with content specifically about safety of 5G networks.
What if I’m still scared – I’ve read so much about “5G fear” !
If you’ve read recent scare-mongering about 5G, stop and think rationally. These 60GHz frequencies have been used for decades already with no known adverse effects or health reports. So why the hype now? 5G Conspiracists like to whip up fear, but prevent no actual evidence.
The highest RF exposure you will get in your life is from your OWN cellphone, because when you use it, you hold it to your head whilst making a call. Yet Billions of people have used cellphones for decades, with no widespread health effects measured. And thousands of lives are saved every year by emergency calls made by these phones. Logic tells us that we should weigh up the clear BENEFIT of mobile phones – which regularly save lives of our loved ones – versus irrational fear with no supporting evidence.
Please see this page for details and to learn more about safety of wireless systems. And use your rational judgement when deciding what things around us are safe, and which are not.
Technical Benefits of 60GHz Technology
Excellent “carrier class” performance for high-speed Gigabit capacity internet, data, and voice communications.
60GHz radios have a small footprint making them perfect for metropolitan areas or aesthetically sensitive installations, such as in historic districts or architecturally regulated areas.
60 GHz has unique characteristics which provide a high degree of immunity to interference from other radio signals.
Large 7 GHz channel size (“bigger pipe”), compared to conventional microwave solutions (typically 3.5 to 60 MHz).
“Oxygen absorption” attenuates 60 GHz signals such that they cannot travel far beyond their intended path, which (a) enhances signal/data security and (b) enables customers to install numerous 60 GHz radios in the same area (higher “frequency reuse”).
Excellent directivity via highly focused point-to-point antennas, perfect for building-to-building, tower-to-tower, and small cell deployments.
Up to “Five 9’s” (99.999%) availability, depending on rainfall rates/geographic location. In most parts of the world, rain attenuation can be compensated for by selecting the appropriate antenna and assessing link distance correctly, which is made easier by Choice of different 60 GHz antennas to suit precise applications
