What You Need to Know
About 5G Small Cell Wi-Fi Antennas
Small Cell Wi-Fi Antennas – The Bottom Line & Details
Q: I don’t have very good cell phone coverage. Won’t 5G small cell Wi-Fi antennas make my wireless phone service better?
A: No. 5G small cell Wi-Fi antennas are designed for internet use only. They do not provide a stronger phone signal. What determines your phone signal strength is your relationship to the nearest macro-cell tower. (These are the big towers, which are designed to cover large distances. Small cell Wi-Fi antennas have a very short range and are typically attached to existing infrastructures like streetlights, utility poles and buildings. As the industry manufacturers themselves state: “Data (not phone coverage) is king.”
Q: So what are 5G small cell Wi-Fi antennas good for?
A: 5G small cell Wi-Fi antennas were developed:
1) for people who want to download games or streaming video to their phones as fast as possible (in 20 seconds, say, as opposed to 4G technology’s 90-120 seconds)
2) to facilitate the seemingly ever expanding Internet of Things (including “smart” refrigerators, “smart’ coffee makers, etc.)
3) to more precisely track your buying habits, places you visit, etc. in order to sell this data to other corporations.
Q: Well, that sounds a little over-the-top but not too bad. What’s wrong with wireless networks supporting these things?
A: The problems lie in what the wireless networks don’t talk about:
• Increased risks to human health and wildlife (especially wild birds and pollinators). While all radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic radiation may affect living species, the effects of 5G small cell Wi-Fi radiation are amplified due to the sheer number and close range of these antennas in any habitable area. To learn more about specific health risks, and the numerous peer review studies on this subject HERE,
• Decreased property values.
• “Aesthetic disaster” (according to the mayor of Palm Beach, CA, which successfully restricted the deployment of 5G small cell antennas).
• Increased risk of wildfire (due to the densification of small cell antennas: the more electrical equipment in a given area, the more that could potentially malfunction).
Q: Yikes! Are all cell phone carriers building these 5G small cell Wi-Fi antennas?
A: Actually, carriers (like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) don’t build these small cell Wi-Fi antennas themselves. They’re built by site developers you’ve probably never heard of who then lease these Wi-Fi antennas to the carriers. Site developers make money by building as many of these small cell Wi-Fi antennas as quickly as they can. Because they don’t have to deal with end users (us), quality control is often not very important.
Q: Aren’t these 5G small cell Wi-Fi antennas very unobtrusive?
A: Here is what Environmental Health Trust (ehtrust.org) says on its website: 5G “small cell” Wi-Fi antennas are anything but “small.” Small cell is an industry term. It means a shorter cell tower close to homes and schools. Each “facility” will have transmitting wireless antennas and often ugly bulky equipment. A 2020 paper analyzed the radio frequency radiation environment that would result if a mmWave-based 5G network was fully deployed in Austin, Texas and found ambient radiation levels to be significantly increased.
Examples of how and why “small cells” are not small:
• They increase electromagnetic radiation near homes.
• They have refrigerator-sized (and larger) equipment cabinets.
• Property values drop after a cell tower is built near homes.
• Taller and wider poles are needed for the antennas.
Q: What do insurance companies say about risks?
A: In its 2019 New Emerging Risks SONAR Report, Swiss Re, the world’s second largest secondary insurer (which insures large corporations and industries), classified 5G as a “High Impact Liability” risk. The report stated, “Existing concerns regarding potential negative health effects from electromagnetic fields (EMF) are only likely to increase. An uptick in liability claims could be a potential long-term consequence.” No insurance company will issue insurance to telecom companies for wireless radiation health damage claims because the RF-EMR (radio frequency-electromagnetic radiation) exposure far exceeds their risk models. As attorney Harry Lehmann, an expert in the field, said: “RF-EMR exposure isn’t just a risk, it’s a hazard. The difference is that a risk one can avoid, but one cannot avoid being saturated by this carcinogen, RF-EMR.” (And without having an extremely strong ordinance in place, the densification of 5G small cell antennas in our unincorporated neighborhoods and the concomitant health risks will get worse.)
Hazard of Small Cells Wi-Fi Antennas
About Risks to Human Health, Bees and Birds
Q: Where can I read more about what scientific experts say on the dangers of 5G?
A: You can find an extensive collection of scientific quotes HERE
Remember that 5G small cell Wi-Fi antennas require densification: aggregating a large number of these antennas in a small area amplifies the risks. Hundreds of scientists have evaluated the cell tower RF radiation exposure limits of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the International Commission for Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and found the limits are decades outdated and not protective to the health of the public, especially not the health of children.
Other peer-reviewed studies have demonstrated that exposure to radiofrequency radiation (RFR) – the kind emitted by 5G small cell Wi-Fi antennas, as well as other wireless devices – can have significant adverse effects if they are closer to people than 500 meters (about 1,500’). Densification, of course, requires these small cell antennas to be significantly closer than that in order to work. Many scientists think this is not a risk worth taking.
“Sufficient scientific evidence has accumulated to demonstrate the risk of adverse health effects to humans from exposure to RFR at permitted levels of exposure. Children and fetuses are especially at risk, as are insect species in the environment.”
ENVIRONMENT: SCIENCE AND POLICY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
2024, VOL. 66, NO. 2. Applying the Precautionary Principle to Wireless Technology: Policy Dilemmas and Systemic Risks
(authors: Paul Ben Ishain, Hillel Z. Baldwin, Linda S. Birnbaum, Tom Butler, Kent Chamberlin, Devra L. Davis Theodora Scarato, and Hugh Taylor)
Q: Speaking of insects, what about the effects of the densification of 5G small cell Wi-Fi antennas in residential neighborhoods on wild birds and pollinators?
A: Americans for Responsible Technology (ART) reports: “Scientists have found that insects like honeybees can be dramatically affected by high frequencies associated with 5G. These higher frequencies can raise the bee’s internal temperature, leading to changes in behavior and physiology, with unknown and unpredictable results.” ART also reports: “RF (radio frequency radiation) can disrupt the magnetic “compass” that many migrating birds and insects use, causing disorientation and possibly disrupting migration patterns.”
So, setting human health risks to the side for a moment, ask yourself if you’re willing to risk our honeybees and birds just so you can download a video game or streaming movie about 40-50 seconds faster than you can now. (Didn’t think so.)