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Wireless Networking China

Wi-Fi Router's 'Pregnant Women' Setting Sparks Vendor Rivalry In China 207

Posted by Soulskill from the placebo-compatible dept.
colinneagle writes: When one Chinese technology vendor, Qihoo, launched a new Wi-Fi router with a safety setting for "pregnant women," a rival vendor took offense to the implication that their routers might be dangerous. Xiamo, which also sells Wi-Fi routers, took to its page on Chinese social media site Weibo to denounce Qihoo's pregnant women mode as a "marketing tactic," and clarify that "Wi-Fi usage is safe."

Zhou Hongyi, chief executive and president of Qihoo, acknowledged in a statement to the South China Morning Post that there is no evidence supporting claims that Wi-Fi routers pose a risk for birth defects. But he said the company is appealing to consumers' beliefs, whether they are supported by science or not.

"We are targeting people who are afraid of radiation," Hongyi said. "We aren't scientists. We haven't done many experiments to prove how much damage the radiation from Wi-Fi can cause. We leave the right of choice to our customers."
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Wi-Fi Router's 'Pregnant Women' Setting Sparks Vendor Rivalry In China More

Wi-Fi Router's 'Pregnant Women' Setting Sparks Vendor Rivalry In China

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  • Illogical (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MSG ( 12810 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @03:30PM (#49988547)

    "We aren't scientists. We haven't done many experiments to prove how much damage the radiation from Wi-Fi can cause."

    If you haven't done any experiments to prove how much damage WiFi can cause, then how do you know that your APs are safe?

    • Re:Illogical (Score:5, Funny)

      by ArcadeMan ( 2766669 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @03:34PM (#49988609)

      He knows because their routers have a "pregnant women" setting. Didn't you read the article?

    • Re:Illogical (Score:5, Informative)

      by erice ( 13380 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @03:41PM (#49988691) Homepage

      "We aren't scientists. We haven't done many experiments to prove how much damage the radiation from Wi-Fi can cause."

      If you haven't done any experiments to prove how much damage WiFi can cause, then how do you know that your APs are safe?

      More precisely: even if you accept that WiFi damages unborn children, how can you be sure that "pregnant women mode" reduces the danger in any meaningful way if you have not done any experiments?

      • Re:Illogical (Score:5, Insightful)

        by suutar ( 1860506 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @04:13PM (#49989123)

        He doesn't. He's appealing to beliefs, whether supported by science or not - first, the belief that wifi radiation can be dangerous, and second, the belief that his widget is safer than the competition.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          He doesn't. He's appealing to beliefs, whether supported by science or not - first, the belief that wifi radiation can be dangerous, and second, the belief that his widget is safer than the competition.

          I'd say the competitor has poor marketing.

          With that "pregnant woman" setting, I'd go and say "My router is much safer than theirs. Theirs emits dangerous wifi - so dangerous they have to put in a pregnant woman setting to prevent their wifi from hurting your unborn child. Our wifi doesn't need that setting as

        • Sounds like "Grounding" or "Earthing". Pseudoscience dressed up for marketing as real science to people who lack any understanding for a product that does nothing but earn some money.

        • I'm going to go one step beyond.

          I'm going to market a homeopathic router. Radiated power measured in femtowatts, properly diluted with open air and succussed* correctly, will have an effective wifi range measured in light-years. I figure a good 30C dilution will work fine.

          (BTW, if the user doesn't get the proper range from the device in use, it'll be because they didn't hit the router correctly.)

          Problem, wifi router market?

      • They haven't done many experiments. The ones they performed, they did by ... decreasing the gain until a Raspberry Pi inside a cadaver lost connectivity? That sounds plausible, right?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by msauve ( 701917 )
        1. Build cheap WiFi AP with poor output/range.
        2. Market as "pregnant woman mode."
        3. ???
        4. Profit!
      • Yes, quite.

        We had to have this very conversation with several excitable mothers at my children's primary school a few years ago. There was a sudden demand that all Wi-Fi be turned off because it would turn the children into mutants, (or something).

        Fortunately at a meeting called to discuss the issue one of the fathers, who may have been a electrical engineer, explained the safety issues in such simple terms that even the homeopathic medicine users couldn't refute him, and they lost the vote about 50 - 3.

    • Re:Illogical (Score:5, Funny)

      by Drewdad ( 1738014 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @03:42PM (#49988713)

      Insert obligatory dihydrogen monoxide reference.

    • Seems just as likely that non-ionizing radiation from a Wi-Fi router causes hyper-intelligent babies. I mean if nobody is going to do any experiments before they open their mouths there is really no limit to the amount of speculation.

      • I don't think we want hyper-intelligent babies. They would probably talk back a lot and roll their eyes more often when you talk. Sass-mouth is already at epidemic proportions.

    • I've added checkbox (that can't be unchecked) that says "Disable Squirrel Grinder".

      I've done no research to prove how many other web pages grind squirrels, but as long as the checkbox on my webpage is checked, I can assure you that my webpage does not grind a single squirrel.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by drpimp ( 900837 )
      It's probably for marketing or CYA nonsense, but they failed. If they were smart they would have marketed it as "Pregnancy Mode". Enabling this mode will increase the chances of having a boy. In China I think this would be a genius marketing scheme.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kythe ( 4779 )
      Actually, the word "fraud" came to mind. But yes, "illogical", too.
      • Fraud implies a level of intelligence on the part of the perpetrator that I'm not convinced exists yet. It's quite possible this incident was intentionally deceptive, and therefore fraudulent, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility that the people working at this company aren't just really fucking stupid.

    • My router has electrolytes.

      Electrolytes are good.

    • If you haven't done any experiments to prove how much damage WiFi can cause, then how do you know that your APs are safe?

      It's easy: their routers are assembled by children.
      Since they have no health problems, it's obvious that the routers are also safe for pregnant women.

    • >If you haven't done any experiments to prove how much damage WiFi can cause, then how do you know that your APs are safe?

      Because they know that standard APs are safe..

      >. But he said the company is appealing to consumers' beliefs, whether they are supported by science or not.

      They know that they're marketing to delusional people. It'll probably improve their sales.
  • We are targeting stupid poor people. I'm not a doctor. I haven't done experiments to see if my elixir works. We leave the right of choice to our customers.

  • Not What I Thought It Meant (Score:5, Funny)

    by ranton ( 36917 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @03:33PM (#49988577)

    I originally thought the warning meant pregnant women are dangerous.

  • The blue LEDs on the front of the router emit... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 25, 2015 @03:33PM (#49988587)

    ...more and higher energy radiation than the wireless LAN antennas. Just FYI.

  • It just makes the router worse. (Score:4, Informative)

    by jandrese ( 485 ) <kensama@vt.edu> on Thursday June 25, 2015 @03:36PM (#49988629) Homepage Journal
    The description makes it sound like they just cut the Tx power on the router by two thirds when you enable the mode, which means it will just have a much shorter range. Even better: This would only help if the woman stayed near the router, she's going to get a lot more "radiation" from her laptop, since it has a similar radio and of course is much closer to her. Even if the science were sound, this wouldn't work. It's both dumb and pointless.

    • Parting fools from money not pointless at all, I have a bigger demographic in mind with my idea, the "Testicular Safety Mode", because chicks love guys that can "cum like a porn star", I have spam proving it

  • marketing (Score:3)

    by zlives ( 2009072 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @03:37PM (#49988645)

    Xiamo should have just put an add that the "Pregnant setting" is for pussies.... o wait

  • Me Chinese (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Me make router, make sure baby not look like flounder.

  • They're developing their own version with a switch that indicates full power, children present, and pregnant woman mode along with a power level LED. It will be wired completely independently of all wifi circuitry, thereby allowing you to reduce the power level LED without affecting the range or speed of the router.

  • Qihoo is dangerous! (Score:5, Informative)

    by penguinoid ( 724646 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @03:42PM (#49988703) Homepage Journal

    The Qihoo router normally emits dangerous-sounding em radiation, by default. Best to avoid their routers, but if you're stuck with them be sure to enable the safe mode. Other companies' routers always run in safe mode, which is why they don't have that setting.

  • This router big rip off! (Score:5, Funny)

    by RevWaldo ( 1186281 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @03:42PM (#49988717)
    Hold up to wife's belly one full month! Still no baby!

    .

  • Because that is frankly the only thing that could be done for pregnant women in a wireless router...

    Some understanding of the technology and science required though, as usual. Anybody that thinks in terms of "radiation" does not have that understanding.

    • Remember, this is China, so it would need to be a blue UI; a pink UI would be aborted before they even started UX testing.

  • What about fan death? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by LightStruk ( 228264 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @03:45PM (#49988759)

    Stories like this make me wonder if anyone in Korea refuses to use a desktop or laptop because they have fans in them.

    • You mean, like, Sudden In-fan Death Syndrome?

      I slay me.

      • You mean, like, Sudden In-fan Death Syndrome?

        I slay me.

        Please do.. Only next time, before you hit send OK?

    • They only refuse to sleep in an enclosed room with their fans running. It after all will suck all the oxygen out of an enclosed room....

      • What amazes me are stories that Chinese medical practitioners routinely warn against 'fan death'. Not sure I'd want superstitious fools like that treating me for a health condition, regardless of their qualifications.

    • I thought it was fan usage in closed rooms.

      But I'm not Korean. I have no idea what their hangup is.

    • I bet you could make a killing selling fans advertised to not cause fan death there.

      There are probably a few people who fall for this nonsense that might even buy rocks that don't cause cancer.

  • Actually it increases the power (Score:3)

    by rhysweatherley ( 193588 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @04:00PM (#49988961)
    The power is actually increased, not decreased, by the pregnancy mode. This is to penetrate the womb and let the child surf the net to find a new set of parents to adopt them once born. New parents that aren't afraid of technology.

    • The power is actually increased, not decreased, by the pregnancy mode. This is to penetrate the womb and let the child surf the net to find a new set of parents to adopt them once born. New parents that aren't afraid of technology.

      That'll be handy, because parents who are afraid of technology are really going to be freaked out by a kid who doesn't need a computer to pick up WiFi.

  • I think I'll take my business of Tiger-Repelling Rocks to China. And I even have data! I have carried my own Tiger-Repelling Rock for over 2000 hours without any encounter with a tiger. To my knowledge, no one I have given--er, sold one to has encountered a tiger.

    I'm sure I can find a priest who will bless my inventory as well, so people will be able to buy Holy Tiger-Repelling Rocks! Every person needs one, you never know when there will be a tiger!

  • The real question is: is there asbestos [xkcd.com] in their router?

  • If they're really worried about radiation (Score:5, Interesting)

    by satsuke ( 263225 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @04:20PM (#49989205)

    If someone is really worried about radiation from wifi, they'd be well advised to not have _any_ wifi devices in the home, if not actually living some large distance from anyone else with same devices.

    They'd also want to avoid cell phones too..

    Actually, such a person would just become a hermit.

    • If I'm not mistaken, even the electrical cables in the walls of one's house broadcast EM radiation when in use. So with that in mind, electricity itself must be 'bad'.

      Let's go back to burning dung for cooking and lighting, the damage to our lungs from the fumes will be nothing compared to the health benefits we'll get from shutting off those goddamned commie electrons.

    • Naw, it's called a faraday cage, you can build one into your living room... Well, unless you are trying to get way from ALL radiation.... Then I'm not sure where you go for that... A lead lined room isn't going to work out well, under ground is not good.... Not to mention that it's going to get darn cold if you eliminate all thermal radiation....

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @04:37PM (#49989427)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Technically all APs have a 'pregnant women' mode.. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by kheldan ( 1460303 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @04:40PM (#49989481) Journal
    ..and it's activated by turning the power switch to 'Off'.

    If it really worries you that much then unplug the damned thing from the wall, along with turning off your cellphone, and any other RF-enabled devices you may have. Toss your microwave oven into the trash. While you're at it line the walls, floors, and ceiling with aluminum foil (don't forget the door!) and ground it to a solid earth ground, forming a Faraday cage. Be sure to have 9 month supply of food and water on hand.

  • Call it "nice neighbor mode" (Score:4, Interesting)

    by davidwr ( 791652 ) on Thursday June 25, 2015 @04:58PM (#49989695) Homepage Journal

    Or maybe "small apartment mode."

    If I could, I would configure my WiFi router to be smart about its transmit power:

    I would have a "low power" mode on the router so it could be "seen" within a relatively small radius, but it would increase power as needed to stay connected to a device once that device authenticated. Once all authenticated connections went out of range or disconnected, it would drop back to "low power" mode.

    • If I could, I would configure my WiFi router to be smart about its transmit power:

      that seems like something you could do with a not so small shell script. does your router have shell access?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gTsiros ( 205624 )

      don't they already do this? i suspect they do.

  • This is the image that came to my mind when I read this heading.
    http://origin.funnymeme.com/wp... [funnymeme.com]

  • There's no scientific evidence to support that lighting a stove on Saturday for use on Sunday is better for the soul, or that having the light come on in the refrigerator when I open it Monday through Saturday is fine, but distracts me from god on Sunday. There are a lot of people that believe those things, so the manufacturer accommodates them.

    • But God wants you to waste resources, create excess pollution, and hire labor to do trivial tasks for you (like pressing buttons), despite the fact that this will clearly bar them from receiving His grace.

      Yep, sounds about right for a religion.

      /I would think that a reasonable deity would prefer you be more efficient, not less. OTOH, a friend and I often have this discussion, and the conclusion is that very few people are so ultra-orthodox as to practice this sort of behavior.

  • Aren't you more comfortable knowing that your lettuce is 'gluten free'?
    You wouldn't want to drink beer without the 'lead free' label, would you?
    And your linens should definitely have the 'underwriters lab' approval.
    I surely hope your grapes have the 'no trans-fats' designation.

    Products have long had labels for consumer safety. Excessive use of similar terms, often for products that have no need of such claims, can undermine the usefulness of the labels that *are* important.

  • Submitting patent for "Male Enhancement" setting now...

  • Screw the pregnant women setting... tell me more about this "wall penetration" mode!

  • Do NOT allow Jenny McCarthy to learn of this! This is probably the breakthrough in finding out what really causes autism! It's those damned routers!

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