7. WiFi Seeker's WiFi Walker: When In Roam

By Justin Korelc

Many of today's college campuses have wireless access points for student and faculty use, which is a tremendous convenience. The inconvenience is in having to find these often elusive and occasionally enigmatic WiFi hotspots when roaming around campus. This is also complicated by the fact that hotspot detection typically involves a running laptop and active wireless card. This cuts into time and energy spent cradling a laptop precariously in your arms while wandering almost aimlessly about trying to find that perfect signal in the ideal part of campus.

WiFi Seeker's WiFi Walker aims to minimize the amount of guesswork involved in locating and using wireless hotspots. WiFi Walker is a specialized USB device compact enough to fit on a keychain, in a backpack accessory pocket or attached to a zipper-pull. The WiFi Walker is an 802.11b/g radio finder and USB 2.0 adapter capable of detecting wireless signals in the immediate area. It produces visual data for what it finds. A nicely backlit blue LCD describes several key aspects of a wireless hotspot from simple network identification to encryption information, SSID data, security status, access point properties, and broadcast power. Illuminating lights act as activity indicators, sweeping back and forth to indicate WiFi finding progress. The lights stop once the device has identified a network access point.

According to product specifications, the WiFi Walker can detect signals within a 300 foot radius. This probably happens under ideal conditions with virtually no interference. Translation: scale that to about half the distance for real world applications and expect varying levels of performance depending on environmental conditions. Either way, the WiFi Walker is undoubtedly more convenient than having to power up a laptop and wireless adapter - hopefully not a PCMCIA adapter, which tends to draw more power than integrated chips - just to find all the ideal access point locations on campus. Furthermore, the Walker also acts as a wireless adapter if and as needed unlike other keychain adapters of this type.

On the subject of power draw, the WiFi Walker needs no batteries. An integrated Li-Polymer cell powers the device and recharges each time the unit is plugged into a USB port - yet another ideal trait for an on-the-go student appreciative of the finer aspects of portable technology (and who isn't?). Stop stumbling and start seeking: pick up a WiFi Walker and find yourself some wireless access.