The electromagnetic wave absorption characteristics of composite cement-based building material have attracted much interest in recent times. Researchers have mainly focused on the 2 GHz to 12 GHz frequency range. Mobile and wireless communication systems use frequencies from 800 MHz upwards. The determination of characteristics such as reflection loss, absorption, attenuation and shielding effectiveness are crucial in the evaluation and development of these materials for the building industry. Absorption is an indication of how much of the EMW energy enters the material. Attenuation indicates how much of the absorbed energy is converted into other forms of energy by the material. Shielding effectiveness (SE) is a combination of reflection loss, attenuation and multiple internal reflections and attenuations. This research determined these characteristics by measuring the S11 and S21 parameters of the composite cement-based material in the GSM and WiFi frequency bands. The time domain gating function of a vector network analyser is applied to measure the reflection from the material. The data was then used to obtain the reflection and absorption losses in the frequency bands. The transmission loss was measured by placing the sample in the propagation path between two antennas. MnZn-ferrite and electrolytic manganese dioxide in powder form were evaluated as absorber material to increase the permeability of the cement-based material to improve absorption and attenuation capabilities to create a cost-effective practical electromagnetic wave absorber. The compound of the cement-based material was cement, sifted river sand and filler powder. The results achieved in the research showed the uniqueness of electrolytic manganese dioxide as filler in composite cement based material for electromagnetic wave shielding effectiveness improvement. The combined measurement techniques used in this research were uniquely used to determine the required electromagnetic wave absorption characteristics and shielding effectiveness of 10 dB was measured in the GSM850 and GSM900 frequency bands. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted