What Is WiFi Finder?
You don’t need to turn on your laptop to see whether there is a WiFi hotspot; instead you can use a WiFi finder to do so. A WiFi finder is a portable, small and a battery operated device. It is about a size of a mouse and some of them are available in small keychain models.
WiFi finders have three or more LED lights and generally have a single button. The search for WiFi signals start when you press this button. 802.11b/g bands are the region in which these finders work. The LED remains off if there are no networks. Only one light is initiated when there is a weak signal and all lights lit in the case when there is a strong signal. If you see that one light being steady then you can move in the direction where more lights lit. The signal is weak or intermittent if the light signal flashes.
There are additional features in more expensive WiFi finders which makes things easier. In one of these models, there is flip which is similar to a flip phone and acts as a rotating high gain antenna. One can head properly towards an area having a strong signal. After signal is being located, you can attach your WiFi finder to your laptop via USB and can connect to the network instantly. This removes an extra step of configuring hotspot in wireless interface of a laptop. Time is also saved as some of the advanced WiFi finders indicate whether a network is secure or not. You don’t even need to replace batteries as some models charge automatically when connected to a USB port.
One should pay attention to how much is the range of a WiFi finder while considering to buy one. 150 feet or 46 meters is the area which less expensive models can scan while better models have range up to 300 feet (92 m) or even more. A WiFi finder having range 300 feet can provide better reception than the one having a range of 150 meters.
With the advancements in technology, the cost of WiFi finders will reduce and the features would improve. $29 US Dollars was the price of a basic models and advanced one had price $79 during fall 2005. The version of USB of an older laptop may be 1.1. So one should make sure whether their WiFi finder has backward compatibility or not, as new ones support USB 2.0 standards. You can shop for WiFi finders where wireless products are sold.
Category: Technology