[imchillyb]

Uh... Millimeter wave communication is radio communication. Radio antenna.

Microwaves are not similar nor are cellular radios able to utilize microwave communications.

Microwave towers are specifically built at great height and are utilized for long distance communications.

One cannot turn a cellular device into a microwave, nor can one utilize microwaves to achieve cellular communications.

[stephen_g]

Microwave is a ridiculously broad term. By some definitions it is any signal from about 300MHz to 300GHz, but in the industry we don't really consider it microwave until you get to L-band (1-2GHz), and even then, compared to a lot of stuff we do that's extremely low frequency (I've worked mostly in X, Ka and E-bands - ~7-9, 18-19, 28-31 GHz up to 80-90GHz). But WiFi and cellular are definitely microwave, as are the big point-to-point links you're talking about.

Not that I'm agreeing with the parent comment - having worked in the microwave comms industry (and a little bit of radar) for about 10 years, the best explanation I've heard for 'Havana Syndrome' is closer to food poisioning than anything to do with RF. I think the US Government has basically walked back any claims that they were actual attacks recently too.

[tlb]

Microwave ovens run at 2.4 GHz. 4G cellular includes 2.3 and 2.5 GHz bands (among others). So in terms of absorption by tissue, cell towers absolutely have the right frequencies.

What they don’t have is the power level to have much effect beyond a few feet.

[fulafel]

Besides things in pointed out in the other replies, I think the main error in this mental model is assuming there's a category difference between radio and microwave.

Microwave is just a term for a largish swath of the spectrum that encompasses millimeter wave, and lots of cell phone bands, and frequencies used in point-to-point microwave links, frequencies used by your microwave oven, wifi, etc.

[kuschku]

WiFi is microwave radiation. Just three orders of magnitude less powerful.

[numlock86]

> Just three orders of magnitude less powerful.

For FCC that might be the case. CE/RED in Europe goes even as low (or as high, depending on which way you want to see it) as four orders of magnitude.