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A Beginner's Two-Component Crystal-Style Wi-Fi Detector

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Re: A Beginner's Two-Component Crystal-Style Wi-Fi Detector

#3

Post by zxexz »

jqpabc123 wrote: post #2

Can this be used to detect radiation escaping a microwave oven? A friend of mine has a microwave that noticeably degrades his wifi when it is in use.

Sounds like he’s in need of a new microwave. Not tongue-in-cheek; sounds like there’s something up with the shielding, and if it’s not visible, how will you know if it gets worse?

Edit: I see no reason this wouldn’t work, however?

Re: A Beginner's Two-Component Crystal-Style Wi-Fi Detector

#4

Post by bgbntty2 »

jqpabc123 wrote: post #2

Can this be used to detect radiation escaping a microwave oven? A friend of mine has a microwave that noticeably degrades his wifi when it is in use.

I've tested a few microwaves from different manufacturers with my phone a few years ago. I think I looked at some file in my router (OpenWRT), but I can't recall. I got a lot of dropped packets each time. The amount of degradation was similar for the different microwaves.

I had to put the phone close to the microwave to detect this. The degradation was obviously stronger when the phone was closer.

If your friend experiences noticeable degradation regardless of the distance within the room, it might be worrisome.

But I think it's normal to have some interference. That doesn't necessarily mean enough of the 2.4 GHz radiation escapes the microwave to be harmful to an animal, as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and so on are very weak, comparatively.

Funny thing is, after putting my phone inside a closed turned off microwave, it got Wi-Fi, although very weak. I didn't try that with all the microwaves, but with 2 or 3 of them.

I think the Faraday cage around the microwave was built to be good enough for safety, but it wasn't built with Wi-Fi interference in mind.

Disclaimer: I might be wrong, as I don't have enough background to make any bold claims.

Re: A Beginner's Two-Component Crystal-Style Wi-Fi Detector

#5

Post by bcook »

jqpabc123 wrote: post #2

Can this be used to detect radiation escaping a microwave oven? A friend of mine has a microwave that noticeably degrades his wifi when it is in use.

For devices where connectivity is more important, switch them from 2.4Ghz to 5Ghz to avoid microwave interference.

Re: A Beginner's Two-Component Crystal-Style Wi-Fi Detector

#6

Post by nja »

bcook wrote: post #5
jqpabc123 wrote: post #2

Can this be used to detect radiation escaping a microwave oven? A friend of mine has a microwave that noticeably degrades his wifi when it is in use.

For devices where connectivity is more important, switch them from 2.4Ghz to 5Ghz to avoid microwave interference.

Other than phones and laptops (i.e. "real computers"), most devices only support 2.4, no? I can't recall the last time I set up a non-computer device that didn't say "make sure you're using a 2.4GHz network"...

(I imagine it's a much lower cost to only handle 2.4GHz?)

Re: A Beginner's Two-Component Crystal-Style Wi-Fi Detector

#9

Post by avidiax »

bgbntty2 wrote: post #4
jqpabc123 wrote: post #2

Can this be used to detect radiation escaping a microwave oven? A friend of mine has a microwave that noticeably degrades his wifi when it is in use.

I've tested a few microwaves from different manufacturers with my phone a few years ago. I think I looked at some file in my router (OpenWRT), but I can't recall. I got a lot of dropped packets each time. The amount of degradation was similar for the different microwaves. I had to put the phone close to the microwave to detect this. The degradation was obviously stronger when the phone was closer. If your friend expe…

> If your friend experiences noticeable degradation regardless of the distance within the room, it might be worrisome.

Probably not. I recall calculating it once, and the legal requirements for microwave oven shielding still allow it to produce a few watts of 2.4Ghz leakage. This is contrasted to 50mW typical WiFi AP power, and 5-50mW BlueTooth powers.

A few watts is totally non-dangerous to humans, especially diffused across the entire door.

Re: A Beginner's Two-Component Crystal-Style Wi-Fi Detector

#10

Post by ifh-hn »

avidiax wrote: post #8
ifh-hn wrote: post #7

So the question is how to do similar for 5ghz?

Faster diode, like HSMS-2850 [1], and different leg lengths (tune for 5Ghz). [1] https://datasheet4u.com/pdf-down/H/S/M/HSMS-2862_AgilentTech...

Thanks. Appreciate the reply. From a brief look that might detect 2.4ghz too?

Really wish I was clever enough to do electronics!

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