PSA: Don’t Put Your Router in a Cage

You’ve all read the stories: “Single Mother Brought Down By Electromagnetic Radiation,” “Grandmother Falls and Can’t Get Up Thanks To Electromagnetic Radiation,” “Electromagnetic Radiation Strikes Again: Claims Four Babies,” and the list goes on. Oh wait it doesn’t, because that’s insane. Electromagnetic radiation is emitted by the lights, radios, and Wi-Fi routers in your home, but has never hurt anyone in this setting. The term “electromagnetic radiation” simply describes a wave of photons traveling through space, and it has been found to be completely harmless at low levels — and all the commercial products sold to humans have incredibly low levels, so don’t worry. But apparently some people didn’t get the memo, because Faraday Cages have been selling like hot cakes.

Let me give you some backstory: Basically, a bunch of people heard that their Wi-Fi routers emit electromagnetic radiation — which again, is completely harmless — and got really scared, so they started looking for a way to stop the radiation, and stumbled across Faraday Cages, which are big metal boxes that block any electromagnetic radiation from escaping. As soon as people heard about them, they started placing their Wi-Fi routers inside the cages to protect themselves from the radiation. Sellers on Amazon began to take advantage of the panic by charging up to $100 for each box. Scared customers had no choice but to pay these exorbitant prices, and the number of orders only grew. More and more people began to buy the cages, and it seemed like the craze would never end, until people noticed a problem.

As soon as you place your Wi-Fi router inside a Faraday Cage, you no longer have Wi-Fi. When you block the electromagnetic radiation coming from your Wi-Fi router, you are blocking the Wi-Fi signal itself, and you can no longer connect to the internet. Essentially, the entire thing is one giant scam; you are sacrificing your ability to connect to the internet to “protect” yourself from harmless radiation. Once users began to catch on, they quickly tried to return their Faraday Cages. Unfortunately for them, sellers often wouldn’t refund their returns or they would charge users hefty shipping and packaging costs, leaving the users with $50-$100 less, a severely damaged ego, and a useless metal box. If there is any lesson to be learned from their misfortune, it is that you should always do your research before buying a product. Don’t buy into the panic, don’t spend money unnecessarily, and don’t put your Wi-Fi router in a cage.