WiFi Seeker, Finder, Detector Roundup

captainJam points to this review at handtops.com of five reasonably priced hardware WiFi finders. A snippet: "If you're not using a WiFi enabled PDA, you either have to turn on your handtop or laptop, or wake it from standby just to check if there's a network in the area. While a WiFi Finder / Seeker won't make a connection out of thin air, it will conveniently tell you whether there is a WiFi network in the area."

Comments

Home Depot selling these?

[Linuxathome]

You know WiFe technology has really been commoditized and has hit the mainstream when Home Depot is selling the stuff. I wouldn't be surprised now to see them stock these WiFi detectors, a great tool for the homeowner who wants to optimize his/her home network. They sell meters for just about every other wired products (RJ11, RJ45, etc.)

Re:Application?

[revscat]

Wardriving isn't illegal. I had one of these when I went to San Francisco and used it to tell which restaurants/cafes/coffee shops had free wifi access. Sometimes they advertised it on the window, sometimes they didn't. If I got a ping I at least knew I was on the right track.

Accessing a network you don't have permission to access is illegal (and, frankly, immoral). I never once did that, even though I very well could have.

encrypted?

[VE3ECM]

Well, only one of the devices is able to detect if a node is running encryption.

At about 2X the cost of the cheapest one (50 vs. 25 bucks), it's easily worth the expense.

I dunno about you, but the amount of time it would take me to get my laptop out of my bag, fire it up, and try to connect isn't minor.

The ability to show if I'm wasting my time or not is worth the extra 25 bucks.

Re:Application?

[aaza]

1. "Hmmm, I wonder how far I can get from the office, and still be connected to the network..."

2. "I wonder if someone else has a WiFi connection in my appartment block that is causing problems with my laptop connection to my home network" (do they interfere? Or can you just choose which to connect to?)

3. "Does this library have WiFi?" (Yeah, I know. Ask at the desk. But what kind of self-respecting geek asks, when he/she can find out for him/herself?)

Laugh. It's funny.

Hm..

[kaitou]

That sort of thing would probably be pretty useless here in NYC.

The problem is, that a lot of networks -seem- open, but require a login once you are connected, and around here, you are never far from a signal, so I just never found it worthwhile to plunk down the $30 or so they ask for them.

The only one of them that I find interesting is the Canary one, which actualy has an LCD that shows you the SSID of the network. But I am not sure it's worth the $50 to me, but it's a much better value then any of the "if the light blinks, you got WiFi" ones.

Re:time

[saitoh]

Ever go sniffing in places that are... well, less then suitable to carry around a laptop (or conceil one while sniffing)?

No, these don't tell you if you can connect, but it at least brings us one step closer to wether there is a network at all.

Re:time

[wpc4]

Well, as the article says the Canary device does indeed detect SID/Channel as well as if WEP is enabled.

What I saw while reading the article...

[fmaxwell]

So we pulled out our Smart Id WiFi detector, purchased at ThinkGeek and proceeded to walk the streets, laptops in backpacks, Wifi detector in hand.

Lo and behold, a few blocks from the hotel we found our first wifi hotspot, only to find it was secure. We walked on only to find another secure hotspot. After walking the French Quarter for the next 2 hours we had found several hotspots, but none that we could tap into. Now we realized that we really should have been partying.

Why can't someone build a WiFi detector that finds the hotspot, flashes if its open and blinks if it can be subscribed to?

From the article:

Out in the field, the HS10 works very well. If any networks are found, it stops scanning and then scrolls the SID / name, its strength, whether it is encrypted or open and the channel the network is on. Pressing the button again will continue scanning.

No other WiFi finder gives you this much information. Knowing whether there are any open networks in the area can save you from powering up / waking up your handtop/laptop, only to find out the network is encrypted. Detection is quick and range is above par, from 300-610 feet.

The only thing that seems to be missing is detection of whether the network is locked down by MAC address. Isn't the device described above approximately what you are looking for?

Don't buy the original Kensington finder!

[GekkePrutser]

The article says that it couldn't test the original Kensington finder, but that they only heard bad news about it. This is true according to my experiences.

I've got one myself, bought it about a year ago in a typical airport impulse purchase :-) This is the grey-metallic creditcard-sized one with 3 lights. Unfortunately it sucks, the lights are way too dim to be seen in any sunlight and the button is so weak it gets pressed in your pocket and wastes battery power. Besides that it detects any bluetooth phone as well and doesn't mention the difference (so it seems WiFi is detected).

I've also seen situations where I was able to get a WiFi connection on my laptop and the finder showed none, and the other way around (probably because it detected a bluetooth signal). I can't recommend it at all!

Just my 2 cents :-)

Re:time

[IO ERROR]

Ever go sniffing in places that are... well, less then suitable to carry around a laptop (or conceil one while sniffing)?

Oh yes. I just keep the laptop running while inside its nice leather carrying case. I use Kismet and it will tell me the SSID, MAC address, and GPS coordinates so I can find it again later.