How do radio and Wi-Fi signals actually work?

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I don’t think I was ever taught this but thinking about it it seems like suck a futuristic concept and I wanna know how they both work. Like, how do these things send invisible, intangible signals?

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33 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

AM audio broadcast is probably the easiest to explain since it’s not digital.
Let’s first start with audio. Audio is a pressure wave traveling through air. A pure wave is just a simple whistle or hum tone depending on the frequency. You can add frequencies together, if you do it randomly you will get white noise. If you do it in a very very specific way you will get spoken words or music.

Now we need to turn that pressure frequency somehow into electrical current. For that we can use the convenient tool called the microphone which can just do that 1 to 1.

If you now want to transmit it, you have to add just one more frequency which is called the carrier. Let’s pick on from the visible light spectrum for example green. AM stands for amplitude modulation and just means we make our green light brighter or dimmer. If we add our signal to the green light it gets brighter and dimmer exactly like our audio signal.

Everyone who sees our flickering light just needs to know that we added the green frequency to our signal. If they remove the green part they will have exactly the original audio signal and just have to feed it through some speakers to turn it back into pressure waves.

In reality the carrier frequency is much lower than visible light and there are many different and more efficient ways to add information to the carrier.

Anonymous 0 Comments

AM audio broadcast is probably the easiest to explain since it’s not digital.
Let’s first start with audio. Audio is a pressure wave traveling through air. A pure wave is just a simple whistle or hum tone depending on the frequency. You can add frequencies together, if you do it randomly you will get white noise. If you do it in a very very specific way you will get spoken words or music.

Now we need to turn that pressure frequency somehow into electrical current. For that we can use the convenient tool called the microphone which can just do that 1 to 1.

If you now want to transmit it, you have to add just one more frequency which is called the carrier. Let’s pick on from the visible light spectrum for example green. AM stands for amplitude modulation and just means we make our green light brighter or dimmer. If we add our signal to the green light it gets brighter and dimmer exactly like our audio signal.

Everyone who sees our flickering light just needs to know that we added the green frequency to our signal. If they remove the green part they will have exactly the original audio signal and just have to feed it through some speakers to turn it back into pressure waves.

In reality the carrier frequency is much lower than visible light and there are many different and more efficient ways to add information to the carrier.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Radio and Wi-Fi signals work by transmitting information through electromagnetic waves. These waves are generated by alternating the electric and magnetic fields of the signal, which then travels through the air or other mediums, such as cables. The receiving device, such as a radio or Wi-Fi router, then decodes the electromagnetic waves back into usable information.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Radio and Wi-Fi signals work by transmitting information through electromagnetic waves. These waves are generated by alternating the electric and magnetic fields of the signal, which then travels through the air or other mediums, such as cables. The receiving device, such as a radio or Wi-Fi router, then decodes the electromagnetic waves back into usable information.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Radio and Wi-Fi signals work by transmitting information through electromagnetic waves. These waves are generated by alternating the electric and magnetic fields of the signal, which then travels through the air or other mediums, such as cables. The receiving device, such as a radio or Wi-Fi router, then decodes the electromagnetic waves back into usable information.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Radio and Wi-Fi signals are types of electromagnetic waves, which are a type of energy that travels through space. Electromagnetic waves are made up of two parts: electric and magnetic fields, which fluctuate together in a certain pattern.

Radio waves are produced by electrical charges that oscillate back and forth on a transmitter, like a radio tower. These electrical charges create changes in the electric and magnetic fields around the transmitter, which then propagate outwards as a wave. When these waves reach a receiver, like a radio or phone, they are detected by an antenna. The antenna converts the changes in the electric and magnetic fields into an electrical signal, which can then be processed into the sound or data that we hear or see.

Wi-Fi signals work similarly to radio waves, but at higher frequencies and shorter wavelengths. Wi-Fi signals are produced by an antenna in a router or access point, which creates radio waves that carry data. These waves are then detected by an antenna in your device, like a laptop or phone, which converts the waves into electrical signals that can be processed by the device’s hardware and software.

So essentially, radio and Wi-Fi signals work by creating and detecting changes in electric and magnetic fields, which propagate through space as waves and can be detected by antennas.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Radio and Wi-Fi signals are types of electromagnetic waves, which are a type of energy that travels through space. Electromagnetic waves are made up of two parts: electric and magnetic fields, which fluctuate together in a certain pattern.

Radio waves are produced by electrical charges that oscillate back and forth on a transmitter, like a radio tower. These electrical charges create changes in the electric and magnetic fields around the transmitter, which then propagate outwards as a wave. When these waves reach a receiver, like a radio or phone, they are detected by an antenna. The antenna converts the changes in the electric and magnetic fields into an electrical signal, which can then be processed into the sound or data that we hear or see.

Wi-Fi signals work similarly to radio waves, but at higher frequencies and shorter wavelengths. Wi-Fi signals are produced by an antenna in a router or access point, which creates radio waves that carry data. These waves are then detected by an antenna in your device, like a laptop or phone, which converts the waves into electrical signals that can be processed by the device’s hardware and software.

So essentially, radio and Wi-Fi signals work by creating and detecting changes in electric and magnetic fields, which propagate through space as waves and can be detected by antennas.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Radio and Wi-Fi signals are types of electromagnetic waves, which are a type of energy that travels through space. Electromagnetic waves are made up of two parts: electric and magnetic fields, which fluctuate together in a certain pattern.

Radio waves are produced by electrical charges that oscillate back and forth on a transmitter, like a radio tower. These electrical charges create changes in the electric and magnetic fields around the transmitter, which then propagate outwards as a wave. When these waves reach a receiver, like a radio or phone, they are detected by an antenna. The antenna converts the changes in the electric and magnetic fields into an electrical signal, which can then be processed into the sound or data that we hear or see.

Wi-Fi signals work similarly to radio waves, but at higher frequencies and shorter wavelengths. Wi-Fi signals are produced by an antenna in a router or access point, which creates radio waves that carry data. These waves are then detected by an antenna in your device, like a laptop or phone, which converts the waves into electrical signals that can be processed by the device’s hardware and software.

So essentially, radio and Wi-Fi signals work by creating and detecting changes in electric and magnetic fields, which propagate through space as waves and can be detected by antennas.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I’d love someone to tie these awesome explanations into why or how wifi, 5g etc couldn’t possibly damage or mess with your cells or brain synapses. For these folks that believe this, the radiation being non-ionizing isnt remotely enough.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I’d love someone to tie these awesome explanations into why or how wifi, 5g etc couldn’t possibly damage or mess with your cells or brain synapses. For these folks that believe this, the radiation being non-ionizing isnt remotely enough.