Ones and Zeros

In a hospital waiting room I saw two signs.  One announcing the availability of free WiFi.  The second telling people to turn off their cell phones for safety.  WiFi frequencies are around 2.4GHz, cell phone frequencies are 850 MHz, 1.9 GHz, and 1.7 GHz, and 2.1 GHz.  In other words, not that different.  Power levels are similar too.

So, what gives?  My theory is that cell phones are banned not because of equipment interference, but becuase they don’t want people bugged by one side of 15 minute-long conversation about someone else’s inane office politics.  Kinda like the one I had to listen to.

Or, it could be just technical ignorance.  Anyone know one way or the other?

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 22:19 and is filed under electronics, technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.