DEVICE LOCATES HOTSPOTS, DISPLAYS WIFI INFORMATION
More and more venues are becoming hotspots. In this case, I'm not
referring to some trendy new nightclub or vacation oasis. The
Hotspots I'm talking about are those places where your portable
computer, PDA, cell phone or other web-enabled device can wirelessly
access the Internet. Using the wireless 802.11x protocol better
known as WiFi, these Hotspots can be found in airports, libraries,
coffee houses, restaurants, shopping malls and just about any other
public location you can imagine. But unless there's a sign posted
somewhere, you may not be able to easily find one. Normally, the
only way to find a Hotspot is to turn on your portable computer and
have it see if it can detect the WiFi signal. That may be a rather
large pain given that it's not usually that easy to take your laptop
out of its case, turn it on, wait for it to boot up and then let it
try and detect the signal. And walking around with your open
computer may prove to be not only daunting, but even a bit
embarrassing. Plus even if you do detect a signal, there's no
guarantee it's an open Hotspot intended for general public access.
It's very possible that you may have stumbled onto a private network
where you cannot get online without a password.
What is needed is some kind of Hotspot detector that not only
senses the WiFi signal but can also give you the Hotspot's relevant
information. Until now, the current batch of detectors could only
display the presence of the signal and its strength. But the Digital
Hotspotter from Canary Wireless (www.canarywireless.com) is the
first such device that shows you everything you need to know.
 The
Digital Hotspotter is a second generation WiFi detection and
analysis device that sports an LCD screen which reads out everything
you need to know about a detected WiFi signal. Unlike its
predecessors that can only detect a signal's strength by a series of
colored lights, the Digital Hotspotter's screen has a
signal-strength indicator that shows a series of bars, much like the
way most cell phones display signal strength. The more bars you see,
the stronger the signal. After you find a signal, the Digital
Hotspotter will display the network ID or SSID which is usually the
name of the signal provider. For example, if you were at a local
Starbucks, you would see the T-Mobile name on the screen since
that's the WiFi provider used by the nationwide coffeehouse chain.
The other most important piece of information you can check is
the encryption status. Since most Hotspots in public places are
intended for public usage, no encryption key is necessary to gain
access and the Digital Hotspotter will display the word "Open" on
its screen. If it's not open, chances are the people who put it
there don't want you using it. Finally, the WiFi channel number can
be indicated on the Digital Hotspotter's screen. This can be of
value in Hotspots that use more than one channel in order to cover a
big location that exceeds the 300 foot range limitation of the WiFi
signal. In cases like that such as in a school for example,
different areas will be assigned different channels to avoid any
overlapping or crosstalk that might occur when placing WiFi
transceivers too closely together.
So after detecting the WiFi signal with your Digital Hotspotter
and determining all of the pertinent information about it, you can
then decide whether or not to open up your portable computer and
begin your online session. With a Digital Hotspotter in your hand,
you can quickly and easily determine if your Internet-ready device
is ready to reach out and touch someone. And at $49.95, it makes for
a great stocking stuffer.
www.canarywireless.com |
