Wifi: how to reduce sending power

[willybNL]

I have a Siemens SX551 WLAN dsl - Wifi router - (in The Netherlands called the 'KPN Experia box') and I am able to setup it's sending power.

Now I wonder, what would be the best option to set this up?
Example:

I want to beam as less waves as possible, so I put it in '802.11G' mode only. I really hate it when my network is available in the whole village (just like I can see all my neighbours' networks now) - and I'm not talking about hiding SSID etc, but really reducing the power up to what I need.

The question:
But does my macbook work like GSM works if the connection isn't that great? E.g. will my macbook start sending more power? Or is this option reserved to the accesspoints? Is there a software program so I can see how much power my macbook emits (iStumbler only lets me see how much the router emits).

 

[yg17]

Why not just leave the power settings the way they are and secure your network with WPA2 so no one besides you can use it?

 

[willybNL]

Why not just leave the power settings the way they are and secure your network with WPA2 so no one besides you can use it?

Well... 2 points:
- Radiation, can't be good for you, so why use more then you need?
- With more then 20 wifi networks here in the village it's starting to become clear people need to reduce the power, or the networks are just in each other's way.

And be sure; the network is already secure... (mac-filter, wpa2 and ssid hidden).

 

[RITZFit]

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen such an option explicitly defined on a router lol. Donno about monitoring the macbook's power output but have done any trial and error to seem what's the minimum setting and distance possible/you can use?

 

[willybNL]

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen such an option explicitly defined on a router lol. Donno about monitoring the macbook's power output but have done any trial and error to seem what's the minimum setting and distance possible/you can use?

These options are on many routers.

25% was still enough to get signal and work... but if WIFI works like GSM my macbook will start radio'ing more and more... so I wonder.... that's the question

p.s. In the Netherlands some dokters are expressing their worries about these networks now (link translated using google). One of the reasons to try to reduce this now.

The question:
Does my macbook work like GSM works, if the connection isn't that great? E.g. will it start sending more power? Or is this option reserved to the accesspoints? Is there a software program so I can see how much power my macbook emits (iStumbler only lets me see how much the router emits).