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The Wired Plan: Reducing EMF at Home

We're planning a low-EMF home setup—wired internet, less Wi-Fi, and fewer signals where we sleep. It’s about giving Sam’s immune system every advantage we can. And probably helping the rest of us, too.

The Wired Plan: Reducing EMF at Home

We're writing this from a treatment centre in Mexico. Sam is almost at the end of his first round of onsite treatment at Hope4Cancer. One of the early diagnostic insights surprised us: his body is dealing with significant electromagnetic interference. Not just a little static. A measurable, system-wide burden.

The suspected culprits? Wi-Fi, phones, Bluetooth, computer monitors. All the stuff that makes up modern life. It's not that these things are inherently evil. It's that when you're living with aggressive, late-stage cancer, you want your immune system focused on one thing: the fight.

So, while we're here working on that from the inside, we're also planning how to support it from the outside.

The Science (In Brief)

The WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (like those from mobile phones and Wi-Fi) as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B)—which means "the evidence isn't conclusive, but there's enough of a question to warrant caution." IARC Press Release IARC Monograph

Most safety standards focus on thermal effects (how much radiation heats tissue), but some researchers argue this ignores potential non-thermal biological effects, like oxidative stress, sleep disruption, or immune interference. Non-Thermal Effects Review Frontiers in Public Health Study While major organizations like the NCI and CDC maintain that consumer-level exposures aren't proven to cause harm, the debate continues, and for us, caution feels right. NCI Fact Sheet CDC Non-Ionizing Radiation

We're not acting on fear. We're acting on principle: if Sam's immune system is already under siege, we want to remove any non-essential stressors. EMFs are one of them.

A Renter's Dilemma and a Bedroom Problem

Our Wi-Fi router is currently installed in our eldest's bedroom. That wasn't an intentional choice; it's just where the broadband modem was installed and so it's where we plugged things in. We didn't really think much about it. It wasn't such a big deal before as the room was primarily used as my workspace. But then it became our nursery for a little while. And now the eldest kid's bedroom.

But now that we know Sam's body is reacting to electromagnetic interference (and probably everyone else in the family as well), it can't stay there.

We haven't figured out where it will go yet—we're not rewiring walls or digging trenches to the shed. But it has to move. And when it does, we want the new setup to be better. Less wireless, more deliberate. That's the core of this plan: take a house that has run on convenience and turn it into a house that runs on intention.

Making a Wired Home (Without Breaking the Lease)

We started with the idea that everything should stay reversible. No drilling, no wall modifications, no landlord complaints. From there, we mapped out a gear list that would let us shift the house from always-on Wi-Fi to a mostly-wired network.

We chose the ASUS RT-AX53U router because it lets us reduce signal strength and schedule downtime. We'll use powerline adapters (the TP-Link TL-PA7017P Kit) to send internet through the house's electrical wiring. That means Sam's workspaces, the kids' study zones, and the main living area can all get internet via Ethernet without crawling under the house.

Ethernet switches in shared spaces will let us plug in multiple devices—TV, consoles, laptops—without fighting over ports. And flat Cat6 cables with adhesive clips will let us route everything neatly without messing up the walls.

It won't be glamorous. But it should work.

The Human Side of the Reboot

We've got three kids. The eldest is 14, the middle is 11, and the youngest is three. All of them use tech in different ways: study, games, shows, chats with grandparents. We don't want to cut them off. But we need to change how we're using devices.

For the older two, we're planning to offer wired access for study and gaming. We'll ask them to switch to airplane mode overnight. Charging will happen outside the bedrooms. We want them to understand the why, not just follow rules.

For the toddler, we'll prioritise downloaded content over streaming on portable devices. Ideally, we'll watch more things together, on the main TV, which will also be hardwired. If that ends up being less than practical, we'll explore using a USB-C hub with an ethernet port to be able to use the iPad in wired mode as well.

Some devices, though, aren't so easily tamed. Mobile phones still need to make calls, and while we can set them to airplane mode when not in use, we'll rely more on cellular than Wi-Fi. And our baby monitor, which we still use because our youngest's room is at the opposite end of the house (and we're probably a little addicted to the easy reassurance and access for grandparents it provides) doesn't have a wired option at all. So, we may need to let that go.

These are the compromises. For devices that can't be wired, we'll focus on proximity, usage windows, and location. Keeping signals out of bedrooms, especially overnight, is still a win.

And for us? Sam will probably find these changes harder than anyone. The phone is a lifeline during treatment, for research, distraction, staying connected. But it's also a source of constant stimulation. We're planning to give him a wired laptop station, set up a charging point outside the bedroom, and build in more phone-free time overnight.

Cost Snapshot (AUD, as of July 2025)

We'll let you know how it goes!

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