Unwanted tranmissions when connected to internet via Ethernet and during Boot

Ask Fedora
, , ,
1

Hello Everyone,

I have been an Apple user and finally decided to switch over to Linux due to privacy concerns.

I have spent the last 3 days trying different distros (Pop!_OS, Ubuntu, Fedora, elementary OS, Mint, Manjaro, openSUSE, Lubuntu, Cubes, and I attempted Debian but got hung up on the installation).

I only use Ethernet to connect to the internet, never Wifi or any wireless. This is for health reasons.

I am using a 2013 Macbook Air.

I have 2 problems.

  1. Every time I boot up to a USB drive while holding down the option key while starting up there is a strong radio frequency spike that is transmitted at startup. I have a radio frequency meter and have noticed that this happens every time. I do not want my computer to do this. I talked to a tech friend awhile back and he said that it is probably something to do with the BIOS. Any ideas on how to adjust the BIOS settings?

  2. This is the much bigger problem and it was a universal issue regardless of which Linux OS that I had tried from the above list. Whenever I would plug in my tp-link Ethernet-to-USB-adapter, there would be a steady Wifi pulsing. I shut off bluetooth and checked that the computer was configured to connect to the internet via Ethernet with every single operating system that I tried. While using Mint, I was able to unplug and replug in the adapter a few times to get the wifi transmission to stop. But now I can´t seem to get that to work. I tried all three flavors of Mint (Cinnamon, MATE, xfce) and it no longer works to unplug and plug in the adapter in order to stop the wifi transmissions.

Fedora is one of my top choices for an OS but I will have to get another computer if I can´t figure out how to turn off the low power wifi pulsations. I was thinking that this might be a BIOS issue too.

Any ideas on what I need to do to disable all wireless functionality on my laptop?

1 Like
2

Added bios-issue, macbook, network and removed bluetooth, cinnamon

3

Added macos-transition

4

Unrelated to your health concerns, this is outside of Fedora.

Dont get me wrong, I understand your concern and we can figure it out.

I understood you want to use ethernet only, and your macbook is pretty old. Cant you just open it up and remove the wifi card? Or if that is not possible, remove the antennas from the wifi card by just plugging them out?

There is likely no fix for this, note that your Macbook is really old and has insecure, proprietary, outdated firmware. Unless that firmware is reverse engineered and applied to the device (by flashing it onto a hardware chip), which will not happen, there is no way to change the behavior of the BIOS.

To find a guide, a model number would for sure be helpful

Btw. Welcome to Fedora!

2 Likes
6

Added hardware and removed macos-transition

7

Thank you for the suggestion and the welcome.

I used this tutorial to remove the Wifi card…

That solved the Booting issue.

But the second problem remains. I am still getting the radio frequency pulsing when the Ethernet adapter is plugged in.

The model number is A1466 EMC 2632

If I can not figure out a solution I will sell it and look for another.

1 Like
8

Also, it does not seem to be an issue with the adapter. I did not have this problem when running the Mac OS.

9

If you dont have a wifi card anymore, the issue must lie with the adapter.

So, that macbook already has no ethernet port anymore?

What adapter is that? It may be the reason. A normal usb-ethernet adapter shouldnt emit any wifi frequencies.

But not sure about other frequencies. Maybe your sensor is quite sensitive and these are simply pulses that go through the cable on initialization.

A shielded cable could help here.

But if I may ask, why do you want to avoid these?

10

You wrote > But not sure about other frequencies. Maybe your sensor is quite sensitive and these are simply pulses that go through the cable on initialization.

This is correct. But it is ongoing, not just initialization.

I mis-associated the pulsing with the wifi.

Because the power level of the pulsing is much lower than typical wifi, it is likely a form of electromagnetic interference (EMI) generated through some interaction between the adapter and computer.

The frequencies probably range from kilohertz pushing up into the radio frequency (wireless) range. Thus moving through the air. But the power density reading does drop off relatively quickly as I move the meter away from the adapter.

This model of laptop does not have a built in Ethernet port and so I have to use a USB adapter.

The brand on the adapter is TP Link.

The radio frequency meter that I have is accurate and sensitive.

The reason that I suspect that this is a Linux issue (or maybe I should say an Apple issue) is that I never had this issue with the adapter when running the Mac OS. I checked many times. It seems to me that running the Linux based operating systems causes the computer to function differently, creating unwanted frequencies, some of which get into the range of 650 MHz to 12 GHz (the range of the meter).

The cable is shielded but the point source for the transmission is the adapter. It continues transmitting even when I unplug the Ethernet cable from the adapter, (so it is not frequencies traveling through the cable from the router). It only stops when I unplug the adapter. A few times I was able to unplug the adapter, then plug it back in and use the internet without the unwanted transmissions but I have not been able to do that again for awhile.

The reason that all of this is a concern is that I had a mystery illness of internal bleeding (pooping blood) for a few days per month for almost three years. I found some studies about microwaves causing intestinal bleeding. I got rid of my cell phone and the problem went away and has not come back for 5 years now, since I stopped using wireless tech.

Since then I have studied the topic a lot and know several people who have been harmed by electromagnetic radiation. In all of our situations it was not psycho-somatic. We did not know of the danger at the time and were trying to figure out what was making us sick.

If you want to go down that rabbit hole you can check out the Ted Talk by Jeremy Johnson, he has some good hacks on low EMF computer set ups. If you want to read some science you might check out the BioInitiative Report. If you prefer your science to come from the government, you can look at the work of Dr. Zory Glasser. If you prefer a historical, ecological or big picture perspective The Invisible Rainbow is a fascinating read.

Pretty straight forward, cause and effect.

Thank you again for your attention to this matter. I do appreciate the information.

It seems like I will not be able to adjust any settings on the computer to resolve this issue based on what you said before. So unless there is some new information I think I will look for a different machine to run Linux on.

11

I tried a different Ethernet adapter. Problem solved.
Thanks for the ideas boredsquirrel.

1 Like
12

Apple MacBook Air (Mid-2013) Specs say is has USB3, which uses higher frequencies than USB2 (in the cable), see: Impact of USB 3.0 Noise (Intel White Paper) RF interference from low quality cables and adapters is a known problem, and older hardware with worn-out connectors might lose some shileding. Computers that support NetBoot includes Macbook Air “introduced in 2017 or earlier”. These have stripped down drivers in firmware, but they would not support a USB WiFI dongle. There is also BlueTooth support for mouse and keyboard.

A worn connector could contribute to RF leakage. If the TP Link adapter has been heavily used in the same port, there can be mirror-image wear patterns that make shielding less effective. Swapping with a new adapter may be enough provide effective shielding, and/or the new adapter may provide better shielding.

13

Thank you George.
The Tp-link adapter (the one that was problematic) is fairly new, I bought it within the last year.

The generic off brand one that is not causing the problem is older.

My guess is that the issue is something specific to the combination of Mac + Tp-link adapter. Though I could not say why.