 The
trouble with WiFi hotspots is that they are difficult to spot, most
of the time you end up having to power on your device only to find
no hotspot, so when we had the chance to review a WiFi finder we
hoped this would be the answer to the wasted laptop boot up
sequence.The Kensington WiFi finder we have on test is about the
size of a pack of chewing gum and runs on 2 CR2032 batteries,
operation really couldn't be more simple, just power on and wait
while the wifi finder searches the local area on the 11 allocated
802.11b/g channels. The thin device can sniff out wifi signals for
over 200 feet and these are indicated by a row of 3 LED's on the
front of the finder, other signals on the crowded RF spectrum
do not effect the hotspot detection even Bluetooth and DECT cordless
phones.
Where we would normally walk into a station and start looking for
those hotspot signs which are so well concealed (a strange trait of
the hotspot providers) and fire up a laptop enduring the XP boot up
just to find no networks in range using the Kensington wifi finder
is a different experience. Clipped onto a keyring securely using
it's built in loop, we pressed the single control button and waited
as the device sniffed the airwaves the first location showed no
networks, so onto another area and finally success two of the three
LED's lit so time to fire up our Vaio to see what we had found.
Sure enough there was a hotspot one of the many BT Open world
networks available in the UK, of course the one thing you can't see
from this simple device is if the network is a private or secured
network, a laptop can do this and it would be a nice addition to the
finder.
Priced at just £10.50 its a great companion for anyone who
travels around relying on finding wifi hotspots to keep connected to
the outside world, it also seems pretty bomb proof and reliable too.
More Office Gadgets -
[ Up ] [ Olympus Digital Voice Recorder W-10 ] [ Logitech Trackman Wheel ] [ Expansys USB Storage ] [ Starck Optical Mouse ] [ Nokia SU-1B Digital Pen ] [ iTech Virtual keyboard Review ] [ Motorola HF800 ] [ ZyXEL AG-225H WiFi Sniffer ] [ Iqua Smart Badge ] [ Western Digital Passport ] [ Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse ] [ WiFi Finder ] [ Targus Wireless Multimedia Presenter ] [ Targus Wireless Remote Presenter ] [ Targus Business Card Reader ] |
