The Richter Scale^®

I travel a lot, and I depend heavily on being able to connect to the Internet most anywhere and any time. For speed reasons, I prefer using my notebook’s WiFi connection, but have as back-up a built-in Cingular data connection, and a T-Mobile plug-in PC Card.

For WiFi, I pay both a monthly subscription to T-Mobile and Boingo. T-Mobile Hotspot service is great because it’s what’s offered at American Airlines Admiral’s Clubs, many Starbucks cafes, and Borders Books & Music stores, among others. Boingo is useful because they have roaming agreements with a slew of other WiFi hot spot operators, including Wayport, which is used by many hotels. So, instead of paying $9.95/day for access, I pay $21.95 a month. Considering I have already had nearly 60 hotel nights this year so far (and we’re only 4 months into the year), that’s serious savings.

One of the biggest frustrations of using WiFi connections, however, is finding them, and that’s where the Digital Hotspotter from Canary Wireless comes into play.

(Courtesy of Canary Wireless)

I have been testing the HS10 model of their Digital Hotspotter (MSRP $59.95) for about three months now, and it certainly works as promised. Weighing in at 2.5 ounces (71 grams) with a pair of AAA batteries, the Hotspotter, with a mere button press, will allow you find 802.11b and 802.11g access points in the area (the ones in the 2.4GHz spectrum). It’s not fool proof, but almost every time I tested it it showed the access points I knew to exist in the area, as well as a surprising number of access points which I was not aware of. I have used the Hotspotter all over the U.S. and in a number of foreign locales as well. The few times that known access points were not shown required merely rescanning with the device - a process as easy as just pressing the sole button on the Digital Hotspotter.

The things I like about the Digital Hotspotter include that it is small and compact, that it is quite fast in locating hot spots (and showing them by SSID - the network ID of the hot spot), that it gives me an idea of signal strength and whether the access point is “open” (i.e. does not require a password or encryption key). It also provides information on which channel the access point resides (something that is more useful when debugging a wireless network as an advanced user or an administrator).

Canary Wireless suggests that administrators can use the Digital Hotspotter to find unsecured access points, and certainly that has been helpful to me too.

It’s also a lot faster to whip out the Digital Hotspotter and test an area for hot spots than it is to boot a computer, and then use Microsoft’s maddeningly slow “feature” in Windows XP to scan for wireless networks. Once the Hotspotter finds a hotspot is when you need to boot your computer up and try and access the open hot spot.

Be forewarned, however, that there’s no guarantee, however, that hotspots flagged as “Open” by the Hotspotter will actually allow you free Internet access. Making that determination requires a much more complicated device and process (and takes quite a bit of time) - something that at this point is best done by your computer.

At $59.95, the HS10 Digital Hotspotter is a pretty good deal for all it does, and merits a 8.5 out of 10.0 on The Richter Scale.

I should note that the Digital Hotspotter has been out since late 2004, at least according to the user forums on the Canary Wireless web site, and it is my understanding that a new version is due out this summer.

Here is my wishlist of what I would like an advanced model of this device to additionally offer:

- A recessed button so that it does not accidentally trigger (and run down the batteries) when in my computer bag.
- A second button which would let me ask the Hotspotter to do an in-depth analysis of how “Open” the currently displayed access point was. This would involve actually connecting to the access point, trying to get assigned an IP address, and then trying some HTTP (web) requests to see if sign-in is required (e.g. like for T-Mobile or other access-for-pay wireless gateways) or if the HTTP requests are processed correctly (indicating a truly open, unrestricted gateway)
- Optionally under this second button function, the device should be configurable to check to see if one or more of a series of Internet ports are open in the network the access point is connected to, including e-mail, VPN, and SSH/telnet.

The above items would be incredibly useful to travelers and administrators alike, but likely also challenging to implement in a small battery powered package. Although, if size were not an issue, then an optional GPS module which allows the unit to report on all access points and their characteristics at a given location which could then be logged automatically would be sweet.

Mind you, there are some legal concerns here too. The St. Petersburg Times reported last summer that a man was arrested for “stealing” access to an unsecured WiFi access point in a residential area and charged with “unauthorized access to a computer network” - that’s a third-degree felony. And last month in Illinois another individual was fined US$250 and put under court supervision for a year for using a WiFi access point that he was not authorized to use (even though it was “Open"). So if you are using a Digital Hotspotter or any other mechanism to find open hotspots to use, beware the potential legal ramifications if you get caught by someone objecting to your use of their access point.

If memory serves, it was ten years ago today, on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day, no less, that Microsoft woke up to the threat and potential of the Internet, and started its shift towards trying to dominate the Internet in all its incarnations in what has become known as Bill Gates’ “Tidal Wave” speech. It was also the same day Microsoft announced it had licensed Java from Sun Microsystems.

My how things have changed. So, how have they done in those ten years since December 7, 1995?

In my estimation, Microsoft has not done too badly. They went from underdog (a surprising term to use in the context of Microsoft) in the web browser market to pretty much obliterating market leader Netscape. They have made significant inroads in the installed base of web servers using Microsoft operating systems (although I believe Linux still has the majority), and with .NET and web services, look to slowly be steamrolling into dominance in that new market.

But all this connectivity and dominance has come at a price. Dominance creates a target, and in the case of Microsoft’s Internet strategy, the target is system security. Microsoft’s Internet enabled products, and their desire to extend standards with arguably powerful but proprietary features, combined with the sheer amount of programming involved, has led to an incredible number of security holes which nefarious hackers are constantly looking to exploit. So, while Microsoft’s operating system runs on the vast majority of personal computers in use today, so do today’s zombies, malware, spyware, and viruses.

The Apple Mac crowd chortles over this as proof that the Mac is superior to Wintel, but they only have the enviable position of being relatively infestation free because Apple has such small market share. It’s not clear to me whether the Intel-based Apple products due out next year will become a bigger target for writers of nefarious code, however.

The biggest threats to Microsoft’s continued efforts at Internet dominance take many forms, including from small but powerful on-going anti-Microsoft sentiment spurred on by fear of what a true monopoly might impose on its users resulting in people using things like the Firefox web browser and Thunderbird e-mail client software (both excellent pieces of software, incidentally).

And witness the recent decisions in Massachusetts and elsewhere to go with open standards for office productivity software. Other threats include the proliferation of computer devices with niche focus, such as cell phones and cell/PDAs in which Microsoft is still a bit player. And then there are platform companes such as Google and even eBay (hey - they bought Skype - that’s not a pure-auction house strategy in my book).

It stunned me to read on some blog comment recently (and sorry, I didn’t take a link) where someone was happy that Microsoft was out there to stop Google. Used to be the other way around.

I’ll admit I have no idea what the next 10 years will hold for Microsoft, but 10 years ago I would have never guessed that they would have been so successful in turning around the focus of the entire company either. But back then, Microsoft was the underdog. Now everyone else is…