Amazon Is Selling a Wi-Fi Router Guard That “Blocks 5G”
Stephen Silver
Technology, Americas
It is a niche market, but clearly someone thought they could make a quick buck.
For as long as there has been 5G, there have been silly conspiracies about 5G.
Baseless theories have spread, especially throughout 2020, about 5G technology being dangerous. Such theorizing has been a feature for every rollout of new generations of wireless technology, but 5G has had an added dimension, with equally bogus theories spreading that 5G tech was responsible for spreading coronavirus.
There were even reports, in different parts of Europe and later in Canada, of attempts to vandalize 5G towers and other infrastructure, which in some cases were not 5G after all.
The theories were denounced as “fake news” in an April interview by the CEO of Verizon, and throughout the year, smartphone manufacturers and wireless carriers have continued rolling out 5G unabated.
But now, fear of 5G is inspiring someone on Amazon to sell an “EMF blocker” for Wi-Fi routers, which “block[s] 5G.”
The Twitter account of the Malware Tech blog appears to be the first to notice the Amazon listing, which comes from a brand called “Router Guard” and appears to be called “Large WiFi Router Guard.” The listing for the $89.25 product claims that the product “Blocks About 90% of WiFi Router EMF While You can Still use The Router… Blocks 5G!”
The listing also claims that the product fits over most major routers, including those offered by Comcast and Verizon, and that it “blocks about 90% of the EMF large WiFi routers emit including the new 5G.” EMF presumably stands for “electromagnetic fields.”
The World Health Organization said in 2016 that “experiments with healthy volunteers indicate that short-term exposure at the levels present in the environment or in the home do not cause any apparent detrimental effects,” although “the current debate is centred on whether long-term low level exposure can evoke biological responses and influence people’s well being.”
Wi-Fi and 5G, of course, are separate and unrelated technologies, and even if one supposed they had to worry about 5G being harmful, it’s unclear why placing a cage over one’s Wi-Fi router would make any difference.
The reviews, and the Q&A section on the product’s Amazon page are especially humorous.
“Why put your router in a faraday cage when you can accomplish the same goal by throwing the router away and wrapping your head in aluminum foil?,” one asks.
“I bought this. when i applied it to my modem as instructed it reduced speed from over 500mps to 16mps. it says it wont reduce speed,” another asked. “Is this typical?”
“This has to be a joke product created to make fun of the smart meter conspiracy nuts right?,” one review of the product said. “If this was an actual faraday cage that could block electromagnetic radiation then it would block your wifi signal. How can people be so scientifically illiterate that this joke would work?”
There are other, similar products offered on Amazon, although not all of them mention 5G and its supposed dangers.
Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
Image: Reuters.