EMFBase
Sources & emitters

Wi-Fi router (2.4 / 5 / 6 GHz)

A consumer access point radiating roughly 100 mW EIRP per band, giving about 8,000 µW/m² at 1 m and 80 µW/m² at 10 m in free space.

radiofrequencyhomeworkplaceschool

Last verified 12 August 2026.

Also searched as: wireless access point, WLAN router, modem router

Category
radiofrequency
Emission bands
2.4 GHz ISM; 5 GHz U-NII; 6 GHz U-NII (Wi-Fi 6E/7)
Environments
home, workplace, school
Transmit power
0.1 W EIRPRegulatory value — legally enforceable — 100 mW is typical for consumer access points. 47 CFR Part 15 permits up to 1 W conducted power in the 2.4 GHz band for some configurations, so high-power or multi-radio units can be an order of magnitude higher.sources: fcc-part15
Duty cycle
Beacon frames transmit continuously at low duty cycle even with no clients; duty cycle rises with traffic. Peak-hold readings therefore exceed time-averaged readings substantially.

Field strength by distance

30 cm
88,400 µW/m²Computed estimate — S = EIRP / (4πd²) with EIRP = 0.1 W, d = 0.3 m — Within one wavelength at 2.4 GHz (12.5 cm) treat this as indicative only.sources: fcc-part15
1 m
7,960 µW/m²Computed estimate — S = EIRP / (4πd²) with EIRP = 0.1 W, d = 1 msources: fcc-part15
3 m
884 µW/m²Computed estimate — S = EIRP / (4πd²) with EIRP = 0.1 W, d = 3 msources: fcc-part15
10 m
79.6 µW/m²Computed estimate — S = EIRP / (4πd²) with EIRP = 0.1 W, d = 10 msources: fcc-part15

Mitigations, most effective first

Move the router out of bedrooms and away from desks; distance dominates everything else.
Power density falls with the square of distance: 3× the distance is 9× less.
Use the router's schedule feature to disable the radio overnight.
Removes night-time exposure entirely without affecting daytime use.
Run Ethernet to fixed devices (desktops, TVs, consoles) and disable unused radio bands.
Cuts both router and client transmissions; client devices are usually closer to the body than the router.
Reduce transmit power in the router's admin settings if supported.
A drop from 100 mW to 25 mW is a 6 dB reduction, equivalent to doubling your distance.

Measure with

  • Broadband RF power-density meter
  • RF spectrum analyser

Related records

  • FCC general population MPE, 1.5–100 GHz

    1.0 mW/cm² power density averaged over 30 minutes — the band that covers most cellular, Wi-Fi and 5G frequencies in the United States.

    Exposure limits

  • Building Biology SBM-2024 RF band: extreme anomaly

    Above 1000 µW/m² peak from a single RF source in a sleeping area is graded 'extreme anomaly' and triggers a remediation recommendation.

    Exposure limits

  • RF room survey

    How to measure radiofrequency exposure in a room so the result is reproducible: peak and average, at body positions, with the dominant direction identified.

    Measurement protocols

Sources

  1. fcc-part15 47 CFR Part 15 — Radio Frequency Devices (unlicensed transmitter power limits) — U.S. Government Publishing Office (eCFR). regulation, link checked 2026-08-12.
  2. arpansa-wifi Wi-Fi and health — Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. government, link checked 2026-08-12.
  3. itu-fs-relations Free-space path loss and power density relations (ITU-R P.525) — International Telecommunication Union. standard, link checked 2026-08-12.

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