Wifi serves as a vital tool to connect people around the world. This experiment was done to test different materials and their effect on wifi signals. It was hypothesized that the conductors of electricity will attenuate wifi signals more than the insulators of electricity. I gathered common household materials that were used as obstructions, placed them over the router, and used a 3-Axis Radio Frequency Strength Meter to measure the amount of radio frequencies in mW/ m2. The results were gathered as an average of three trials per obstruction and were compared to a control result of obstruction over the router. A Ceramic Pot attenuated the wifi signal the greatest, bringing the signal down 1683.8 mW/ m2 from the control, while wood wood only attenuated 138.6 mW/ m2. However, Aluminum foil attenuated 1655 mW/ m2. The research demonstrated that conductors do attenuate wifi signals more effectively than insulators, however ceramics was an outlier. In the future, the health effects caused by Radio Frequencies can be explored. The effect of these materials on download and upload speeds can also be expanded upon.

References

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