After reading a review, I ordered a Canary Wireless Digital Hotspotter and it arrived in the mail yesterday. This is the newest and most capable of the current crop of low-cost WiFi detectors. The Hotspotter is only $50, and unlike all the competing products, offers an alphanumeric LCD display which displays SSID name, signal strength, encryption status, and channel number at the touch of a button. Other detectable access points are displayed with successive pushes of the button. The device is powered by two AAA batteries (included) and automatically turns off after a few seconds.

The Hotspotter picked up many networks in the area around my office, as well as on our car ride in. It'll be handy to check for the presence of an access point before I pull out my laptop. Many of the reviews were critical of the Hotspotter's chunkiness--it is about the size of a Chunky chocolate bar--but it will rest fine in a side pocket of my laptop bag. The days of me warwalking around with an open laptop like a dork are over.

The other common quibble is the lack of a backlight. This has been a problem in dim light, but I always have an LED flashlight with me. I'm wondering how hard it would be to add a small LED to the circuit board, though I imagine the next version will add a backlight.

Now with Hotspotter in hand, I can scan for funny SSIDs or maybe even plan a hunt.

- mike lee - langley park, md