Cell Phone Reception
Judging one's cell phone reception by Bars of Reception?
Judging cell tower radiation by looking at bars of reception can be very misleading. How would you answer the following question:
In which case do you think you are exposed to stronger electromagnetic radiation?
A) Your mobile phone indicates 0 bars of reception.
B) Your mobile phone indicates 4 bars of reception.
C) Your mobile phone indicates 5 bars of reception.
A cell phone is not a perfect indicator of the cell tower radiation that one is receiving.
First of all, a cell phone only measures the signals from its own wireless provider. I had an acquaintance who worked right next to a cell tower, but her reception was poor. There are many wireless providers, e.g., Cingular, Verizon, T-Mobile, and they each require their own mobile phone antennae. It is possible that the cell tower right outside of her office hosted different cell phone providers than hers. When I drove by it and turned on the electrosmog meter, it was screaming loudly.
Supposing, however, that there is only one cell phone provider. Judging by bars of reception can still be deceptive.
| Reception | Analysis |
|---|---|
| (0 bars) |
(A) If your cell phone is ON, 0 bars of reception may paradoxically be the worst case. Why? Because the radiation from your cell phone is a stronger source of radiation than the radiation from a cell tower.
Some mobile phones, if they cannot find the cell tower, send strong and continual levels of radiation in search of one. This paradox may explain the increased risks of brain tumors to cell phone users in rural areas. When the external signal is poor, it is therefore advised to leave the cell phone off. If all cell phones are OFF, this is the ideal case.
I once experimented with making a Faraday cage around a cell phone. The signal reception on the phone went down to 0 because the weak cell tower signals could not penetrate my metallic cloth. Nevertheless, to my surprise, my sound meter started going wild, as the signal from the mobile phone itself was extremely strong, and penetrated through the cloth, despite its 60dB (1,000,000x) protection factor. |
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The other question one might ask is, is 4 or 5 bars of radiation acceptable? In my opinion, 4 out of 5 bars is not that bad healthwise for the average person, coming from the remote mobile phone mast. For example, a cell phone can get full bars of reception even when the wireless level is as low as ~2 to 3 μW/mē (on the 8GHz Cornet Basic RF Meter) from a distant mobile phone base station. A cell phone, in contrast, could be emitting levels in excess of several hundred mW/m2. |
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If you have 5 bars, however, it is not possible to tell whether or not it is safe, since that is the maximum that your cell phone will register. I believe if it just breaks into the 5 bar range, it may be tolerable.
However, the problem is that someone with hundreds or thousands of times more radiation than this minimal amount will also be getting 5 bars of reception, since that is the maximum on the cell phone's scale. For example, one might get 1mW/mē or more (on the same meter), within 300 meters of the mobile phone base station, in contrast to a couple of μW/m2. Both would show up as 5 bars of reception.
A similar phenomenon occurs with Wi-Fi, which can give sufficient bars of reception even when the Wi-Fi router is quite far away. This may mislead one to think that one is already swamped with high radiation. However, if the Wi-Fi router is within 1-3 meters, the radiation is much greater of a hazard. |
In conclusion, the unexpected paradoxes make it difficult for the average lay person to estimate how much they are exposed to without an RF detector or meter. Without knowledge of their relative exposure levels, it makes it difficult for them to make an association between their exposure and their health. They will not know if their exposures are average, above average, or below average.
The consolation with old-fashioned mobile phones is that for reasonable signal levels, the phone is usually in standby mode when you are not in a call, in which case the frequency of check-ins to the base station are infrequent, perhaps once an hour. However, be warned that even in standby mode, one study has suggested that cell phones may still result in increased chances of infertility. Furthermore, be warned that personal data assistants (PDA) like Blackberries, could be emitting signals even when you are not talking, depending upon your internet settings. For more information, see Safer Phone Use.