LogFAQs > #932080374

This year the FCC auctioned off 24-gigahertz radio frequencies for 5G transmissions, perilously close to the 23.8-gigahertz frequency at which water vapor molecules vibrate in the atmosphere. Weather satellites continuously monitor that subtle signal of humidity, which is an essential ingredient for accurate weather forecasts. Cellphone antennas transmitting 5G signals near that frequency could cause confusion for weather satellites, essentially pouring a firehose of misinformation into the supercomputer models of Earths atmosphere running around the clock at weather centers worldwide.

So uhh... a frequency "perilously close" to the frequency that water vapor molecules vibrate at isn't the same as it being a frequency that will interfere with the frequency that water vapor molecules vibrate at.

Let's use 2.4GHz wi-fi as an example

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels#2.4_GHz_(802.11b/g/n/ax)

The channels are 22 Mhz wide, but centered 5 Mhz apart. There are overlapping frequencies that will interfere with each other (1 interferes with 2, 3, and 4, but not 6.

Channel 1:

• Centered at 2.412 GHz
• Channel width is from 2.401 GHz to 2.403 GHz

Channel 6:

• Centered at 2437 GHz
• Channel width is from 2.426 GHz to 2.448 GHz

In the US, it is advised to only use channels 1, 6, and 11 because they don't interfere with each other at all and that is the most optimal channel arrangement in use in enterprise networks that have multiple APs broadcasting for a single network.

Channels 1 and 5 are very close to each other, but they won't interfere with each other. So unless the 5G frequency width actually overlaps with the frequency that water vapor molecules vibrate at, it wouldn't interfere with the equipment unless the equipment we use also looks at frequencies outside of the frequency of water vapor molecules.

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